Capilano University is a public post secondary school located in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a school that was founded in 1968 by school boards and residents of North Shore and Howe Sound due to their need of a public institution for the local communities.

Website: https://www.capilanou.ca/

1. When a student is applying to your school, is there anything specific that you look for in their portfolio/application ?

2. Do you have any courses for students who are still unsure of exactly what they would like to pursue? If yes, what do you offer?

3. I read on the Capilano University website that you offer Experiential Courses that are updated each month. What kind of courses do you plan on offering in the future?

Today, we connected with Capilano University. As a student who had only been set on one particular post secondary school, it was really cool to see what other schools have to offer. We learned about the differences between them and creative post secondary schools, they showcased work from past students, and gave advice to all of the students. Through this, I learned about how the community in Capilano is very close as they are a smaller school and that's one thing that I find would be a good fit for me. I also learned that they offer housing on campus and that the chances of being hired after graduation is very high. It was good to learn about another school and have another option for after I graduate.

Derek Brueckner is a Canadian artist who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is known for his galleries around Canada, USA, and Europe. Currently, he is an instructor for fine arts at the University of Manitoba. He also co-hosts an Arts Talk radio show in which different artists are interviewed for the show. 

Derek Brueckner's work can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/derekbrueckner/

1. What inspired you to pursue art?

2. How do you deal with art block and being burnt out?

3. I read online that you co-host an arts talk radio show. What kinds of advice do your guests generally give for art students and other artists?

For today's class, we had a life drawing workshop with Derek Brueckner. He taught us about different perspectives and how he likes to start off his life drawings (he says to start from the shoulders and work your way around). After the workshop, I had a small yet emotional talk with mr. Brueckner about being burnt out. From this conversation, I learned that there should be a balance between who I help and who helps me. This information will stick with me forever as it's not a piece of advice I'd heard from others when talking about being burnt out. Overall, this workshop was a lot of fun and really motivating.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Colin Giles is an art instructor at Vancouver Film School. He is currently head of the  Animation department at VFS. Not only is he an instructor, but he is also an animator himself. He has worked on various animations such as Sausage Party, Thomas & Friends, and The Lion King 2.

You can find more of his work here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3832997/ and https://colingiles.weebly.com/animator.html 

1. Do you have any advice for artists who mainly focus on character design?

2. What is the hardest part about being an animator?

3. How do you balance your time with work and life outside of work?

As it was not my first time speaking to Colin, I felt fairly comfortable during his talk. He's an animator who I look up to so it was fun to speak with someone who inspires me. He gave very good advice, which I have written down and have now posted on my wall at my desk at home. Through this talk, I received a lot of new and different tips that I will use to improve myself as an artist. 

Tom Pajdlhauser, aka Captain Tom, is an artist and Creative Director based in Ottawa, Ontario. He works as an art director at Jamfilled Animation Studios, but also co-owns a local skateboard brand/shop. He rcently shifted his focus from digital art projects to on-the-go sketchbook art in order to showcase his love for travel and adventure.

His work can be found here: http://captaintom.studio/ and https://www.instagram.com/captain_tom/

As this is not the first time I've met Tom, I was a little more comfortable with talking to him on the side than the last time he was out here. Through Tom's workshop, I was able to try a new art style (watercolour and ink). His workshop brought me out of my comfort zone and although I wasn't satisfied with the piece I made, I still found it fun to try and Tom was very encouraging and supportive. 

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Alain Delannoy is an independent animator most known for his animation on "the birds and the bees" called The Talk. When he's not working on a project, Alain also teaches animation and video production in the Technology department at Université de St. Boniface. 

You can find more of his work here: https://vimeo.com/user25048542 

1. Quels sont les avantages et inconvénients d'être un animateur indépendant?

2. Est-ce qu'il y a des avantages d'être un animateur francophone?

3. As-tu des conseils pour les étudiants qui ne sait pas ce qu'ils veulent faire après l'école secondaire ou les étudiants qui ont les doutes?

