For the Vancouver Film School community – both our students here in Vancouver and our alumni around the world – it doesn’t get much better than 2012.
It was truly their year. They blazed trails. Broke ground. Shattered the status quo. They made jaw-dropping feature films and innovative games.
In the world of entertainment and design, they made a difference. For 52 straight weeks in 2012, something big happened in film, TV, or games with the help of the VFS graduates behind the scenes.
Watch this and see what we mean.
Now, isn’t that something?
Join us in looking back, month by amazing month, and celebrating their accomplishments!
December is typically a great month for movies, and with a variety of blockbusters coming out over the next week, 2012 is no exception. This holiday season features a great lineup of films, and there is a little something for everyone – including fantasy, drama, action, comedy, and even a musical! What do they all have in common? Well, they all featured the work of VFS graduates! If you’re checking out any of these upcoming releases over the holidays, pay close attention. From the visual effects to the wigs, our talented grads played a part in making these films what they are. Already in theatres is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The film was released on December 14, and features the work of 15 VFS grads from 3D Animation & Visual Effects, Foundation Visual Art & Design, Classical Animation, and Writing for Film & Television. The hunt for Osama bin Laden is the subject of Zero Dark Thirty, which opens in limited release on December 19. The new film is director Kathryn Bigelow‘s first since The Hurt Locker, which won six Oscar’s in 2009, including Best Picture and Best Director. Zero Dark Thirty is already garnering major awards and is considered by many to be one of the best films of the year. It will be in theatres everywhere January 11, 2013. Six 3D Animation & Visual Effects grads lent their talents to the film - Denny Bigras (Animator), Hugo Brunet Gauvreau (Matchmove Artist), Jessica Wan (Compositor), Chun-Ping Chao (Digital Compositor and also a Foundation Visual Art & Design grad), and Shivas Thilak Anthikkat (Paint/Roto Artist and also a Classical Animation grad). The Impossible, in theatres December 21, tells the true story of a family caught up in 2004′s devastating tsunami in Thailand. 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Alvaro Gasco was a Visual Effects Artist on the film. Beginning Christmas Day, you can take in the highly anticipated Les Miserables, featuring the singing talents of Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman. VFS grads Shaun Roth (Effects Technical Director), and Vikram Mohan (Matchmove Artist), both from 3D Animation & Visual Effects, contributed to the film. If musicals aren’t your thing, then check out Django Unchained, also being released December 25. This film features director Quentin Tarantino‘s trademarks of strong violence and surprising humour. Makeup Design for Film & Television grad Elisa Solomon worked in the Hair Department as a Wig Ventilator on the film. Congrats to all involved! What are you planning to see over the holidays?
When last we spoke with Daphne de Jesus, she was just beginning her career, working as a compositor on the animated TV series League of Super Evil. Since then, a lot has happened for the Foundation Visual Art & Design and 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad. First, she did stints with Atmosphere, Prime Focus, and Digital Domain in Vancouver, and spent time with Scanline in Los Angeles. Now her career has taken her to New Zealand, with preeminent visual effects studio Weta Digital, where she’s worked on some of the highest-profile films of recent months – including the much-anticipated first film in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. What led her there? Daphne was kind enough to clue us in. Tell us why you choose to pursue a career in visual effects. Did you always know this is what you wanted to do? Daphne: I originally wanted to work in animation and wanted to work for Pixar. But as I progressed in the 3D program at VFS, I went into the VFX stream and realized that I really like working with footage, so I decided I wanted to be a compositor. You realize as you go through the program what your strengths and weaknesses are. I still hope to work for Pixar some day. You got your start working on TV series like League of Super Evil and Stargate Universe. Is it much different to work on feature film VFX? Daphne: I think there are stepping stones that you need to take before getting to working on a high-end feature film. Coming out of school, you have to see where you will get your first job. I’m grateful for how I’ve started in the industry. I had to take jobs in live-action TV first to show that I can work with live-action footage. Then, once you have those on your demo reel, you can use it to get your foot in the door in features. Working on feature films, especially one such as The Hobbit, is amazing and challenging. Working in stereo can get very technical, and I learn new things every day. I work with so many talented artists, have seen their work, and learned about my own level as an artist. Feature film just makes you grow faster as an artist because you would see a really cool shot and go, “Wow, that looks amazing! How do I get from where I am now as an artist to there?” and you learn from those around you. You’ve been quite a nomad the last couple of years. How are you finding life in New Zealand? Daphne: New Zealand is awesome. It’s so green and people are really nice. It really does look like Middle Earth. I have always wanted to work in the different cities that have VFX companies. This is the dream – to travel and work in VFX! Now that your career is established and you’ve been working pretty steadily, what advice would you give to a young artist who’s thinking of following in your footsteps? Daphne: I wouldn’t say my career is established, per se. I sit around some of the top compositors in the world, it’s very humbling, and I have so much to learn, before I can say I am “established”. The advice I would give is, never be too proud to take the smaller jobs because you can meet someone there who would help you and it would lead to bigger things down the road. Getting along with everyone is really important, this is a small industry and word gets around if you’re a good artist to work with or not. Follow the companies you aspire to work at and see what kind of artists they are looking for, and shape yourself to become that. I think when you’re young or starting, you have a picture of yourself as an artist, and don’t necessarily consider what companies need in someone, then they wonder why it is difficult to get into the industry. Thanks, Daphne! And good luck with whatever comes next!
