On Friday, we had the great pleasure of hosting writer/director/actor Christopher Guest on campus. Guest held court to a packed house of Writing, Film, and Acting students. With the moderator stuck in traffic, the evening took shape as a casual, intimate, and often hilarious two-hour Q&A.

Among many other things, Guest discussed his long career, which includes favourites like This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, breaking into the industry (”Tonight is actually my big break,” he joked), and his unique brand of improvised documentary-style comedy.

His process - creating histories for the characters which are given to the actors and carefully outlining the story beats while writing no dialogue - may be out of the ordinary but contains many lessons for filmmakers, writers, and actors alike.

For writers, one of the key points is just how completely Guest believes in traditional three-act story structure, that every scene has clearly defined goals that, even improvised, must be achieved for the story to work. “Improvisation is not just people messing around in a room. It’s incredibly strict,” he said.

“When you’re writing comedy, there’s about three good hours in a day,” he said about his daily writing regimen. “The rest of it is a myth.”

His process - “We shoot in 26, 27 days - then I edit for a year” - as well as his tendency to cut down his own part in a film surprised the filmmakers and actors alike.

Guest discussed all his films at various points in the evening, and frequently returned to 1984’s This is Spinal Tap’s long road to production and 1996’s Waiting for Guffman’s memorable characters. “All the people in Waiting for Guffman are narcissistic and untalented,” he said. “My favourite combination.”

While he prefers to work on his own material, Guest is actually in Vancouver shooting a role in Night at the Museum 2. “The part they offered me is Ivan the Terrible, and I read that and thought, ‘I can make that funny.’”

To most, his career began with Spinal Tap, but he’d toiled for years with National Lampoon and had paid his dues on the road to carving out his own place in the industry: “It was a series of steps. It’s not usually one big thing.”

Before wrapping up the evening and spending some time one-on-one with students outside the theatre, he had important advice for young artists. “If you want to be a writer, director, or actor, there’s nothing to think about: you do it. There’s nothing that will stop you from doing it.”

Have you RSVP’d for the upcoming VFS Open House yet?

This Wednesday, July 23 event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to get a first-hand look at all 13 programs at VFS, meet their Heads of Department and senior faculty, and see award-winning student work.

You’ll also have the chance to meet students and grads, including some we’ve profiled on this very blog - Nicky Forsman and Tihemme Gagnon are but two examples!

VFS Open House
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
6pm – 8pm
VFS Café
390 West Hastings Street

To register for this Open House, email openhouse@vfs.com or call 604.631.3590.

A chance like this doesn’t come along every day.

Join us on July 23, 2008 to experience a behind-the-scenes look inside all 13 of Vancouver Film School’s programs: an unparalleled introduction to a one-year education in every dimension of film, TV, games, and design, all under one roof.

This evening is not to be missed.

At this unique VFS Open House you will:

- Hear about our 13 programs: 3D Animation & Visual Effects, Classical Animation, Digital Character Animation, Acting for Film & Television, Acting Essentials, Digital Design, Entertainment Business Management, Film Production, Game Design, Makeup Design for Film & Television, Sound Design for Visual Media, Writing for Film & Television, and Foundation Visual Art & Design

- Meet our award-winning leaders, including the producers, writers, sound designers, makeup artists, and execs behind Zoolander, Three’s Company, The Butterfly Effect, Whale Music, EA’s NHL video games, and countless others

- See amazing examples of student films, reels, and portfolios from all of our programs, including incredible never-before-seen work

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
6pm – 8pm
VFS Café
390 West Hastings Street

To register for this Open House, email openhouse@vfs.com or call 604.631.3590.

The Screenwriters Summit, co-presented by VFS, was a rousing success. Held June 7 and 8, this weekend-long event featured an all-star roster of screenwriting gurus - Syd Field, Linda Seger, John Truby, and Michael Hauge.

All four speakers were kind enough to sit down with us on camera to discuss the art and craft of writing screenplays:

 
For attendees, the Summit was an intense, productive 48 hours. Delving into everything from concept to character development to structure to dialogue, the speakers had attendees applying the lessons to their own scripts and concepts in real time - and some brave souls even acted as guinea pigs, offering up their own pitches to the audience to illustrate various points.

