To help celebrate the release of the much-ballyhooed Avatar, on which seven VFS Animation & Visual Effects grads worked (more on that later), we’re giving away two double passes to Avatar’s Vancouver premiere!
The premiere is on Thursday, December 17th at 7pm at the Scotiabank Theatre in Vancouver.
To qualify, email us at blog@vfs.com with the subject header ‘Avatar Giveaway’. We’ll draw two winners at random at 3pm on Wednesday.
Good luck!
Update: Two lucky winners have been emailed! Thanks to all who entered!
District 9, directed and co-written by VFS alumni and featuring over 40 grads on the visual effects team, was certainly one of the highlights of our year, and it’s nice to see that the critics agree. For starters, this morning it was revealed that 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Neill Blomkamp and Writing for Film & Television grad Terri Tatchell have been nominated for a Golden Globe (Best Screenplay). The film has also been nominated for four Satellite Awards (given out by the International Press Academy on December 20th) – including noms for Best Director (Blomkamp) and another for Best Adapted Screenplay (Blomkamp and Tatchell). It also scored nominations for Editing and Visual Effects. Blomkamp himself has already been handed a couple of notable critics’ awards – the New Generation Award from the LA Film Critics Association, and the Boston Film Critics Award for Best New Filmmaker. District 9‘s DVD and Blu-Ray releases include all the special features you could want, including a commentary track from Blomkamp and several making-of featurettes. Can’t wait!
After weeks of research, our team of elf and reindeer interns have compiled the following five VFS student shorts as a special seasonal treat. Featuring snow, bears, aliens, and magical gifts, these shorts are just a tiny sample of the many great reels you can watch on our YouTube channel over the holidays. In Chance of Flurries, Classical Animation grad Nicole Garber takes us inside the world of a polar bear who discovers where snow comes from. Sound Design for Visual Media grad Steven Bigras demonstrates how finding otherworldly intelligence might be harder than we previously thought in The Snowman. (Note: All visual elements in this video generously provided by Duck Soup Studios.) Our elves were showing a curious fascination with Snow from Classical Animation grad Anamika Barauh — then they all disappeared. Weird… Writing for Film & Television grad Curry Hitchborn tells a tragic “Beauty and the Bear” story in Unbearable Love. Finally, The Gift from Classical Animation grad Louise Etienne Vallee sums up what this time of year is really about: anonymously delivered gifts with magical powers that make you laugh. Happy Holidays from the VFS Blog!
Steven recently explained to us how he found himself writing for games and the challenges of his most recent project, Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal — a new release from London, Ontario game developers Big Blue Bubble. Hi, Steven. Can you start off by explaining how you got into writing for games? Steven: I sort of stumbled into writing for games. A few months after graduating from VFS, I got a job as a video game tester at EA [Electronic Arts], and that was my first exposure to working in the video game field. After that stint, I took some time off to travel (which I recommend everyone should do) and returned to Vancouver rather jobless. After having worked several slave wage jobs, I was lucky enough to see an ad on the VFS alumni job board for a video game writing position in Charlottetown, PEI for Longtail Studios. I figured that since I had a diploma in Writing for Film & Television and previous experience in the video game field as a tester, I could get it and, surely enough, after several phone interviews, I did. That initial stint as a staff writer in Charlottetown lead me to landing a job as the sole writer at Big Blue Bubble in London, ON. What are your responsibilities at Big Blue Bubble? What can you tell us about the particular challenges of writing Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal? Steven: Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal was certainly a unique challenge for several reasons. For one, I had never written a full video game story by myself before, and secondly, all the levels were already pre-made, meaning I had to formulate a story around the pre-existing levels. It was like connecting a giant jigsaw puzzle. However, I find working within certain limitations can expand one’s creativity, so in that respect it was an interesting exercise. Continue reading
This bit of Friday film release awareness (on top of Invictus, which we wrote up earlier) is The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson’s adaptation of the beloved Alice Sebold novel. Reviews so far are a little mixed, but praise is being heaped upon the gorgeous visuals – and it trailered really, really well (see below). It’s currently in US limited release. Classical Animation and Digital Character Animation alum Michael Cozens, who visited our students back in July, served as previs animator and concept artist.
Reminder! You only have until noon tomorrow, Friday, December 11, to take advantage of a 20% pre-holiday discount at the VFS Store. There are gifts aplenty there, and not a harried cashier in sight. Check out the range of VFS apparel and accessories at vfs.com/store before time runs out!
Full disclosure: In addition to being an actor who has appeared on Stargate Atlantis and in numerous theatrical productions, Naomi also works with us here at the VFS Blog and is just one of our favourite people.