A little before Halloween, a group composed almost entirely of VFS alumni got together and made a short horror flick in 48 hours. It was called Fidelium. And it just won the grand prize at Bloodshots Canada 2012. Which means it was chosen by none other than George A. Romero. The team – which includes director/editor/Film Production Darren Borrowman, writer/producer Bob Woolsey (Writing for Film & Television), and producers Keith Opatovsky (Writing), and Lindsey Mann (Entertainment Business Management) – was singled out for praise by the Godfather of Zombies: “I believe that a filmmaker’s first responsibility is to tell a story. I feel that [these filmmakers] did exactly that in their film ‘FIDELIUM’.” (Read his full quote here.) Of course, it takes a village to raise a film. And the VFS connections are almost too numerous to list. “We had such a great team of actors and crew – 95% of whom were VFS alumni, coming from Acting, Film Production, Writing, EBM, Foundation, Makeup Design, and Digital Design,” Darren says. “And with everyone knowing where they fit into the production, it was almost easy to make this film the best we could. Almost!” “Film competitions like this are crazy. You have no idea what you’re going to make ahead of time, and even though we plan a few of our logistics, like actors and locations, we wait until we get the inspiration package before we start any kind of story. In the past, we’ve always done comedies, and we nearly went that way this year too. Horror short films are really challenging to pull off without becoming cheesy or ridiculous, and they scare me a little bit!” The stamp of approval from Romero is icing on the bloody cake. “To be chosen as the best film by George A. Romero is incredible,” Darren says. “I mean, come on! The King of the Zombie Movie! The horror master himself! His kind words and feedback are really appreciated. We really loved making the movie, and it’s really great to hear that others do too.” You can read a little more about the making of Fidelium – which the team now hopes to bring to the festival circuit – right here. Congratulations, team!
There will definitely be some glittery, bittersweet tears shed today as The Twilight Saga – part vampire fantasy, part epic love story – comes to a close. The fifth and final film in the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, hits theatres today and audiences will finally learn the fate of Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of that crazy, immortal gang. It’s the end of an era but I’m pretty sure Bella and Edward’s love will live on. FOREVER. An impressive 13 talented VFS grads from five different programs worked behind the scenes on the film. Great work, guys! 3D Animation & Visual Effects Classical Animation Digital Character Animation Foundation Visual Art & Design Check out the trailer below, and tell us – are you sad to see the series come to an end?
Remember that time we told you about The Zombie Spider, the latest episode of Written by a Kid? Sure you do. Well, one of the cool things about the WBAK series is the behind-the-scenes docs they produce. Here’s one that goes into the miniatures and puppets, featuring, among others, Foundation Visual Art & Design instructor and puppet maker/puppeteer Chad Costen. Check it out:
Okay, listen. It’s time to get serious. VFS grads. We talk a lot about them. We’re pretty proud of them. We can’t help ourselves – they’re making a big impact on an even bigger stage. They got there by working harder. By creating better stuff. By pouring every ounce of themselves into what they do. We can’t take the credit. That’s just silly. But it’s fair to say that these men and women made their year at VFS count. They joined us for one year (or less) and made sure that every moment mattered. That’s a special kind of person right there. That’s a VFSer to the bone. And, if you’re one of the millions of people out there wondering about how to make your own career in entertainment or design, you might think to yourself, “Self… I think I’ve got what it takes. But how do I know?” Well, that is the question you’ll answer when you join us in November for VFS Open House Week. Downtown Vancouver. Five days. 13 programs. 10 events, where you will: So will you keep wondering? Or are you going to figure out how to make this thing happen? Register for an Open House now. It’s free. And by the way… Register for an Open House and you will be eligible for scholarship opportunities only available to attendees. Simply RSVP and we’ll connect you with an application form for you to bring with you to the event. See you there?
