Village Gamer

The Coming, a feature film written and directed by Vancouver Film School graduate and instructor Chad Costen will be shown in a special sneak preview at the VanCity Theatre this November 11th. A film which tells a story about the end of the world brought about by humanity’s fear of itself was produced by Nicky Forsman, a graduate of VFS’ Entertainment Business Management programme and also features the talents of several other VFS Film programme grads.

Costen began production of his film with a rather unique grass-roots fundraising campaign which rippled out from his site I Am Canalien. Fundraising involved T-shirt sales and “gathering specimens” which was essentially film supporters gathering lists of “human specimens” who each donated $11.00 towards the cost of producing the film.

At the beginning of this project, Chad had this to say on the VFS Blog: “It’ll feel good to finally just get out there and shoot something. We have the best cast and crew in the world, so no matter what happens we know that we’ll end up making a movie worth being proud of. You don’t need a fortune to make good films, you just need to be fortunate enough to know good people that will make films with you.”

The Coming’s pre-show activities begin at 1:15pm, with the film’s presentation at 2:15pm. Please see The Coming’s official site for teasers, trailers and more information.

This past Wednesday evening ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver members and supporters were presented with an informative and entertaining panel discussion on the Nuts and Bolts of Iron Man. The panel featured Vancouver VFX studio The Embassy, whose designers were responsible for the Iron Man Mark I suit, along with California’s The Orphanage, who designed the Mark III suit. The sold-out audience was treated to a frame-by-frame discussion on how the CG work was accomplished, along with the software used.

The SIGGRAPH board, volunteers and sponsors are to be congratulated for their efforts in continuing to provide educational platforms such as these panels. The opportunity to meet these incredibly talented developers, designers and artists who are more than willing to share their experiences and knowledge is well worth the annual membership dues and ticket prices. The Nuts and Bolts of Iron Man was sponsored by: 1337 Recruiters, VANarts, Sophia Books, Davis LLP, Stash Media, Big Fish Games and Annex|Pro.

October 28 is World Animation Day – and Canada is getting animated. The National Film Board is celebrating this special day with a 13-city tour of Get Animated!, a series of free public screenings from the NFB’s Oscar-winning animation studios. Get Animated! will showcase amazing new creations from Canada’s public producer, for young and old, from October 22 to November 9, 2008.

After celebrating the 65th anniversary of NFB animation, National Film Board studios have found a fresh burst of energy, producing works that have garnered international acclaim, including a record-setting 70th Academy Award nomination last year – more than any production company or organization outside Hollywood – as well as awards across Canada and around the world. Get Animated! is part of a broader commitment at Canada’s public producer and distributor to ensure that Canadians from coast to coast have access to outstanding NFB productions.

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Three-time Oscar winner and Director of Animation for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” Richard Williams, has now combined his best-selling book ”The Animators’ Survival Kit” with his legendary Masterclasses. He will present the 16-DVD boxed set which was filmed at Blue Sky Studios in New York, inter-cut with over 350 specially animated examples in a mini- Masterclass.

Appearing on Monday, October 27 at the VanCity Theatre in Vancouver, Richard Williams will engage in Q&A presentation with the audience, followed by a book signing (bring your copy for signing if you already have one) and a screening of the feature film ”Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The presentation will begin at 7:30pm, admittance is free, but tickets will only be available at the door on a first come, first served basis.

Gold Level Sponsor

-From VFS– Save on production time and costs by seamlessly transferring your 3D experience to Softimage|XSI in this comprehensive course in the most advanced 3D animation software for games, film, and TV. Guided by 3D expert and teacher Craig Slagel, you’ll also find out how to tap into Softimage’s powerful new ICE (Interactive Creative Environment) and get a running start on using this revolutionary platform to increase production efficiency and consistency. Learn how to code less and create more.

November 22-23, 2008
Vancouver Film School
1380 Burrard Street
9am – 6pm Sat. & Sun.

Price: $795 CAD (includes Saturday & Sunday). Only 20 spaces available and spaces limited to 2 per registrant. Contact softimage@vfs.com to enquire about group bookings.

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This past Saturday we had the pleasure of attending Rock For A Cause, a Rock Band tournament hosted by the EA Canada campus in Burnaby. Approximately 50 teams paid

Juicy

$100.00 each to participate in the tournament which saw them compete in any one of four categories – Corporate, Competitive, Social and Under 18 – with proceeds going to support local Make A Wish programmes.

The top teams from the Corporate, Competitive and Social categories will be going head to head in the event finals which will take place November 6 at The Roxy on Granville Street. Judging from the calibre of true Rock Band talent we witnessed on Saturday, the competition will be fierce.

