The 82nd Academy Awards are live this Sunday night! We’ll be cheering on all the VFS alumni whose work in District 9 has been nominated, including 3D grad Neill Blomkamp and Writing grad Terri Tatchell, who are competing in the Writing (Adapted Screenplay) category.

To celebrate their nomination, we’ve put together a special prize package of District 9 swag that has all been autographed by both Neil and Terri, including a D9 mini-poster, the D9 DVD, and a copy of VFS In Focus Magazine’s special District 9 issue.

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this blog post — not on Facebook or Twitter — with a prediction for the Oscars: pick a nominee you think will win on Sunday night (doesn’t have to be District 9-related) and be sure to fill in your name and email address in the boxes below.

This contest is closed. We’ll soon be notifying our randomly-selected winner.

Thanks for entering!

“Did you ever wish for the impossible?” asks Kristen Bell‘s new romantic comedy, When in Rome.

She stars as a happily single and successful New Yorker who attends her sister’s wedding in Rome. But after she takes coins from a fountain of love, she is pursued by the men who threw them in.

Check out the film’s website for the trailer and more info.

We’re giving away 10 When in Rome prize packs, all of which include the following:

- One double pass to see the film at Silvercity Metropolis on Wednesday, January 20 at 7:00pm
- When in Rome magnet
- When in Rome long-sleeved t-shirt (women’s sizes only)

** This contest is now closed. All winners will be notified via email shortly with instructions on how to pick up prize packages.

Thanks for entering!

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!

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.

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:
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.)

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!

We’re giving away 15 double passes for tomorrow night’s screening of Old Dogs. The film stars John Travolta and Robin Williams as two single men who are suddenly charged with the care of six-year-old twins. (Hilarity ensues.)

The screening is at 7:00pm on Thursday, November 19, at Scotiabank Theatre in Vancouver.

To win a double pass, be one of the first 15 people to email us at blog@vfs.com with your contact information and the subject line: “Old Dogs Ticket Giveaway”.

Good luck!

Is Halloween when your creative side really comes out? Do you like nothing more than transforming yourself and your friends for the craziest night of the year? If that sounds like you, you’re invited to enter the VFS Halloween Makeup Competition!

Impress our judge, film industry veteran and Head of the Makeup Design for Film & Television program Stan Edmonds (The Butterfly Effect, I, Robot, Unforgiven), and you’ll have the chance to win some great prizes, including a selection of professional-quality makeup supplies!

All you have to do is show your Halloween-themed makeup skills – and that can be anything you imagine as long as you’ve created the makeup yourself – on the photo-sharing site Flickr between October 26 and November 1. Once three finalists are chosen by our judge, the public will get to vote on the winner.

(Sorry, VFS students, grads, staff, and their immediate family members aren’t eligible to enter – you love Halloween as much as anyone we know, but it wouldn’t be fair!)

Visit vfs.com/halloween to find out more about how to enter!

We’re giving away 2 tickets to a special Vancouver ACM/Siggraph event tomorrow night at Granville 7 Theatres.

If you just can’t get enough of learning about the behind-the-scenes action in District 9, here’s your chance to sit in on “Aliens Among Us: The Visual Effects of District 9″ — a special panel featuring top talent from Vancouver’s Image Engine Studios (including VFS grads Shawn Walsh, James Stewart, and Bernhard Kimbacher).

Click here to find out more about the event.

All you have to do to win is be one of the first 2 people to email us at blog@vfs.com with the subject heading: “Aliens Among Us.”

We have our 2 winners! Thanks to everyone who entered this contest!

Winners will be contacted shortly via email with instructions on how to pick up their tickets tomorrow before the event.

Seattle’s 2009 PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) is quickly approaching. This year, the 3-day game festival for tabletop, video game, and PC gamers will run from September 4 – 6 and feature tournaments, freeplay areas, nerdcore concerts, panel discussions, and a weekend-long Omegathon event – plus a packed exhibitor hall.

Nerdy? Maybe. Fun? Definitely.

We’re giving away 2 passes to PAX! All you have to do for your chance to win is email us at blog@vfs.com before this Thursday at 5pm. Please include your full name and phone number. We’ll randomly  select and notify 2 winners by Friday.

This contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered. We got a HUGE response in a short amount of time. Winners will receive an email shortly.

Note: These passes are only for the PAX event. You will be responsible for your own transportation, accommodation, and meal expenses.

We’re all very excited about the premiere of District 9 next Friday, August 14. And we want you to be excited too, so we’re giving away one double movie pass (a single ticket for two people) to the exclusive advance screening on this coming Monday, August 10 at Scotiabank Theatre (in Vancouver) – 7pm!

For a chance to score the hottest tickets in town, be the 9th person to correctly name one VFS grad who has worked on District 9. (Hint hint: see the last blog post, below this one).

Send your answer in the subject line to blog@vfs.com. Good luck!

Update: We have a winner! Wow, that was fast. We’ve already sent an email to the 9th entrant, so if you haven’t got a response from us, you’ll have to wait until Friday night to see the official premiere with the rest of us — it’ll be worth it!

Recently, we asked students and grads to send us high-quality, high-res renderings of their artwork, and did you guys deliver! We received many great submissions and have now randomly selected a winner of the first 16 Total Textures CDs, produced by 3D Total (a prize valued at around $1,000).

Congratulations to… Jesus Rodriguez, a recent graduate of the 3D Animation & Visual Effects program! Here’s a small sample of the high-res image Jesus submitted:

Thanks to everyone who submitted their amazing work!

Although this contest is over, we’re always looking for great, high-resolution VFS student images.  See the original competition post for information on how to upload your work and be seen.