In September, we told you about a huge group of VFSers coming together to shoot the Halloween special of Written by a Kid for Felicia Day‘s Geek & Sundry channel. Today, The Zombie Spider, from the mind of Aiden, is upon us. The episode has just been released. Like, just now. Here it is. Watch it. Watch it! More than 30 VFSers – grads and instructors alike – from eight programs worked on the episode. We reached out to producer Lindsey Mann and co-producer Samantha Jewell (Entertainment Business Management grads), puppeteer Chad Costen (Film Production grad and instructor in Foundation Visual Art & Design), and the episode’s director, VFS instructor Nicholas Humphries, just ahead of today’s launch to get some behind-the-scenes scoop. How’re you feeling about things now that the episode is about to go public? Samantha: One word: excited! Halloween is my favourite holiday, and to get to celebrate in costume, with close friends and colleagues with such an unreal opportunity… Excitement is the only thing I can think of to describe it! Lindsey: It is always nerve-racking having the thing you have put so much time, effort, and talk into go up for the the public to see. It’s fun teasing your audience with photos, blogs, articles, and posts, and now they get to see the whole thing together. You can only hope it meets or exceeds what they had pieced together in their minds. This project took on so many different elements I have never worked with - miniatures, puppets, spiders, and babies – and it’s been exciting seeing those elements create the illusions via camera tricks and editing in the final cuts. I think that is what I love most about film. No project is ever the same and the process never really gets easier… but in a good way. This is not a business for those who like comfort, but the payoff and excitement is like no other. To get to share what you have gone through in something like this Written by a Kid episode, which will be seen by thousands, only makes the thrill greater! When all is said and done and the episode is out, I can only know that I loved this project and all the cast and crew that worked on it and I hope that translates to the audience. Photo by Marnie Dunbar The concept of Written by a Kid – bringing kids’ stories to life – is almost irresistible. What is it about being a kid that lets them tap into the weirdest or creepiest stuff? Nicholas: I think the most amusing thing about adapting a Halloween story written by a kid is that I can see all kinds of weird horror references in his story that have been pulled completely out of context and then mashed together. I think we do this as adult creatives all the time, but kids are just less fearless and apologetic about it. Their enthusiasm over their own stories gets us excited about them no matter how silly they may be. I think we can learn a lot from this. Samantha and Chad, how did you come to be involved in the episode? Were you familiar with the series before?
Grads from Film Production, Acting for Film & Television, Acting Essentials, Entertainment Business Management, Makeup Design for Film & Television, Writing for Film & Television, Sound Design for Visual Media, Digital Design, Foundation Visual Art & Design, and 3D Animation & Visual Effects all played a part in making the film happen. “Virtually everyone who worked on our film was connected in some way through VFS. I can probably count on one hand the people in our cast or on our crew that didn’t go through one of the VFS programs,” said Bob Woolsey, one of the producers of the film and a VFS grad. These grads include Darren Borrowman (Director/Producer/Editor), Keith Opatovksy (Producer), Andrew Menzies (Writer), Jordan Ewan (Director of Photography), Tom Belding (Lead Actor), Lauren Martin (Actor), Adam DiMarco (Actor), Scott Schrum (Sound Designer), Shazia Mawani (Production Designer), and many, many more. “This movie is the result of us all meeting at and around the school, either during our one-year programs or shortly afterwards,” said Borrowman, who is also currently Head of Production, VFS Entertainment. Adds Woolsey, “every time we needed to add a person to the crew, we asked around and eventually our networks would put us in touch with another VFS alum. This was great, since it kind of gave us a short hand due to our shared experience at the school.” Do Something with Your Life is the debut feature film from Borrowtime Films and tells the comedic story of Mike Browne, a guy in the midst of a quarter life crisis who is just trying to figure things out. The film will be shown at 6:30pm this Friday, September 21st at the Rio Theatre as part of the Olio Festival. Check out the trailer below: “When you’re doing guerrilla shoots like this, you don’t have time to break someone in or have them be bad at their job. Using VFS grads was awesome since we knew what a VFS education included and we knew enough VFS people that it was easy to get endorsements for anyone that we weren’t already personal friends with,” shared Woolsey. “All of our key creatives are VFS alumni and because we knew so many people from so many different programs we were able to add a lot of production value to our film,” adds Woolsey. “One of the biggest was knowing Lindsay McPherson, who had gone through the Entertainment Business Management program at VFS. Lindsay works in the Vancouver music industry and took on the role of Music Supervisor which was an area that we knew nothing about. We knew we wanted good music, we even knew some of the bands personally that we wanted to be on the soundtrack but we hadn’t the faintest idea of where to start with a licensing agreement. Lindsay came in and locked down an amazing soundtrack for us that’s actually been attained by legal means!” Congrats to all involved! The rest of you, check out Do Something With Your Life this Friday at the Rio Theatre.
