The End.
Yep, you read that right. It's officially over. I am officially done with school!
I graduated from The Vancouver Film School last week and it's bitter sweet and still surreal. The year went by so quickly but also felt like it took it's sweet little time!
For people who have read my previous posts, you know the struggle and time it took to get me there and it's partly what help me get through the year and what a year it was. I'll try to sum up as best I can.
Term 1 - Salad Days
We learn the basics of animation, modelling and visual effects. We were told that some of us were over doing it staying back late, some times staying overnight, because it was considered the easiest term and now when I look back they were right 😅 I feel during this time I should have taken it a little more easy and really enjoy Vancouver. During this time I saw La La Land in theatres and it was my first time for a packed one too. I thought it common to clap after every song but from what I know now, I know it's not true.
Term 2 - Death, death, death, death
I heard in Term 1 that term 2 was going to be tough, but not just tough but brutal! And they weren't kidding. But looking back on it, I don't think it was the work that really hurt me so much. It was the mark I didn't receive. I had spent long days, many overnights and time that could have been spent on other projects, tuning my visual effects and for what...
For me to submit the WRONG FORMAT FILE AND RESUBMIT TOO LATE TO GET A GRADE FOR IT.
Yep. That's right. I was doing so well in that class (lighting). We have to light an animation reel from a previous sutdent that literally took all term and stupid, stupid, stupid me! submitted an .mov instead of .mp4 and by the time I resubmitted it was too late. I tried to see if there was anyway to get it mark for something, anything but it was too late, those were the rules. The only thing that made feel better is that I wasn't the only one who failed that assignment.
This was also the term were we choose which stream we would like to go into, animation, modelling or visual effects. And although my heart was set on animation I choose visual effects. Another big regret of mine was not focusing on animation and visual effects as I truly love both and that was actually my plan from the very beginning.
Term 3 - BLLUURRR
I'm not gonna lie, I don't really remember this term. Actually it's really hard to remembered any of the terms before term 4. This term wasn't so bad, I think. Still a lot of over nights, those can't be avoidable. This was the term were things actually started to go down for me, emotional-wise and people started to notice. I didn't have energy nor was I as friendly as I was before. I started to distance myself and that was another one of my biggest mistakes.
Now we were split into our different stream classes awhile also finalizing the pre-production of our demo reel. Pre vis, slap comps, footage, etc. At this point I was so lost. I had chosen an idea but not one I was passionate about or really liked. I had also distance myself so much I was basically on my own and concerned when other people in my class were getting Nuke and I was still struggling.
Term 4 - Studio!
We had finally entered the studio! It was awesome with the most comfy chairs but so dark! The room was basically asking for us to pass out!
Now was when we really started to get into our reels. I was jealous of the model and animation students because term 4 is basically where we had to get the filming for our demo reel down and that was not fun. Finding a good location if we didn't have one in mind, bring the equipment. It was hassle and to me, the worst part. We had to reshoot so many times and the location I choose was kinda popular with people and vehicles.
I got a permit that gave me permission to film there but the day we went, the CW's Supergirl was filming near by and the company that was preparing them food decided to park right in the alleyway...and they got first dibs...
This was also the term for me to get my models done. I actually kinda enjoyed this term. I was organized and things were going well modelling and texturing-wise. I meet with my mentor and other instructors in the industry and went to see a lot of movies but Wade, my MacBook Pro got a virus and I didn't quite back up everything so I lost a lot stuff including photos regarding my blog. And the screen also stopped working...😓
Term 5 - Nit and Gritty
Now this term was kinda of a headache. I thought everything was going well but during my presentations and conversations with other people I was told that I should render with Arnold instead of mental Ray. Rendering with Arnold made my assets look a lot different than with Mental Ray which was a given but I also the way to render was different (render layers, etc) Also I still struggling with getting the gummy bears to look right.
I had to ask for help about rendering with Arnold but then was told to go back to mental ray. But when I finally ready to start rendering my candy scene for comp in Nuke, my render times were through the roof! I left one scene rendering all weekend and it couldn't even finished one frame!
The reason for this was because the gummy bears were transparent and I had a few behind each other so when rendering, Maya had to calculate the reflection and refractions going through each object and it was a lot and the reason why my render times were crazy insane.
