(This article is sponsored by Vancouver Film School)

Just over two years ago, Moises Lucero was a Winnipeg high school student pondering whether to go into film production or animation. Because he has a keen interest in digital media, he decided to enroll in one of Vancouver Film School’s Summer Intensives. These instructional programs offer an introduction to a wide range of media arts in daylong sessions lasting for a week.

“It made me a lot more passionate about the things that I can do in animation,” Lucero said.

In 2016, he enrolled in the full-time, one-year animation program at VFS, graduating this year. Earlier this month, Lucero began working as a junior animator at Atomic Cartoons, which produces several popular children’s television shows.

Lucero’s fee for his Summer Intensive was applied to his tuition in the full-time program, so he felt that he had nothing to lose.

“The Summer Intensive for animation runs the gamut,” Lucero declared. “It baptizes you into the course that you want to take or you’re interested in taking.”

VFS offers five areas of specialization within its three animation programs—and students in the Summer Intensives are exposed to all of them, according to Ted Gervan, vice president of education.

“They can learn about the subtle differences between animation, concept art, 3-D animation, visual effects, and classical animation,” he explained.

Open to anyone 16 years and older, VFS Summer Intensives offer a wide range of opportunities in other areas, too. For example, film-production students collaborate with others in the acting program in real studios, such as the Hotel Griffin, inside the school’s spectacular 155,000-square foot Gastown campus.

“They’re going to be using our post lab, our theatre, and our production design classroom,” Gervan said.

He emphasized that these programs offer everything students need to hone their skills and prepare for advanced study and careers in the film, TV, game, and mobile industries.

“Participants have the opportunity to explore VFS’s premier full-time programs and career opportunities in B.C.’s creative economy in a fun, interactive, low-risk, and low-cost format,” he stated.

He described some Summer Intensives, such as Game Design, as “more of a deep dive”. In this program, students learn some programming and how to design levels in Unity. They also make a prototype 2-D game with characters.

Gervan said the immersive model enables students to accomplish all of that in just a single week.

“Students take the intensives for all kinds of reasons,” he added. “Some are casually interested in film and media, and are looking for something to explore further. Others have made a strong commitment to learning a trade, getting their first job, and in many cases our intensives attract those seeking a career change. For some students, the intensives are the first step in a life-changing journey.”

He characterized the instructional approach as “ensemble teaching”.

“It’s not one teacher in a classroom in each of these programs,” Gervan said. “They’re working as a team.”

VFS faculty and program department heads have an enormous amount of industry experience that they can share. For example, the instructional team for the Summer Intensives in Acting for Film + Television 1 and 2 includes Kurt Evans, who has roles in The Man in the High Castle, Rogue, and iZombie.

VFS’s head of sound design, Leo Award winner Shane Rees, is an instructor in the Summer Intensive in Introduction to Film, Animation + Design.

There’s also an opportunity for students to make friends and network in VFS’s state-of-the-art Gastown campus.

“I always tell students who are pursuing postsecondary training options to learn as much as they possibly can prior to enrollment,” Gervan said. “Taking an intensive provides a realistic look at what it is like to study at VFS. Often it gives participants the confidence they need to make an informed decision about postsecondary study.”

It’s a point echoed by Lucero over at Atomic Cartoons.

“It really sold me on animation,” Lucero said. “It inspired me.”

Discounts for those who take two Summer Intensives

Vancouver Film School Summer Intensives run over five-day periods, starting on July 10, July 17, July 24, and July 31.

They offer immersive training in eight programs. They include: Film Production 1, Film Production 2, Writing for Film + Television, and Makeup Design for Film + Television. Animation + Design, Acting for Film + Television 1, Acting for Film + Television 2, and Animation + Visual Effects.

There’s also an Introduction to Film, Animation + Design, which is ideal for those who want to go into the entertainment arts but aren’t sure which path is right for them. Programs range from $500 to $825.

“If you take more than one program, you get a 15 percent discount on both,” VFS's Gervan said.

Those who enroll in a one-year program at Vancouver Film School within the next 24 months can have the cost of up to two Summer Intensives applied to their full-time tuition.

(This article is sponsored by Vancouver Film School)