Monthly Archives: October 2008

Makeup Design Open House, Dec. 6

Our Makeup Design for Film & Television program invites you to an entertaining afternoon of conversation and demonstrations, taking you behind the scenes in the world of makeup for film and TV.

In the Makeup program at VFS, you’ll spend one concentrated year learning all facets of the art, from glamour makeup and prosthetics to script breakdown and on-set protocol. You’ll get experience on real productions while developing a varied and industry-quality portfolio, preparing you to jump into the makeup industry immediately after graduation.

VFS Makeup Design for Film & Television
Open House
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 1pm-3:30pm
VFS Café
390 W. Hastings St., Vancouver
(corner of Homer & Hastings)

- Learn about the acclaimed one-year VFS Makeup Design program
- Meet Head of Department and veteran makeup artist Stan Edmonds (The Butterfly Effect, Unforgiven)
- Watch alumni and current students demonstrating prosthetic and application techniques
- Hear from Makeup instructors and VFS Admissions Advisors
- Get a look inside a VFS student’s incredible Personal Makeup Kit

Seating for this event is limited, so don’t wait! To book your seat for this Open House, email openhouse@vfs.com or call 604.631.3590.

What Is District 9?

When VFS 3D Animation & Visual Effects alum Neill Blomkamp‘s planned directorial debut – the feature adaptation of the Halo game series – was put on hold, we wondered what might be next.

Well, first it was those incredible live-action Halo shorts that led up to the release of Halo 3. And now it’s a feature film he co-wrote and is directing: District 9, which (like the planned Halo film) is being produced by Peter Jackson.

But what is District 9? Speculation abounds, though signs point to a feature-length rendition of Neill’s famous short film Alive in Joburg. District 9 is set for a Summer ’09 release, and for now, all we’ve got to go on are some really cool viral marketing sites:

d-9.com
multinationalunited.com
mnuspreadslies.com
mathsfromouterspace.com

Check them out! Beyond that, we can only speculate. But you know when there’s news, you’ll see it here.

vfs.com/enterD9

Mexicans’ Part of ‘Living Dead’ Tribute

Congrats to Writing grad Miguel Valdez-Lopez, whose Port Short Night of the Living Dead…Mexicans screens tomorrow night as part of an event celebrating the 40th Anniversary of its namesake, the cult classic Night of the Living Dead.

Earlier this year, SRS Cinema in Syracuse held a contest for filmmakers worldwide to submit zombie shorts in tribute to the original film. 15 films were shortlisted and then judged by SRS Cinema president Ron Bonk and original Living Dead screenwriter John Russo and producer/actor Russ Streiner. Among the zombie shorts they selected to screen: Miguel’s!

If you’re anywhere near Syracuse, check out this event that’s sure to be a slow-walking, brain-craving good time:

Night of the Living Dead 40th Anniversary Tribute
The Palace Theatre, 2384 James St, Syracuse, NY
Thursday, Oct. 30th, 2008
Zombie Shorts start at 7pm. Night of the Living Dead starts at 9.

John Russo and Russ Streiner will be on hand to introduce the event and to sign autographs in the lobby!

Lots of Grad on ‘Less Than Kind”

VFS Acting for Film & Television grad Benjamin Arthur is starring in the new Canadian comedy Less Than Kind.

The show, which premiered on CityTV earlier this month, is getting absolutely rave reviews. Check out this one on the blog Dead Things On Sticks. An excerpt:

“Less Than Kind eschews the quiet whimsy of Corner Gas for more of an urban–come–suburban take. This family yells, and bickers, and has sex and cheats on their income taxes. It’s a bit like The Wonder Years, but with swearing and psychological conditions like pyromania, and situational narcissism … You could call Less Than Kind a quirky delight, except that word ‘quirky’ has been so abused in Canadian film and TV circles that it’s more like an albatross around the neck than a compliment. So let’s just call Less Than Kind what it is: a delight.”

Benjamin, who plays the good-looking older brother of the series protagonist, is developing quite a following too. For one thing, TV Guide nominated him as one of the 50 hottest men on Fall TV.

Less Than Kind airs in Canada on CityTV Mondays at 10:30pm. Tune in! And congrats, Benjamin!

Student Dazzles Hot UK Band

You might remember Foundation Visual Art & Design grad and current Digital Design student Jordan Clarke from Human Movement, the ultra-stylish video project he made in Foundation that ended up blogged by Wired and named an Adobe Design Achievement Award semi-finalist.

Well, Jordan’s back – further perfecting the Human Movement concept to the tune of “Get Up and Go” by Broadcast 2000.

“I made it for a school project not thinking that the band would ever hear about it,” Jordan tells us. “Somehow they got a hold of it and they love it and want to use it.”

You can see why:

Update: The video is October 28th’s “Big Thing in Music” on TodaysBigThing.com!