In today's class, we had Alain Delannoy as a guest to tell us about his story as an independent animator. As a French immersion student, I used this opportunity to speak to our guest in French. He talked about his art style and his entire process with his animation "The Talk" which he let us watch. Alain gave us students a lot of advice and before he left, I took the chance to ask about Université de St. Boniface. Through my talk with him, I was able to find another post secondary option.

Having always been interested in media, design, information sharing, and content creation, Madison Daigle is a UX designer with specialties in many different types of media. Currently, she works at Canada Revenue Agency.

You can find more information on her here: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/madeleine-daigle-88525539 

Jennifer Pazdor, a Sisler grad, is currently interested in public relations as she enjoys collaboration and coming up with strategic ideas. She is now a mental health advocate and has now started a mental health/self-care initiative called Love Your Mind.

You can find information on Jennifer here: https://dooleypr.com/jennifer-pazdor/ 

Information on Love Your Mind here: https://www.loveyourmindwpg.com 

1. What made you want to go into UX Design? (For Madeleine)

2. How do you deal with negative thoughts about yourself? (For Jennifer)

3. What are your plans for the future? (For both Madeleine and Jennifer)

Although we had a few technical difficulties, I found this workshop very fun and informative. I got to learn more on mental health and how to deal with mental health issues as well as what UX Design is and how it works. The activity given to us by Madeleine was not only funny, but also taught us how UX design works. I got to bond with my group members a little more and learn a little more on how I can help myself during times when I don't feel good enough so I really enjoyed this workshop.

Most known for his role in X-Men: Apocalypse, Hesham Hammoud is a Canadian actor and VFX artist who has worked on various films and shows such as Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and Once Upon A Time. Hesham currently works at Zoic Studio.

You can find more of his work here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5329540/ 

1. What is some advice you have received that you spread to others?

2. When doing job interviews, what do you normally look for in a person?

3. What are the difficulties you have faced while both acting and doing VFX?

For this two day workshop, we had actor and VFX artist Hesham Hammoud come in and tell us his story of how he got to where he is now. I got to learn about the life of a VFS student as well as the life of an actor and a VFX artist. Hesham talked about all of the different films and shows he has acted in and worked on, as well as how he balances everything. What stuck to me the most was the life advice he gave, not only for job interviews, but just for every day life. My favourite quote from Hesham is "We're not upset. We're sad and we take it out as anger." as this quote will help me be more understanding when someone is upset or angry. Overall, I learned a lot from Hesham and this entire workshop.

Anita Lebeau is a director, editor, and animator most known for her animations Big Drive and Louise. She has participated in several amazing works which can be found here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0494802/ 

1. Where do you get inspiration for your personal animations?

2. What type of animation do you prefer and why?

3. When animating, how do you choose which technique to use for your animation?

Today, we had Anita Lebeau come in and talk about her life as an animator. Honestly, I loved this workshop since the animations that Anita showed had a lot to do with her own life and I was able to learn about her through her animations. I also got to learn about different animation styles and how animation has developed over the years. Anita's animations had a lot to do with family and memories which made them more relatable. 

Originally created as a partnership between the federal and provincial governments in 1987 under the name of CIDO (Cultural Industries Development Office) to provide support to Manitoba's film, video and music recording industries, Manitoba Film and Music is a corporation with the goal of promoting and supporting the film industry within the province of Manitoba They have helped with various films such as A Dog's Journey to give an example. 

More info on MFM can be found here: https://mbfilmmusic.ca/en/ 

1. What do you normally look for when hiring?

2. What is something you've learned in the different fields of work?

3. Do you have any advice for job interviews and resumes?

For today's workshop, we had Carole Vivier, Marshall Williams, and some Manitoba Film and Music staff to come in and talk to us about the creative industry. Throughout this entire workshop, I learned a lot about the different stages of working in the industry and how once you start, you keep building up to another career. Something I took away from this workshop is that growth is a big factor in the industry and to make it where you want to be, you can't give up and you have to keep taking chances. When listening to Marshall's story and how flexible he is with his skills, I learned that I should be willing to try other things rather than just stick to the things I know. 