Photo by Alex Law Ideas are ethereal. They can come out of nowhere and tend to disappear the same way. So capturing them well – as with the popular TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences – can be as important as the ideas themselves. An offshoot of TED, TEDx events are indepently organized in the same spirit as TED itself – “ideas worth spreading.” TEDxVancouver was held November 21, and a crack team of alumni and staff from the VFS Film Production program were there to capture the ideas on video, led by grad/instructor Jonathon Corbiere‘s Thought Bubble Society. VFS provided the gear. TEDxVancouver counted author Kevin Carroll, Nettwerk’s Terry McBride, and Patrick Moore of Greenpeace among its speakers. VFS’s very own 3D grad and District 9 director Neill Blomkamp addressed attendees by video. “I cannot imagine what the event would have been like without VFS’s involvement,” says TEDxVancouver’s Director of Production, Derek Sawkins. “People within our local TEDxVancouver community and around the world were truly impressed with the caliber of content delivered.” We were proud to be involved. For photos from this incredible event, check out the TEDxVancouver flickr feed.
“This is really a prequel to the movie,” says Writing for Film & Television instructor John Meadows (WiseGirls, Lost: Via Domus). During a recent Writing for Games master class, John walked current Writing and Game Design students through his most recent writing project: an XBox 360 adaptation of James Cameron’s much-anticipated film, Avatar. After writing the game adaptation for the hit television series Lost, John was no stranger to meeting the high demands of Hollywood’s A-list talent. Avatar: The Game put him in frequent contact with the likes of the film’s producer John Landau along with Sigourney Weaver. “We had a lot of pressure to make sure everything was up to speed,” he said to the audience inside the new Writing campus‘ HD theatre. As students are learning in a newly-added course on Writing for Games, the writing process greatly differs from writing for film or television. In John’s experience adapting pre-existing films and television series to video games, writers come in toward the end of the production and rush to meet the game’s release deadline. Along with his co-writer on this project – Film Production grad Kevin Shortt — John penned a script that reached approximately 900 pages. [Considering the average film screenplay is about 110 pages -- wow!] A big congratulations to John on the game’s release and his continued success! Click here to learn more about Avatar: The Game.
With many of the visual effects completed at CIS Vancouver, over a dozen VFS graduates are credited on Invictus, including notables like Executive Visual Effects Producer Shauna Bryan (a Film Production grad), Visual Effects Supervisor Geoffrey Hancock (3D Animation & Visual Effects) and Digital Effects Supervisor Sean Lewkiw (also 3D). To celebrate the release of the film this week, we’ve got three double passes to see an advance screening Invictus, as well as some other cool stuff to give away! All you have to do is comment on this post (make sure you include your email address in the field provided!) and include the title of your all-time favourite sports movie. We’ll draw the winners at random at 3pm PST on Tuesday, December 8. Giveaway closed! Thanks, everybody! We’ll contact the winners by email. 1 First Prize – Double Pass (Advance Screening), large poster, towel, cups, flag 2 Second Prizes – Double Passes (Advance Screening), mini-posters Other VFS alumni on Invictus include: Special note for current VFS students: Student Services is holding another draw for Invictus double passes and more swag. Starting Tuesday, enter in person at Student Services at either the Hastings or Burrard campus!
District 9 Gets Golden Globe Nom, DVD Release
District 9, the summer sci-fi underdog, is one of the most-wanted DVD releases of the holiday season. Originally set for the 29th, it will actually hit stores (on DVD and Blu-Ray) on December 22nd – perfect for last-minute shoppers.Student Shorts for the Holidays
Writing Grad Goes Gamer
Writing for Film & Television grad Steven Lang might be the first to admit it’s not such a simple process to get a writing gig right after graduation. It takes a lot of perseverance, dedication to the craft, and most of all, an openness to opportunities no matter how unexpected they may be.
Steven: My responsibilities at Big Blue Bubble are primarily writing the scripts for video games, which includes the initial brainstorm of the idea, treatment, dialogue, revisions, etc. Aside from that, I write some marketing material and proposals for new games, and I edit any piece of writing that gets sent my way.The Lovely Bones
Last Chance! 20% Off at the VFS Store!
One Fast-Talkin’ Dame
Acting for Film & Television grad Naomi Thomas has been dubbed “Canada’s fastest talker” by winning a contest run by the travel site Expedia. The “speed-talking showdown,” as it was described by the Vancouver Sun (there’s video at the link), took place in Las Vegas last week, and Naomi beat her competitors to win a whole bunch of swank prizes. She drew on the vocal warmups she learned at VFS while preparing to take the stage on competition day.Capturing TEDxVancouver
Writing Instructor Pens ‘Avatar: The Game’
“The first week I was there [at Ubisoft Montreal], I got slapped with the whole glossary of Na’vi,” John says, referring to the native language of the film’s mystical planet, Pandora.Invictus Contestus – Giveaway!
Invictus, the new film by Clint Eastwood, starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman, chronicles Nelson Mandela’s release and South Africa’s fabled 1995 World Cup rugby win. It’s no surprise that it’s long been on Oscar watchers’ collective radar.
Christopher Ahrens, Lighting Lead
Freddy Chavez Olmos, Visual Effects Compositor
Jason McKeeman, Lead Technical Animator
Farhad Mohasseb, Compositor
Michelle Skrzyniarz, Matchmove Artist
Michael Stewart, Digital Compositor (New Media, aka Digital Design)
Noel Wright, Digital Compositor
Tuba Yalcin, Digital Layout Artist
Jose Yapor, Animator
(All are 3D grads unless otherwise noted.)