Bull

I think that without a doubt the most lively and hotly contested category was Corporate, with teams from Bull, Houser & Tupper LLP, Electronic Arts, Active Networks, Next Level Games, The Flight Centre, Blender Media and Club Vibes. On November 6th, we’ll see who the better gamers are – the media geeks or the legal geeks as Team Bull takes on Blender Media’s Laser Hawks.

The entire event was great – from the volunteers who worked long hours and soothed star-powered egos to the gamers in their often clever – often outrageous – costumes. So many teams put so much effort into their whole competition effort that they all deserve some type of recognition. I do have to

Mr. Goulet

say that one of my favourite performers of the day was “Robert Goulet” who gave the audience some entirely original renditions of more than a few rock classics. Another favourite was the all-female group “Juicy” – a few friends who enjoy getting together and playing Rock Band.

It will be a real experience to see how far the tournament’s finalists are willing to push their performances when they take the stage at The Roxy next month. How much more cowbell can Ridonkahyooj put into a song? How much more charismatic can Prizmatick get? Are Bull’s practice hours billable? We’ll just have to wait and see, but in the meantime take a look at our gallery of event photos – with more to be added. We did shoot some live video as well, which we will be adding soon.

The Rock Out For a Cause first ever Rock Band Tournament takes the stage today at Electronic Arts’ Burnaby Campus. According to Event Chair Amir Novin, a full house of competitors is expected. This means that approximately 400 Rock Band hopefuls will be competing for the coveted Best Rock Band In B.C. Trophy (and $5 000.00 worth of other prizes).

Teams will play three songs each, in order to build up their base score, which will be followed by head-to-head competition between the groups. Each group will choose a song for the round, the winners of each round advancing until the finalists are decided. There are four different categories: Competitive, Social, Corporate and Under 18. Competitors in the first three categories must be 19 years of age and up, as the Championship Finals will be taking place on November 6 at The Roxy nightclub on Granville Street.

Each team has paid a $100.00 entry fee to compete, and proceeds from this event will be going to support the BC & Yukon Make A Wish Foundation Chapter. Tournament prizes include:

• 2 tickets for an all inclusive 7 day trip to your choice of Cuba, Dominican Republic or Mexico from Flight Center.
• Tom Lee’s complete Rock Band Ensemble (Mic & stand vocal practice amp, Electric Guitar & Amp, Electric Bass Guitar & Amp and Drum Kit.)
• 2 tickets to a Canucks game, night at the Comfort Inn, dinner at Doolins, a Gift Certificate and VIP night at the Roxy after the Game. (If you’re lucky, a few of the Canucks will party with you).
• State of the art Steve Nash Health Club 3 month membership passes including personal training and other Steve Nash Sports Club merchandise.

Village Gamer will be attending this Tournament, so watch for a full Preliminaries report later this weekend.

Autodesk M&E Events are presenting their Dream, Dare Deliver seminar on November 4th at the ScotiaBank Theatre on Burrard Street. Register for this event and learn all about the versatility of the Autodesk family of creative design products. The first portion of the seminar will cover 3ds Max, Mudbox and MotionBuilder. The second portion of the seminar will cover Toxik, MotionBuilder and Maya. Following the seminars, there will be an informational session regarding product subscriptions and then a question and answer period. A product raffle and reception will round out the afternoon.

Press Release: Vancouver, BC – On a day when Canada’s new media community is celebrating its inaugural National Digital Media Day, New Media BC (NMBC), the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), Bell and Wavefront today announced a new partnership that will create opportunities for British Columbia’s (BC’s) digital media companies to play a key role in the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad’s suite of digital programs, known as CODE (Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition).

“New Media BC is delighted to be a key member of this partnership, which represents a great opportunity for BC digital media companies to showcase their outstanding creativity and talent and to be part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad,” said Kenton Low, president, New Media BC.

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New Media BC’s members celebrated the first Canadian National Digital Media Day by holding their 10th Annual Annual General Meeting at Radical Entertainment’s Terminal Avenue studio.

After a welcome greeting from Radical President Kelly Zmak, New Media BC President Kenton Low opened the AGM with a quick recap of 2007’s events and milestones, along with a look into the future plans and how New Media BC will move our west coast digital media forward. With a growing membership base, a good financial position, an expanding list of programmes and a higher level of political awareness, the future does indeed look bright for the New Media BC Association.

Brief reports were filed in regards to Opportunity Alert, Mobile Muse and The Fusion Forum. NMBC members also received a progress report on the Board’s lobbying efforts with the Provincial and Federal Governments in hopes of improving the economic outlook for the digital media industry in British Columbia. Of course the most exciting announcement of the night was the fact that Vancouver will be home to GDC Canada, which will take place during Vancouver Digital Week in May of 2009.

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