Saints Row 2, developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ, was released in October to praise from reviewers and good sales. And not only was Game Design graduate David Bowring a designer on the game, but he was also its public face, touring, demoing, and giving interviews.

In his year at VFS - he graduated in 2006 - David was part of the Game Design team that created the Elan-winning Seas of Europa, which was subsequently post-mortemed by teammate Ryan Stancl for Game Career Guide. He recently took time out of his busy life in Illinois to look back on that experience… and, of course, talk Saints Row 2.

How would you describe your role on Saints Row 2? What were you responsible for?

I am the first designer to be hired by Volition from VFS. So, they really didn’t know what my capabilities might be. They first tasked me with the designing and doing all the scripting for the strongholds, the fortified areas your enemies control which you need to take over. This was a great experience. Since Saints Row 2 was in pre-production, I got to go wild with ideas. The only constraint was my imagination.

As the project advanced I was able to contribute more - thanks to my VFS training! - to many other parts of the game. In the end, I worked on all the strongholds, the Samedi mission arc, the drive by diversion, and our drop-in/drop-out co-op design.

I was also fortunate that the design team on Saints Row 2 really worked well together. Also, no one let ego or position get in the way of recognizing a good idea and running with it.

You’ve been doing the rounds to promote and preview the game. What’s that been like, being the ‘face’ of the game?

Read the rest of this story »

When 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Anna Tonrungroj finished her year at VFS and unleashed her visual effects reel on the world, she couldn’t have predicted just how much of a chord it would strike.

But The Moon has gotten a steady stream of praise on YouTube from a mix of 3D aficionados and average viewers. They know good stuff when they see it - it’s a simple concept exceptionally and beautifully executed.

Anna had already been working as a 2D compositor in Thailand before deciding to come to VFS to broaden her skills.

“I checked out the 3D Animation and Visual Effects Showcase of the former students,” she explains. “I was convinced that I might be able to do some cool stuff like that, so I decided to come to VFS right away. Vancouver is such a beautiful city - it made me want to come to study at VFS even more.”

We managed to catch up with Anna to find out about her experience and her thoughts on why the The Moon is so successful.

What was your experience at VFS like?

I found some talents I’d had but never shown, I got to improve my learning skill and my language skill at the same time, I learned not to be afraid of learning some new things each day - well, actually, we really had no time to be afraid, because all of the schedule is very intense and we just had to finish every assignment on time.

However, my favorite part from VFS is I found a lot of friends who have the same passions and interests as mine from all over the world. We exchanged our experience, knowledge, cultures, and friendships, which I will never forget.

Focusing on visual effects at VFS meant you got to actually get outside and shoot the footage on location. How was that experience? It looks like a lot of fun, judging by the footage at the end of your reel.

Definitely a lot of fun. I had a lot of talented friends in my class and we all helped each other out when it was time for us to shoot our films. I spent a lot of time just planning things out for my shooting day, because I had only one chance to shoot at the soccer field due to the expenses and had only one hour and a half to finish shooting all the shots I needed before the light at the soccer field shut off.

It was very difficult to get everything exactly as I wanted, but with all the help from all of those people who were on set with me that day, it was finally successfully done and we all had a great time there. I also would like to give them all the credit for that.

What appeals to you about visual effects as opposed to other areas of 3D, like animation or modeling? What are some of the challenges in VFX work?

Read the rest of this story »

Our Makeup Design for Film & Television program invites you to an entertaining afternoon of conversation and demonstrations, taking you behind the scenes in the world of makeup for film and TV.

In the Makeup program at VFS, you’ll spend one concentrated year learning all facets of the art, from glamour makeup and prosthetics to script breakdown and on-set protocol. You’ll get experience on real productions while developing a varied and industry-quality portfolio, preparing you to jump into the makeup industry immediately after graduation.

VFS Makeup Design for Film & Television
Open House
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 1pm-3:30pm
VFS Café
390 W. Hastings St., Vancouver
(corner of Homer & Hastings)

- Learn about the acclaimed one-year VFS Makeup Design program
- Meet Head of Department and veteran makeup artist Stan Edmonds (The Butterfly Effect, Unforgiven)
- Watch alumni and current students demonstrating prosthetic and application techniques
- Hear from Makeup instructors and VFS Admissions Advisors
- Get a look inside a VFS student’s incredible Personal Makeup Kit

Seating for this event is limited, so don’t wait! To book your seat for this Open House, email openhouse@vfs.com or call 604.631.3590.

