Animation Instructor to Speak at VisionFest 2010
August 16th, 2010
VanArts is proud to announce our Senior Animation Instructor Mark Pudleiner has been invited as the keynote speaker at the 2010 VisionFest Student Animation Festival in Indianapolis, IN, October 22-23.
Mark is a seasoned veteran of the animation industry with three decades of experience working at Walt Disney Features, Dreamworks, Bluth and a score of other studios. We're excited to have him representing our school and the industry at VisionFest!
For more details surrounding the event and Mark's involvement, visit Mark's blog post HERE.
Also check out the rest of our esteemed Animation Faculty.
VFX Grad launches career in Mexico
August 16th, 2010
Rodrigo Echevarria came to VanArts as an international student from Mexico, and graduated from our Visual Effects program in 2006.
Upon returning to Mexico, he has steadily been working in visual effects for films and television commercials, doing everything from VFX supervising, modeling, texturing & particles in Maya, compositing in Shake, and more recently transitioning to packages like Nuke, Motor, Monet, and Boujou. He also taught a VFX summer course at Technologico de Monterrey University.
Rodrigo shares with us, "VanArts is a great school in a beautiful city, and studying there has been one of my best life experiences."
New Audition Technique Course with Aaron Douglas
August 16th, 2010
The William Davis Centre for Actors Study at VanArts is proud to announce a new part-time course in Audition Technique by noted graduate Aaron Douglas, star of The Bridge and Battlestar Galactica.
This course is scheduled to launch this September, for 4 Wednesday night sessions, and other instructors will continue to host the same course in the months following.
This special course is for actors already auditioning in the industry and who would like to take their audition skills to the next level.
For more information on costs, pre-reqs and times, click HERE.
Game Art Grad continues career in PEI
August 16th, 2010 
Jeremy Kohar graduated from VanArts' Game Art program in 2006, and afterwards received an offer from Electronic Arts: Blackbox, upon recommendation by his instructor David Lam. After completing his project there, he continued his studies in Vancouver a bit further to develop his portfolio.
These days Jeremy has been working at Other Ocean Interactive in Prince Edward Island as a 3D modeler and generalist. Currently on vacation back in Vancouver, he dropped by the school today to check out our new campus.
Says Jeremy, "VanArts was a great experience for me. The instructors were eager to teach and helped me present my portfolio in a way I would have a better chance of getting hired. They also gave me lots of advice on how to survive in this industry, and I'm very thankful, as I wouldn't have gotten this far without them."
Nice to see you again, Jeremy!
Jeremy's website: artkohar.blogspot.com
Animation Grad Interns for The Clayman
August 16th, 2010
Mohammad Saadeh, from Israel, graduated from the VanArts 3D Animation Program in 2009. Prior to coming here to study, he earned a BA in Graphic Design from his home country. He is now interning locally in Vancouver at The Clayman.communications Studio, contributing as a 3D animator, rigger and modeler for iPhone "Dancing Chicken" game apps. http://theclayman.com
Mohammed says, "My passion was always to work in the entertainment industry, being inspired by watching movies and the behind-the-scenes features. VanArts is the school that made my dream come true and open the opportunity for me to plan my career in Canada. The instructors' experience and dedication taught me many life lessons in addition to learning how to bring characters and stories to life. The school offered me some of the best quality education combined with a fun atmosphere, which I couldn't find anywhere else."
Mohammad's Blog: mohamadsadeh.blogspot.com
Part-Time Courses coming up for Fall Session
August 13th, 2010As summer winds down and people start longing for the routine of the fall season to return, minds often turn to exploring part-time studies. VanArts has a variety of courses starting in September which meet once a week in evenings or weekends.
In the realm of Digital Photography, there is the basic DP 101 course, in addition to advanced studies in Studio Lighting, Digital Workflow, and Art of Critique.
For those who wish to study Acting, there is a classic Introduction course, along with focused studies on Film & Television, Level 1 and Level 2.
Students who want to get into Art & Animation, a wide variety of courses are open for 2D Animation, Stop-Motion, Maya (Level 1 and Level 2), Comic Books, Basic Drawing, Anatomy Drawing, Digital Concept Art, Digital Life Drawing, and Colour Theory & Painting.
Click on any course above to learn dates, times and costs. We hope to welcome you into our part-time courses this fall!
Questions? Contact us at 604-682-2787 x104
VanArts featured in 3DArtist Magazine
August 12th, 2010VanArts has recently been featured in issue #17 of 3D Artist Magazine, as part of their University Focus section, looking specifically at our programs for 3D Character Animation, Game Art and Visual Effects. Check out the article and images of our students' work below!
Animation Director Bonita Versh visits Students
August 11th, 2010
VanArts' Animation Department is glad to have Bonita Versh visiting us this week to give advice and feedback to our animation students. Bonita has been working in the animation industry as an animator & director in Los Angeles for over 40 years, at studios like Hanna-Barbera, Klasky-Csupo, Warner Brothers and many others,. She is a founding member of our Advisory Board, and each summer she pays us a special visit to mentor our students and see what they are producing.
See Bonita online at bonitaversh.com and IMDB
Acting Grads in Action
August 10th, 2010
The Acting Department has the latest buzz on our graduates in action! Candace Chase is appearing in the web series The Vetala, which won a 2010 Leo Award last month for Best Web Series.
Maryam Mehrtash, who took part-time acting studies with Chilton Crane, shot for 3 weeks on a feature in beautiful Bali, as well as launching her own web mini-series Mismated, which she co-wrote, produced and starred in! 
Animation Grad climbs aboard the Dawn Treader
August 9th, 2010
VanArts 3D Animation graduate Blaine Toderian has recently landed his first feature film job as a Character Animator at MPC Vancouver, where he is currently working on The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Originally from Alberta, and since graduating from VanArts in 2004, Blaine has worked in a variety of studios which led him to this point in his career. His first job was for Veda Games in India, led by another VanArts graduate for a special game project. Upon his return to Vancouver, he got into the television industry working on the series Jibber Jabber at Northwest FX, then as a Lead Animator at Nitrogen Studios working on Thomas and Friends and some game outsourcing work for Propaganda Games. On many of these projects, Blaine also found himself working alongside many of his VanArts classmates and former graduates.
Blaine says, "I'm thankful for my training at VanArts. Even though I took the 3D stream of the program, I still feel like I was introduced to the essential 2D principles needed to animate characters with believability."
Website: animationblaine.com
