Our friends at Opus Art & Design Media have a newish store in Downtown Vancouver, right across the street from our Hastings Street campuses. Yesterday afternoon, customers at that location were treated to a couple of amazing makeup demos by students in our one-year Makeup Design for Film & Television program.
The side-by-side demos had Matt Carpenter transforming a friend into a ghoulish vampire using Wrinkle Stipple, wax, and airbrushing, while Elisa Solomon demonstrated fantasy airbrush techniques on fellow student Giselle Smart.
Seats are still available in our 5-day Makeup Design Intensive, running July 13 to 17, 2009. For five days, you’ll get your hands dirty – and bloody and bruised and maybe even a little hairy – as you explore corrective and beauty makeup, the elements of highlight and shadow, gory out-of-kit effect, and facial hair. The week culminates in designing and creating your very own character makeup!
Register at vfs.com/summerintensives.
Well, he’s been at it again, this time with a personal project: the above rendition of Heath Ledger as The Joker. You can see the image in all its high-res glory on Max’s portfolio site, and the CGTalk thread. And no, that isn’t a still from The Dark Knight. Amazing!
Wednesday night, Barbara McCullough, Manager of Recruitment, and Matt Shumway, Animation Supervisor, chatted with students from 3D Animation & Visual Effects, Classical Animation, Digital Design, and Sound Design for Visual Media about the potential opportunities for employment open to VFS grads eligible to work in the U.S. Shumway also plugged Rhythm & Hues’ four-week Animation Apprenticeship Program, which is a paid internship at their L.A. studio that gives fresh grads some hands-on experience in a professional environment. “The Apprenticeship Program is awesome,” Shumway said. “I wish they had it around when I was starting out… We hire almost 95% of [our apprentices].” That was the case for Josh Herrig, a 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad who landed an R & H Apprenticeship and was then hired to work on projects like Resident Evil: Extinction and The Incredible Hulk. As in most other creative disciplines, timing is everything. When Rhythm & Hues was in crunch-mode during production on Alvin and The Chipmunks, they quickly hired 100 animators (almost ten times their regular staff size for this department) to meet their deadline. “That’s usually a good way to break into the industry – when people are in desperation-mode,” Shumway said. Current VFS students are encouraged to whip their reels into shape before Rhythm & Hues starts work on their next production. They’re now working on Land of the Lost and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.
VFS students and grads – we want your art! A little over a year ago, we ran a contest in search of high-quality, high-res renderings of student work, to be used in upcoming advertising campaigns and posters. We know that the very best testament to VFS is the work you create as a student in your year here. When we say results matter… well, those are some of the results we’re talking about. We often feature student work in ads and posters – and of course we always credit the student who created it. Here are some recent examples: We’re looking for more. Got some incredible art you created at VFS? Submit it and you’ll be entered into a drawing for the chance to win an incredible prize. You can see the work of our last winner, 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Zheng Tang, right here. The Prize The first 16 Total Textures CDs, produced by 3D Total. The set is valued at around $1000. These discs will give CG artists and animators a huge leg up, giving you hundreds of textures ready to use instantly. Have fun with texture families like “Architectural Showroom”, “Alien Organic”, and “Toon Textures”. How It Works Submit your artwork – as many pieces as you like – following the specifications below. When the contest closes, we will randomly draw a winner from all qualified entrants. In particular, we are looking for high-res eye-grabbing shots from animation films and reels, as well as high-res stills from live-action films and art created by digital designers and game designers. Whether you’re a current student or a recent grad, we’re looking for artwork created as part of your year at VFS. Submission to the contest implicitly states that you give VFS permission to use your work in advertisements, posters, and other printed promotional material. Your name will be credited anywhere your art is used. Deadline: May 20, 2009 The deadline has now passed! The Specifications The requirements for submissions are as follows: • Minimum width: 4800 pixels To Submit Upload your work at http://blog.vfs.com/upload/. We can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to!
Here’s a run-down of this year’s nominees we’ll be cheering for: John Sawa – Sound Design grad – Best Sound Editing in a Feature Length Drama for Impact. Rob Boutilier & Josh Mepham – Classical Animation grads – Best Direction/Storyboarding in an Animated Program or Series for Kid vs Kat “Stall that Jazz”/”The Kitty Vanishes” (* Rob is also the creator of this series!) Jesse Davidge & John Busby – Classical Animation grads – (2 nominations!) for Best Music Video for Tupelo Honey “Morphine” and “Not Alone”. Bastiaan Van Rooden – Digital Character Animation grad – Best Student Production for Border. Colby Johannson – Acting grad – Best Guest Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series for Reaper. Mark Hollier – Sound Design grad – Best Overall Sound in a Short Drama for Sanguine. Bonnie Lambie – Sound Design grad – Best Sound Editing in a Dramatic Series for The L Word Chris McLaren – Sound Design Instructor – (2 nominations!) Best Overall Sound in a Short Drama for Valentines and Best Sound Editing in a Dramatic Series for The L Word. Chris McIntosh – Sound Design Instructor – Best Overall Sound in an Animated Program or Series for Jibber Jabber. Check out the complete list of 2009 Leo nominees. Congratulations to all, and good luck on May 8th and 9th! Update: Whoops! One more name to add to the list. Film Production grad Matt Leaf was also nominated for Best Cinematography in an Information or Lifestyle Series for On Screen III “Shivers.” Thanks for the info, Dwayne! Update #2: Stop the presses! We found another VFS grad on the Leo Awards nominations list. Benjamin Arthur, the Acting grad who TV Guide nominated as one of the 50 Hottest Men on Fall TV last year, is up for a Leo in the Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series category for Less Than Kind. Good luck, Benjamin and everyone else! The Celebration Awards Ceremony is tonight and the Gala Awards Ceremony is tomorrow. Keep your eyes peeled for stars in Vancouver this weekend.