One of my teachers were able to recommend a new rendered for me to use within Maya called Redshift. He told me not to tell anyone because I was the first and only person but by the second week, everyone was using it and I had seen a few demo reels that had seemed to use it before but it was a huge help. My renders went from 3+ days per frame to 5 mins per frame! It literally saved my butt!
The only thing was again with new rendered, I had to use new shaders shaders which were a lot different from mental ray ones I used before. I tried everything to get it as close as possible to version before and better and eventually came to finally design.
But other than that I thought everything was going pretty well visual effect wise for plates cleaning them up. I had a huge truck in one shoot that I knew was gonna be a pain and it was but my biggest mistake was not filming my actress against a green screen because I had to roto her entire body and key hair to have her interacting with the candy and falling gumball FX...
Term 6 - Final Days/ The End.
I knew these final days were going to kill me but yet I was looking forward to it. I had so much work left to do and felt so alone doing it. I had told my mentor where I was at with my reel and trying things out, showing him along the way and he kinda left me to dry just saying "okay good luck." It was partly my fault for not stopping him and even asking questions I knew the answers to already (or maybe thought I did 😅). I was just excited because he had told me many times before that this was the "fun" part and how he would be there to lend a hand but in the end that didn't pan out.
Aside from my reel, I was trying to work on my business cards, website and from term 4 tweaking my assignments from the past but you can imagine how that went. I didn't get my business cards done and sent to me in time for the industry night so I did it the old fashion way...did a powerpoint 144p version and printed a few copies on plain paper at Staples 👍 Website is still under development though...you can see for yourself: thejojoproject
We also had to take our grad photos which I was kinda disappointed with. I was hoping we could have taken it outside with natural light but because we did it after daylight savings, we lost daylight around after 4pm..and we were taking our photos around 6-7pm... I jokingly suggested we take our photo in the green screen room and in the end its the photos from there that the class decided on.
I stayed until the very end of the term to copy over projects and assignments and to eventually end working on my reel because like the saying goes, "the work is never finished, its just done because of time or money"
or something like that
I literally went home and passed out for almost 2 days.
There so much more that happened but 1)didn't want to get too into it 2)I'm too lazy to type it as it actually took me 3 days to write this post 3) the plan was to video tape it but I'm still in my poorly lit apartment.
I hope this post kinda gave you the inside of what my last few months were like. The graduation was great because we got to see all the great work on the big screen. It was so cool! My parents were able to come down which I so thankful for because it seemed like it wasn't going to happen.
All I can say is that it's over and I'm FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD I'M FREE AT LAST!
I have been applying for jobs since leaving to companies located in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. While Vancouver is great has a lot more positions in vfx (actually the positions I really want starting out like being a roto or paint artist) but right now I'm too home sick and TOO BROKE to stay in Vancouver. Even if I was able to get a job, its kinda impossible right now to live the first few months without some kind of stability. So I would love either Toronto, closer to home or Montreal farther from home but not too far and I've never been there so it be another adventure.
I have a job interview this week as a Compositor at Rocket Science VFX in Toronto. They've done the vfx for movies and shows like John Wick, The Best Man Holiday, The Captive, Dolphin Tale 2, The Game Plan, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Hannibal, Flashpoint, Fargo, etc. So fingers crossed and prayers sent! I've never done an online interview either so this is definitely will be a first.
I'm super excited and super nervous, wish me luck!
My demo reel is now live and you view it down below!
Enjoy!
I graduated from The Vancouver Film School last week and it's bitter sweet and still surreal. The year went by so quickly but also felt like it took it's sweet little time!
For people who have read my previous posts, you know the struggle and time it took to get me there and it's partly what help me get through the year and what a year it was. I'll try to sum up as best I can.
Term 1 - Salad Days
We learn the basics of animation, modelling and visual effects. We were told that some of us were over doing it staying back late, some times staying overnight, because it was considered the easiest term and now when I look back they were right 😅 I feel during this time I should have taken it a little more easy and really enjoy Vancouver. During this time I saw La La Land in theatres and it was my first time for a packed one too. I thought it common to clap after every song but from what I know now, I know it's not true.