The Making of Alfama’ on 3DTotal

If you checked out 3DTotal.com last week, you would have seen recent the Project Overview feature by 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Omar Fernandes. It’s called The Making of Alfama and it’s a blow-by-blow description of Omar’s process in recreating a gorgeously detailed Portuguese scene. Take a look!

The Coming Is Here

We’ve been talking up The Coming, the debut feature by Film grad and Foundation instructor Chad Costen, for about as long as we can remember.

Well, the time has come! The film, produced by Foundation and Entertainment Business Management grad Nicky Forsman and featuring the talents of graduates from several other VFS programs, is getting a sneak preview screening in Vancouver on November 11, 2008.

Click the image for all the details. We can’t wait!

Interning for the NHL’s Oilers

While we might imagine your average Entertainment Business Management grad pursuing a career as a talent agent or film producer, the world of sports is a big part of the entertainment biz and has been a great proving ground for our grads, from soccer to the CFL.

Now grad Kevin Murray has joined the NHL. He’s in the midst of a 4-month internship as Communications Assistant with the Edmonton Oilers, a storied franchise in a hockey-mad market. Communications for the Oil encompasses Broadcasting, Team Services, Information, and Media Relations – and the latter two is where you’ll mostly find Kevin lending his services.

Just this week, Kevin made an appearance in an NHL.com story about Oilers stats guy Steve Knowles. Now he’s been kind enough to share his experiences so far with us.

Could you describe your current role for the Oilers? What do you do?

On game days, I have a routine down that starts at 9am and does not finish till after the final press conference around 11pm. I come to the head office at 9am and prepare game notes, stats, and create a package of clippings from newspapers and websites. I then see if anyone else needs anything taken to Rexall Place. I then head over to Rexall for morning skate and lay out all the information packages for the media. I take some of these packages and team credentials to the visiting team’s dressing room. I do the same for the Oilers minus the credentials.

I stick around Rexall till lunchtime, working on several projects they ask me to do – for example a prospect report I have just finished. After lunch I head back to the head office around 1pm and start preparing stuff for the game. My main duties before game time are to prepare the media lounge and press box. The press box needs to have all TVs turned on, information packages laid out, and name cards placed in the correct seat and pull out equipment for the NHL stat keepers. When the game starts, I sit up in the press box and watch the game. During intermission, there is game night staff that takes care of distributing out of town scores and stats. I have just been helping out where I can.

After the game, the dressing room must be opened no later than five minutes after the game has finished. The media then goes in and interviews whatever player they want. Right now, I just observe and try to answer any questions someone may have. Then we go to press conference where Mac T [Craig MacTavish, the Oilers' head coach] will have a Q&A with the media. As I get more comfortable and experienced, I will get more integrated into the dressing room side of things and intermission interviews.

When it is not a game day, I am working with the Senior Director of Marketing and helping out in corporate communications. There is a lot of writing involved and it will allow me to some creative freedom. It’s really nice to be able to work in other departments and broaden my skills.

What excites you about working on the business side of sports? What drew you to that area in the first place?

Continue reading →

Acting Grad Making Music, Waves

Acting grad Peter Breeze‘s star is on the rise! The actor and singer is on the cover of XTRA! West, just hitting newsstands today. We last wrote about Peter when he starred in Laugh At Me, a music video by Acting Essentials instructor David C. Jones that screened at the Out On Screen Festival in August.

The XTRA! West interview and profile covers Peter’s burgeoning music career (his CD launches on November 11th), his indie film experience and relationship with Hollywood, and his goals of becoming a true gay role model in the entertainment industry.

On his time studying acting at VFS, Peter says: “I learned a lot about myself. The things I believed about myself were reaffirmed and a lot of questions I had were answered.”

If you’re in Vancouver, check out the latest issue of XTRA! to read more. If you’re somewhere else in the world, here’s the story online.

And mark your calendars for Peter’s Vancouver CD launch: November 11th, 9pm at Republic, 958 Granville St. www.myspace.com/peterbreezemusic

The Lighting Life at Lucasfilm

We’ve written about 3D grad Teh-Wei Yeh and his VFX skills before — most recently when he was runner-up for a prestigious Animex prize. Teh’s student VFX piece, in which he transformed an ordinary Vancouver alley into a bleak war-ravaged street dominated by an attacking tank, has been a source of inspiration to VFX students ever since.

Breakdown from Teh's reel: 'Before'

Breakdown from Teh's reel: 'Before'

After graduating from VFS in 2006, Teh has worked as Matchmove Artist at Rainmaker (Rome, Vantage Point), Digital Compositor at Stargate Digital (Reaper, The Dead Zone), and Digital Artist at LUX Visual Effects (Storm Cell, Dead Like Me, the movie). Now Teh is a Lighting TD at Lucasfilm Animation Singapore – and it seemed high time to catch up with him properly!

What kind of responses have you gotten from your student VFX reel when showing it to people in the industry?

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