As Hauge said near at the beginning of Day 1, “How to elicit emotion: That’s what this weekend is about.” Some snapshots from this fantastic event:

Director/Producer Steve Miner - whose extensive list of credits includes films like Friday the 13th Part 2, Lake Placid, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, and Halloween H20 and TV series like The Wonder Years, Dawson’s Creek, and Smallville, visited with students in our Film Production program this week.

As Film instructor Bruce Marchfelder moderated, the standing-room-only student audience heard Miner talk about the early days of his career and the lessons he’s learned since those beginnings making classic blockbuster horror films on a $90,000 budget.

In addition to extolling the virtues of hard work and persistence, he offered this piece of advice: “You depend on actors and need to learn to work with them” - something our Film Production students know well from their improvisation and director/actor workshops.

Time is running out to buy tickets to Screenwriters Summit 2008, an all-star weekend co-presented by VFS including talks by four giants of screenwriting theory: Syd Field, Linda Seger, John Truby, and Michael Hauge. The event runs Saturday, June 7 to Sunday, June 8. It does not get bigger than this.

And we have huge news! VFS students and alumni from all programs can get tickets discounted to $250! Discount seating is extremely limited, so don’t delay.

Order tickets online or by calling 1-800-814-0544. VFS students and alumni interested in getting the discount should email sgordon@vfs.com with their program, class number, and first and last name to receive a discount code before ordering.

It’s all about story, no matter who you are or what you do in the entertainment industry. What are you waiting for?

Discover the art of the short film on June 18, 2008!

Film Production at VFS is lifting the cover off its comprehensive one-year filmmaking program with the VFS Film Production Open House on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. It’s the perfect way to learn about the program and meet some of the people who make it great.

Film Production Open House
June 18, 2008
6pm - 8pm
VFS Café, 390 West Hastings
(corner of Homer and Hastings)
RSVP at openhouse@vfs.com or 604.631.3591

- See what makes the VFS Film Production program one of the best in the world.
- Meet award-winning Film Production Department Head David Hauka.
- Hear from instructors in Directing, Cinematography, Post Production & Art Design discussing their areas of expertise.
- Get the straight goods from students and alumni.
- Watch award-winning student films made at VFS and find out more about all the projects Film Production students tackle.

Let us know you’ll be joining us! To register contact openhouse@vfs.com or call 604.631.3591.

Three — I mean, THREE — VFS productions are screening as part of the Cannes Film Festival this year. That’s awesome. Presented as part of theShort Film Corner’s Reel Ideas program, Cannes will screen A Brief Guide for Bridesmaids created by Digital Design students Nicolas Alexander, Yaniv Fridman and Amber MacKay, Happy Thoughts, created by Writing student Rosely Cortes and directed by Cory Kinney, and last but not least, the feature-length documentary 1000 Days To Live, based on the 2007 Reel Ideas award-winning short by Film Production faculty member Glen Tedham and award-winning Film grad Aaron Beckum. Wow, congrats to everyone involved.

Legendary designer, artist, and ‘visual futurist’ Syd Mead came to Vancouver last night, to speak to a sold-out crowd at the Empire Theatre.

But before the designer for Blade Runner, Tron, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Aliens talked to the public - he spent the day with us.

Syd enjoyed a tour of the Animation & Visual Effects and Sound Design programs, sharing thoughts about his process, anecdotes about his experiences, and signing the occasional autograph (as well as his own drawing in a Classical Animation class).

He then spent time with students at computers in labs and in the “ant farm”, offering thoughts on work in progress, and advice to the next generation of artists.

Syd’s impression of the work coming out of VFS was that he loved the sense of humour in so many students’ pieces.

As far as how VFS enjoyed Syd’s visit, one 3D instructor was heard speaking to a few students in low tones: “God is here today”.

Thank you so much for the visit, Mr. Mead - you’ve been an inspiration for decades, and we thank you for your work, your time, and your words.

Event planning and management is a big part of our Entertainment Business Management program, and it’s a busy month for those EBMers - here’s three places to be in the coming weeks.

On Saturday, May 17, there’s Where Were You in ‘92, a love letter to ’90s dance music produced by Ian McDonell, Tony Huang, Anna Pesavento, and Rico Amezquita, then Click & Sip on Wednesday, May 21 - that’s the handiwork of Annie Dumitrescu and Jasmyn Pozzo, with Ian DJing this celebration of amateur photography - and finally Beautiful Struggle on Thursday, May 29, a screening of the film Diamonds in the Rough which will include a performance and Q&A with Silas.

Whew! Check the sites for tickets, times, and locations!