Term 2 - Death, death, death, death
I heard in Term 1 that term 2 was going to be tough, but not just tough but brutal! And they weren't kidding. But looking back on it, I don't think it was the work that really hurt me so much. It was the mark I didn't receive. I had spent long days, many overnights and time that could have been spent on other projects, tuning my visual effects and for what...
For me to submit the WRONG FORMAT FILE AND RESUBMIT TOO LATE TO GET A GRADE FOR IT.
Yep. That's right. I was doing so well in that class (lighting). We have to light an animation reel from a previous sutdent that literally took all term and stupid, stupid, stupid me! submitted an .mov instead of .mp4 and by the time I resubmitted it was too late. I tried to see if there was anyway to get it mark for something, anything but it was too late, those were the rules. The only thing that made feel better is that I wasn't the only one who failed that assignment.
This was also the term were we choose which stream we would like to go into, animation, modelling or visual effects. And although my heart was set on animation I choose visual effects. Another big regret of mine was not focusing on animation and visual effects as I truly love both and that was actually my plan from the very beginning.
Term 3 - BLLUURRR
I'm not gonna lie, I don't really remember this term. Actually it's really hard to remembered any of the terms before term 4. This term wasn't so bad, I think. Still a lot of over nights, those can't be avoidable. This was the term were things actually started to go down for me, emotional-wise and people started to notice. I didn't have energy nor was I as friendly as I was before. I started to distance myself and that was another one of my biggest mistakes.
Now we were split into our different stream classes awhile also finalizing the pre-production of our demo reel. Pre vis, slap comps, footage, etc. At this point I was so lost. I had chosen an idea but not one I was passionate about or really liked. I had also distance myself so much I was basically on my own and concerned when other people in my class were getting Nuke and I was still struggling.
I had been told that if the stream/software I had choose hadn't sunk in by then I should probably give up and try for something else. Part of me regrets not doing that and part of me is glad I didn't given in to it.
Around the end of the term I came up with come up with the finally pre-production version of my first idea and 2 fresh new ideas. My third one was little ambition but I was inspired by movies I had seen recently and the music I had choose. It would have pushed me wayyy more than my current idea and been a mixture of animation and visual effects. I'm still planing on working on that though.
But while the teacher commended me for coming with the ideas and putting in extra work, he ultimately went with my second idea, saying my third required too much things I shouldn't be focusing on as a visual effect artist. I wasn't too convinced and had sent my work to two of friends as to which ones they liked and think I should do; secretly hoping they would choose my last idea and they did.
I had tried to be the person I was before and get myself back on track by attending the animation classes while still doing visual effects, but I had started too late and in the end, didn't really follow through with it and gave in to do my second idea the teacher suggested. Another one of my biggest regrets.
Around the end of the term I came up with come up with the finally pre-production version of my first idea and 2 fresh new ideas. My third one was little ambition but I was inspired by movies I had seen recently and the music I had choose. It would have pushed me wayyy more than my current idea and been a mixture of animation and visual effects. I'm still planing on working on that though.
But while the teacher commended me for coming with the ideas and putting in extra work, he ultimately went with my second idea, saying my third required too much things I shouldn't be focusing on as a visual effect artist. I wasn't too convinced and had sent my work to two of friends as to which ones they liked and think I should do; secretly hoping they would choose my last idea and they did.
I had tried to be the person I was before and get myself back on track by attending the animation classes while still doing visual effects, but I had started too late and in the end, didn't really follow through with it and gave in to do my second idea the teacher suggested. Another one of my biggest regrets.
Term 4 - Studio!
We had finally entered the studio! It was awesome with the most comfy chairs but so dark! The room was basically asking for us to pass out!
Now was when we really started to get into our reels. I was jealous of the model and animation students because term 4 is basically where we had to get the filming for our demo reel down and that was not fun. Finding a good location if we didn't have one in mind, bring the equipment. It was hassle and to me, the worst part. We had to reshoot so many times and the location I choose was kinda popular with people and vehicles.
I got a permit that gave me permission to film there but the day we went, the CW's Supergirl was filming near by and the company that was preparing them food decided to park right in the alleyway...and they got first dibs...