Bitspace Development Ltd. is an interactive digital media studio that specializes in making innovative learning experiences in classrooms and workplaces. At Bitspace, they firmly believe in promoting the IDM industry in Canada and make sure to work with educators and industry professionals in order to develop effective solutions for education and training using digital media technologies.

More info on Bitspace Development can be found here: https://bitspacedevelopment.com/about-bsd/ 

1. When creating a VR game, how do you avoid motion sickness?

2. Where do you get inspiration for a game?

3. What kind of skills do you look for when hiring?

Today we had three members of the Bitspace Development team come in and talk about Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. I got to learn a little more about VR as I have never tried it before and also learned about project management. Overall, I enjoyed watching my classmates play the games in virtual reality and learned about how project management comes to play in terms of game.

Starting in the game industry several years ago, Kent Wilson is now a lead artist at Ubisoft Canada in Winnipeg. He is an environment and lighting artist, specialized in level and cinematic lighting who has worked on many games such as Far Cry 5 and Assassin's Creed: Unity to name a few.

More of his work can be found here: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/wilsonkent 

1. What made you want to do games?

2. What kind of struggles did you go through when trying to get into the creative industry?

3. Do you have any advice for when you feel burnt out?

Although it wasn't a very long talk, I found today's workshop with Kent to be really fun and hearing his story helped motivate me to work harder. Honestly, I find every speaker we've worked with to be fun to talk to but Kent was really easy-going and honestly, it was fun talking to him. I'm glad he enjoyed what we had for Crunchtime so far.

Having worked on many productions, Jeff Bell is the COO, a producer, and co-founder of Tangent Animation. He is most known for his work on 9 and Next Gen (found on Netflix). 

More info on Jeff can be found here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1332842/ 

And info on Tangent Animation can be found here: https://www.tangent-animation.com 

1. What do you look for when hiring an animator?

2. What do you do when you feel burnt out?

3. How does an animation style affect the story?

Jeff's talk today was honestly really motivating for me art wise. Lately, I haven't been drawing as much but while he was showing all of the concept art from Next Gen and spoke more about his work, I was really captivated by the colours and the artwork itself. It really made me want to start drawing more often. 

Known for games such as Far Cry and Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft is a famous game creating company known worldwide. Ubisoft Winnipeg is their newest studio which was announced in April of 2018 and has hired many passionate and talented people to their team since the announcement of their opening. Coming in to talk to the Digital Voices students are Harman Brar, Ibrahim Shanin, Camy Tran, and Matheu Plouffe.

More info on Ubisoft Winnipeg can be found here: https://winnipeg.ubisoft.com 

1. How have games affected your life before and after entering the gaming industry?

2. Spending so much time working on games, do you yourself still play games in your free time?

3. What are the different roles that go into making a game?

As I am not very into games, it was really cool listening to the Ubisoft members stories and how games have affected their lives up until now. Even after hearing of many amazing games and not being very interested in them, their stories made me want to try some games, especially ones that they had recommended. It was also interesting to hear how Camy went from studying sciences to switching to programming and computer science and how hard she worked as she had started late and didn't want to be behind. Overall, today's workshop was fun and inspiring. 

Glenn Sylvester is an animator, VFX artist, and a director known for his famous works such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, and Green Lantern. Not only has he worked in the industry, he now teaches animation and design at Capilano University in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1. How was your experience working on such well-known films such as Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

2. Do you have a preference between animation and VFX? If yes, why?

3. As an animator, father, and instructor, how do you balance everything and making time for yourself?

Honestly, today was one of my favourite workshops. It was really cool seeing the different films Glenn had worked on and how he learned from different experiences. Overall, I was just blown away by all of his work and it was cool to learn a little more about Capilano University as well since it's one of the schools I'm looking into for post secondary.