When Boca and Ryan were invited to take part, it turned out to be their first collaboration outside of school. They made the “Wacko Gonzo” section of the madcap and awesome “Desserter Nocturne Wacko Gonzo”, which you can see right here. (Viewer discretion advised.)
[Parental discretion advised. Some cartoon images may be too violent for young readers.] Brad has since co-created a successful animation company, Ghostbot, and developed high-profile ads for Esurance. We asked him a few questions about his rise to success recently, and here’s what he said: Hi, Brad. Thanks for taking some time out from your schedule. Could you start off by telling us about what first drew you to this career field? For the benefit of others who might be considering a similar career, could you tell your “breaking in” story? (ie. Your first big job.)
Robyn Jenkins, who just graduated this past December, won the Grand Prize in the SFX Makeup/CSI Theme category. It includes a $300 cash prize, along with a silicone painting kit, and a top-of-the-line Iwata airbrush compressor. The real prize, Robyn says, was that she got a chance to meet and chat with industry professionals. It also didn’t hurt that Robyn’s mom flew in from Peterborough to be her model! Teresa Taylor, also a recent Makeup Design graduate, was in the winner’s circle as well, taking home 3rd Place in the Glamour category. Congrats to both of you! Current Makeup Design students were also treated this past Friday to a special visit from Emmy-award winning Makeup Artist, Michael Key. The founder and publisher of Make-Up Artist magazine, Key spoke to the students about the benefits of attending events like the Canadian Makeup Show and participating in competitions. “VFS students have a huge advantage because of the quality of education you’re receiving,” Key said to a packed room. The proof is in the pudding, given the results of this weekend’s competition. Check out these photos of Robyn’s and Teresa’s award-winning works as they were created. Update! Make-Up Artist Magazine blogs about the show, featuring quite a bit of our students’ work! Way to go, guys!
Not everyone is so sure of their career path right from the start. For some of us, it takes time and some exploring to discover where our talent will lead us – and that’s half the fun! VFS’s Foundation Visual Art & Design program offers these opportunities to students like Samson Wong, who took the knowledge he gained from Foundation and applied it to a year in 3D Animation & Visual Effects. Now, Samson’s working as a Compositor on feature films with top Hollywood talent. We had a chance to ask him a few questions about how he got from here to there. I grew up in an artistic family. Both of my grandfathers are Chinese painters, so is my dad and mom. During my childhood, I spent most of my time on drawings and music without getting any proper instruction in any art school. At the age of 23… I knew I wanted to do something artistic and creative. I started working as a freelance graphic designer with a little knowledge of Photoshop. At that point, I found out that even though I have some great concepts, I could not express them to audiences properly. So I started doing research through the web… and I decided to start with the Foundation Visual Art & Design program. How did your year in the Foundation Visual Art & Design program prepare you for the 3D Animation & Visual Effects program?
Congratulations are in order. Early in March, 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad David Wesch won “Take Two” of the TAC.tv Animation Contest! David’s hilarious VFS film Blind Date, below, took the top prize in the second stage of the four-part competition. Here’s the writeup from The Province. The TAC.tv contest is still running, all leading up to a “best of the best” showdown between the four winners. Check it out!
Max Wahyudi Aces the Joker
Remember 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Max Wahyudi? He’s the guy who made the incredibly lifelike 3D model of Ingrid Bergman (among others) as his final VFS reel.Rhythm & Hues Visits VFS
For a while now, the Academy Award-winning, L.A.-based animation and visual effects studio, Rhythm & Hues, has recognized the work of talented VFS grads and hired them for such projects as The Golden Compass, The Incredible Hulk, and Alvin and the Chipmunks.VFS Students & Grads: Artwork Contest!
Winner will be announced: May 27, 2009
• Minimum height: 7200 pixels
• 72 dpi
• TARGA, with background alpha channel2009 Leo Noms for VFS Grads
We’re happy to see so many VFS grads and instructors lauded with nominations for this year’s Leo Awards, B.C.’s Oscars. We shouldn’t be surprised though – three of our grads won a handful of awards last year, and another four picked up Leos the year before that!Grads Reunite for PSST!3
Following their immensely successful collaboration at VFS, which resulted in Typographics and the ambitious Duelity, Digital Design grads Ryan Uhrich and Boca are at it again – this time, as a part of PSST!3 Pass It On, an exquisite corpse style “collaborative film series” that brings together all manner of designers, filmmakers, and other creative types.Cute, Cuddly Murderers
Just another idyllic day in the woods. That is, until a lime green bear dressed in army fatigues knocks the teeth out of a squirrel’s head, slashes out his intestines, and combines the two into a bagpipe machine gun for a murderous rampage. That’s just one of many twisted scenes from “Operation: Tiger Bomb” (again, viewer discretion is advised), an episode of Ka-Pow! that was directed and co-written by Classical Animation grad, Brad Rau. The series is a spin-off of the wildly-successful Happy Tree Friends, another great show in the “cute gore” genre.
Thanks for having me! I’ve always been a big fan of the finer arts: Animation, Comics, Toys, Video Games, Sci-Fi novels, Role Playing games… I had to try and be a part of it all.
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Grand Prize Winner at the Canadian Makeup Show
VFS’s Makeup Design for Film & Television program was at the forefront of this past weekend’s Canadian Makeup Show. Aside from the flurry of activity at our booth – where VFS instructors, staff, and alumni demonstrated various makeup design techniques – VFS grads also took to the stage, beating out competitors for two big awards.
Composing a Solid Foundation
Hi, Samson. Thanks for taking some time out of your schedule to do this. Let’s just start at the beginning. What initially drew you to this career field?Blind Date Aces TAC.tv Contest