This was also the term for me to get my models done. I actually kinda enjoyed this term. I was organized and things were going well modelling and texturing-wise. I meet with my mentor and other instructors in the industry and went to see a lot of movies but Wade, my MacBook Pro got a virus and I didn't quite back up everything so I lost a lot stuff including photos regarding my blog. And the screen also stopped working...😓
Term 5 - Nit and Gritty
Now this term was kinda of a headache. I thought everything was going well but during my presentations and conversations with other people I was told that I should render with Arnold instead of mental Ray. Rendering with Arnold made my assets look a lot different than with Mental Ray which was a given but I also the way to render was different (render layers, etc) Also I still struggling with getting the gummy bears to look right.
I had to ask for help about rendering with Arnold but then was told to go back to mental ray. But when I finally ready to start rendering my candy scene for comp in Nuke, my render times were through the roof! I left one scene rendering all weekend and it couldn't even finished one frame!
The reason for this was because the gummy bears were transparent and I had a few behind each other so when rendering, Maya had to calculate the reflection and refractions going through each object and it was a lot and the reason why my render times were crazy insane.
One of my teachers were able to recommend a new rendered for me to use within Maya called Redshift. He told me not to tell anyone because I was the first and only person but by the second week, everyone was using it and I had seen a few demo reels that had seemed to use it before but it was a huge help. My renders went from 3+ days per frame to 5 mins per frame! It literally saved my butt!
The only thing was again with new rendered, I had to use new shaders shaders which were a lot different from mental ray ones I used before. I tried everything to get it as close as possible to version before and better and eventually came to finally design.
But other than that I thought everything was going pretty well visual effect wise for plates cleaning them up. I had a huge truck in one shoot that I knew was gonna be a pain and it was but my biggest mistake was not filming my actress against a green screen because I had to roto her entire body and key hair to have her interacting with the candy and falling gumball FX...
Term 6 - Final Days/ The End.
I knew these final days were going to kill me but yet I was looking forward to it. I had so much work left to do and felt so alone doing it. I had told my mentor where I was at with my reel and trying things out, showing him along the way and he kinda left me to dry just saying "okay good luck." It was partly my fault for not stopping him and even asking questions I knew the answers to already (or maybe thought I did 😅). I was just excited because he had told me many times before that this was the "fun" part and how he would be there to lend a hand but in the end that didn't pan out.
Aside from my reel, I was trying to work on my business cards, website and from term 4 tweaking my assignments from the past but you can imagine how that went. I didn't get my business cards done and sent to me in time for the industry night so I did it the old fashion way...did a powerpoint 144p version and printed a few copies on plain paper at Staples 👍 Website is still under development though...you can see for yourself: thejojoproject
We also had to take our grad photos which I was kinda disappointed with. I was hoping we could have taken it outside with natural light but because we did it after daylight savings, we lost daylight around after 4pm..and we were taking our photos around 6-7pm... I jokingly suggested we take our photo in the green screen room and in the end its the photos from there that the class decided on.
I stayed until the very end of the term to copy over projects and assignments and to eventually end working on my reel because like the saying goes, "the work is never finished, its just done because of time or money"
or something like that
I literally went home and passed out for almost 2 days.
There so much more that happened but 1)didn't want to get too into it 2)I'm too lazy to type it as it actually took me 3 days to write this post 3) the plan was to video tape it but I'm still in my poorly lit apartment.
I hope this post kinda gave you the inside of what my last few months were like. The graduation was great because we got to see all the great work on the big screen. It was so cool! My parents were able to come down which I so thankful for because it seemed like it wasn't going to happen.
All I can say is that it's over and I'm FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD I'M FREE AT LAST!
I have been applying for jobs since leaving to companies located in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. While Vancouver is great has a lot more positions in vfx (actually the positions I really want starting out like being a roto or paint artist) but right now I'm too home sick and TOO BROKE to stay in Vancouver. Even if I was able to get a job, its kinda impossible right now to live the first few months without some kind of stability. So I would love either Toronto, closer to home or Montreal farther from home but not too far and I've never been there so it be another adventure.
I have a job interview this week as a Compositor at Rocket Science VFX in Toronto. They've done the vfx for movies and shows like John Wick, The Best Man Holiday, The Captive, Dolphin Tale 2, The Game Plan, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Hannibal, Flashpoint, Fargo, etc. So fingers crossed and prayers sent! I've never done an online interview either so this is definitely will be a first.
I'm super excited and super nervous, wish me luck!
My demo reel is now live and you view it down below!
Enjoy!
