New Student Showcases
April 11th, 2012Enjoy our new updated showcases for several of our full-time diploma programs, including featured selections from our most recent batch of graduates! More updates to our video showcases are coming soon, so keep watch for more great student work.
Seats are filling up fast for our September 2012 and March 2013 start dates, so contact us today!
Digital Photography
Visual Effects for Film & Television
Character Animation
Game Art & Design
VanArts Ranked #1 in Western Canada & #11 Worldwide - Survey
April 19th, 2012
Vancouver Institute of Media Arts (VanArts) is #1 in Western Canada and #11 in the world for animation training, according to a new survey by Animation Career Review for the "Top 100 Schools for Animation, Gaming and Design." The strength of VanArts' one-year diploma programs was highly regarded alongside prestigious universities and 4-year degree programs.
The list by Animation Career Review was compiled through a mixture of school reviews, industry-reviewed lists like the Princeton Review, and survey of animation industry professionals from companies such as Pixar and Dreamworks.
Click here to view the entire list of schools >>
Media Contact: Ken Priebe
604.682.2787 x108 ken@vanarts.com
Ali Efe - New Head of Web Development & Interactive Design
April 23rd, 2012
VanArts is proud to announce our new Department Head for Web Development & Interactive Design, Ali Efe.
Ali began his educational and professional career with a BSc in mechanical engineering and an MSc in computer engineering from Beykent and Pamukkale Universities in Turkey, and soon afterwards studied web design and computer programming in Canada. Throughout his educational career he has been very active as a researcher, IT technician and web programmer, participated in several conferences and published articles. More recently he has designed and built websites for a wide variety of clients in Vancouver.
We are proud to welcome Ali into this new role at VanArts, leading our faculty of industry-experienced web developers and designers, and joining our line-up of world-class department heads across all of our programs.
For more information on Web Development at VanArts, click here >>
VanArts Grads Hit the Floor at Fan Expo Vancouver
April 23rd, 2012This weekend was Vancouver's very first Fan Expo convention, which attracted over 15,000 guests into a sold-out attraction at Vancouver Convention Centre. Fan Expo, based out of Toronto, is Canada's largest fan convention for comics, movies, TV and games, and VanArts was excited to be on the floor as an exhibitor to share information about our programs.
Even more exciting was seeing the variety of successful graduates from our full-time programs who were there to greet fans and show their work.
Aaron Douglas, known to many as Chief Galen Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica and Frank Leo on The Bridge, is a graduate of our Acting for Film & TV program at the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study at VanArts. Aaron is among the cast of the upcoming thriller Death Do Us Part, which was being promoted at the Expo.
Georgie Daburas, another graduate of our Acting Department, is currently receiving accolades for his lead role on Hitman 101, a locally-produced web series.
Danielle Anathema, a graduate of our Digital Photography program, has launched her own business for her horror-themed photography, and had her own booth at Fan Expo to showcase her art.
Dan Schoening and Nina Matsumoto are graduates of our 2D Character Animation program, who have both made a big name for themselves in the comics industry. Dan has produced art for a number of clients and created a series of Ghostbusters comics, and Nina has won an Eisner award for her work on The Simpsons comics.
It's great to see the Force is with our star grads who are pursuing their dreams and getting to meet their fans. Be sure to look for us at the Calgary Comic Expo this weekend and Toronto's Fan Expo in August!
Read more about our grads in these previous blog stories:
Aaron Douglas
Georgie Daburas
Dan Schoening
Nina Matsumoto
Visual Effects Graduate Starts Studio in Taiwan
April 24th, 2012
Jonah West, a graduate of the Visual Effects Diploma Program at VanArts, is the founder, president and VFX supervisor of Light Ray Visual Effects in Taiwan. The company has been in operation for over 3 years, providing work for clients such as Asus Computers, Tennis Channel, Magic World Online, Material Queen, Art Taipei, and many more.
After graduating from VanArts, Jonah started his career at a small web TV company called Gryphon TV, shooting green-screen plates and creating 3D backgrounds. From there, he took a job offer from Anthem FX, where he worked as a compositor, matte painter, and 3D generalist on TV series such as Masters of Horror, Tin Man and Sanctuary, and feature films Third Mother and Vipers. In 2007 Jonah was nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award for his matte painting on Tin Man. After 3 years at Anthem, he decided to pursue his dream of running his own studio.
Jonah shares with us, "VanArts gave me the skills and knowledge I needed to be at the forefront of the visual effects industry. The experience I gained allowed me to overcome every challenge I faced as a VFX artist and now as a supervisor & company owner. My skills are now in very high demand and I'm often invited to give workshops at companies & events all across Asia. I would highly recommend VanArts to anyone wanting a career in the VFX or Animation industries."
Check out Jonah's work at www.lightrayfx.com
Photography Exhibition: A Matter of Time
April 26th, 2012VanArts would love to invite you to check out our exhibition of brilliant work from our senior Digital Photography students, opening April 29 - May 8.
Click here for more details on our event page >>
Woodbury University Named in Top 20 Animation Programs in West US Region
April 27th, 2012Woodbury University in Burbank, CA has been named one of the Best Animation Programs in the Western US by Animation Career Review (the same website which named VanArts #1 in Western Canada and #11 Worldwide)
VanArts has an articulation with the School of Media, Culture & Design at Woodbury University which allows our animation graduates to apply for continuing education towards their BFA in Animation. In the video below, Animation Chair Dori Littell-Herrick explains more about the benefits of their program for entering the animation industry.
You can also read Dori's interview with Animation Career Review here >>
VanArts wishes to extend congratulations to the animation staff at Woodbury and looks forward to seeing our graduates continue into their program.
Digital Photography Department Welcomes Corwin Hiebert to Faculty
April 27th, 2012
The Digital Photography Department at VanArts is pleased to welcome Corwin Hiebert to their world-class faculty of industry professionals. Corwin is teaching Business Development to our students and will be equipping them with the knowledge they need to launch their careers. He has been the keynote speaker at our last two graduation ceremonies and has invited VanArts to participate in his annual CREATIVEMIX Conference.
Click here for our blog coverage of last year's CREATIVEMIX event >>
Corwin Hiebert is a business management and marketing consultant to creative entrepreneurs (like world-reknowned photographer and author David DuChemin) As the co-founder of CREATIVEMIX (Ideation Conference), Clamorate.com (resources for creative freelancers) and Taendem Management Agency, Corwin passionately helps creative people turn their dreams into reality, one good business decision at a time.
Welcome aboard Corwin!
Creative Morgue Photo Shoot at Vancouver Police Museum
April 27th, 2012
VanArts Digital Photography instructor Adam Blasberg gathered the senior photography students at the Vancouver Police Museum for a location creative demo photoshoot.
Mixing ambient light with strobe lighting and tricks-of-the-trade gained from over 10 years of commercial shooting, Adam captured a beautifully creepy image of our two wonderful models, Keiran and Makayla. The models also happen to be the children of another of our favorite instructors, Scott Hastings.
This "fly on the wall" approach in our Advanced Lighting class allows the students to lend a hand in the setup and execution to see what goes into a large scale production, giving them the inspiration to push their creative and technical boundaries.