While we might imagine your average Entertainment Business Management grad pursuing a career as a talent agent or film producer, the world of sports is a big part of the entertainment biz and has been a great proving ground for our grads, from soccer to the CFL.

Now grad Kevin Murray has joined the NHL. He’s in the midst of a 4-month internship as Communications Assistant with the Edmonton Oilers, a storied franchise in a hockey-mad market. Communications for the Oil encompasses Broadcasting, Team Services, Information, and Media Relations - and the latter two is where you’ll mostly find Kevin lending his services.

Just this week, Kevin made an appearance in an NHL.com story about Oilers stats guy Steve Knowles. Now he’s been kind enough to share his experiences so far with us.

Could you describe your current role for the Oilers? What do you do?

On game days, I have a routine down that starts at 9am and does not finish till after the final press conference around 11pm. I come to the head office at 9am and prepare game notes, stats, and create a package of clippings from newspapers and websites. I then see if anyone else needs anything taken to Rexall Place. I then head over to Rexall for morning skate and lay out all the information packages for the media. I take some of these packages and team credentials to the visiting team’s dressing room. I do the same for the Oilers minus the credentials.

I stick around Rexall till lunchtime, working on several projects they ask me to do - for example a prospect report I have just finished. After lunch I head back to the head office around 1pm and start preparing stuff for the game. My main duties before game time are to prepare the media lounge and press box. The press box needs to have all TVs turned on, information packages laid out, and name cards placed in the correct seat and pull out equipment for the NHL stat keepers. When the game starts, I sit up in the press box and watch the game. During intermission, there is game night staff that takes care of distributing out of town scores and stats. I have just been helping out where I can.

After the game, the dressing room must be opened no later than five minutes after the game has finished. The media then goes in and interviews whatever player they want. Right now, I just observe and try to answer any questions someone may have. Then we go to press conference where Mac T [Craig MacTavish, the Oilers' head coach] will have a Q&A with the media. As I get more comfortable and experienced, I will get more integrated into the dressing room side of things and intermission interviews.

When it is not a game day, I am working with the Senior Director of Marketing and helping out in corporate communications. There is a lot of writing involved and it will allow me to some creative freedom. It’s really nice to be able to work in other departments and broaden my skills.

What excites you about working on the business side of sports? What drew you to that area in the first place?

Read the rest of this story »

They met in the Foundation Visual Art & Design program at VFS, but it wasn’t until they took the Sound Design for Visual Media program together that Iryna Kucherenko and John Kochanczyk’s partnership solidified. Now they’re planning a months-long field recording trip in Africa: the first step in getting their new company, WaveBreach, off the ground.

The pair will graduate from VFS in October, and their ambitious plans - which also include documenting their African journey on film - will kick into gear soon thereafter.

We’ll let John explain:

Maybe you could describe how you met and arrived at the decision to collaborate and launch a new company?

We originally met in the Foundation program. We knew that we liked the entertainment industry, but still had little idea about the specific skills we wanted to learn, let alone searching for our career passion.

After completing a successful year, it became clear to both of us that sound needed to be explored. It wasn’t until around the 4th term [in Sound Design] that ideas started flying around about recording and how we could tie that further into our work.

Thus our little big trip started forming, which we initially thought was way outside our possible scope and current skill sets.

But once we started looking for advice on which methods and ways that should be considered, we received huge support from all of the instructors, which only got us more excited to continue and push for the best we can do.

What’s in the works for WaveBreach? What are your hopes for it?

WaveBreach was founded primarily as a sound recording company, aimed to supply sounds from particular geographic locations and for the requirements of various productions. Our current goal is to actively record as many safe locations as possible, capturing the current era of each country before globalization manages to change everything.

Our dream for WaveBreach encompasses a continually expanding international production company. Recording is the starting block, for all intents and purposes.

8 months in Africa - it sounds incredible.

Africa… Well, our purpose for the trip is to record the specific cultures, music, technology, geographics, wildlife, and anything that actually sounds cool. The trip itself is overall 8 months; however, this is broken down into two four-month segments representing the northern and southern areas of Africa.

Read the rest of this story »