Photo: Marnie Dunbar The web series Written by a Kid, which has filmmakers bringing children’s off-the-cuff narratives to life, debuted in July and spread like crazy. Appearances by Dave Foley and Joss Whedon in that first episode didn’t hurt, and neither did the fact that the series is executive produced by actor/producer Felicia Day (The Guild) through her Geek & Sundry channel. Photo: Marnie Dunbar Now Written by a Kid is taking to Vancouver for its upcoming Halloween special, Zombie Spider. Even better, the episode is directed by VFS instructor Nicholas Humphries with a crew almost entirely made up of VFS alumni from programs like Entertainment Business Management, Makeup Design, Film Production, Sound Design, Digital Design, Acting, and Writing. Nicholas was the director of the award-winning The Little Mermaid installment of the Compendium project, and when it came to assembling the crew, that was the starting point. ”Having made some pretty cinematic shorts through Compendium, I knew all I needed to do was assemble a team of the best VFSers I’d worked with so far,” he says. “I spoke to my producers on The Little Mermaid and proceeded to assemble the crew and plan the shoot.” One of those producers was Entertainment Business Management grad Lindsey Mann, who calls the shoot “the most ambitious and satisfying project” she’s worked on since graduation. “The excitement level of the cast and crew working on something that Felicia Day is involved in, not to mention making this episode as a Halloween special, is more than monumental for me,” she says. The shoot involved everything from scale miniatures to prosthetics (thanks to key makeup artist and Face Off contestant Sarah Elizabeth) and… spiders. Lots of spiders, including a live arachnid, life-size giant spider legs, and an articulated puppet built and performed by Film Production grad and Foundation Visual Art & Design instructor Chad Costen. Producer Lindsey Mann at work. Photo: Marnie Dunbar “The result is going to be epic,” Nicholas says. “There was definitely an overall feeling that we were making something pretty special. And it was exciting to know that what we were creating was guaranteed to be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. We just can’t wait for October for this thing to go up.” Lindsey echoes the sentiment. “I have seen the dailies and to say that we have upped the ante is an understatement,” she says. “I cannot wait to see this thing put together and show all the world come Halloween!” We don’t want to reveal too much – but we’ll definitely be hearing a lot more about the Written by a Kid Halloween Special in October! Stay tuned. For now, enjoy the earlier episodes, beginning with the first:
Your Handy Holiday Movie Guide
“I Sit Around Some of the Top Compositors in the World”
Grads Win Bloodshots, Props from Zombie King George A. Romero
The Twilight Saga – A Conclusion
Abel Vargas, Paint/Roto Artist
Corey Coates, Compositor
Giorgio Bertolone, Senior Rigger
Jooyong Lee, Compositor
Marcela A. Silva, Paint/Roto Artist
Michael Plotnikov, Paint/Roto Artist
Thiago Teles Trilux, Roto Artist
Moises Flores Cabrera, Junior Compositor (Also a Digital Design grad)
Shivas Thilak Anthikkat, Paint/Roto Artist (Also a 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad)
Frank Akrong, Digital Compositor
Karan Awasthi, Digital Compositor
Arthur Lobo, Digital Compositor
Simran Khalsa, Visual Effects CoordinatorThe Hand Inside the Puppet: Instructor Sheds Light on Zombie Spider
Is This Your Year? VFS Open House Week, November 26-30
There are exclusive scholarships
The Zombie Spider: Inside Written by a Kid’s Halloween Special
New Independent Film Features Grads from 10 VFS Programs
Do Something With Your Life, a new independent feature film shot right here in Vancouver, is a serious who’s who of VFS alumni, with the cast and crew representing an astounding 10 of our 13 programs.
Spiders Give You The Willies? ‘Written By A Kid’ Says “Too Bad”
