This page features summaries of trips that I have taken.
They may or may not have been mentioned in my blog,
so that's why I'm writing about them here! I will continue
to update this page as time goes by! :)
Vancouver Film School - March 2010
Vancouver Film School. Wow. What an amazing experience. The entire time, I was surrounded by absolutely awesome people who just "get it". I love and miss them all dearly. I can't wait to see them all again and make a film or even just see their names in the opening credits!
Just so you know, I'm writing this out a while after I was at VFS so there are going to be many things that are on the wrong days, or that I have forgotten to mention completely.
WEDNESDAY
So this day started out with me being relatively stressed out. All morning before school I was worrying if I would have enough time later to pack everything that I needed for the trip. As I still had to go to school (until 12:01!) it wasn't as if I had all morning to prepare. With all the excitement, the morning went by quickly and before I knew it, I was flying out to Vancouver. We arrived in out lovely hotel (The Pan Pacific, I think?) and proceeded to explore every corner of our room. We had a room on the corner of the building, which meant that we had a 160º view of the city. Loved it! Once we were settled in, we went for a walk around town and tried to figure out where VFS was. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to find. Right next to the school, there was a sword fighting/fencing/falconry place. We watched some fencing for a bit (I really wanted to join in!) and then we continued our stroll in downtown Vancouver.
*EDIT - I just found out that the place I was mentioning is called Academie Duello - Centre for Swordplay. AWESOME!
When we got back to the hotel, I got all cozy in one of the softest housecoats I have ever worn and we ordered some dinner. The highlight of that was the butterballs that we put on our bread. If you go into the photos section, you can see a picture of them.
THURSDAY
Thursday was day one at VFS. Once we found which entrance to go into (VFS has multiple buildings) and went past the security guy I stood in line to get my stuff. For a moment, I was worried that they didn't have me on the list and that I actually wasn't invited into VFS - this still seemed to crazy to be true. But all was well and I was given a folder with some information as well as a VFS backpack, pens, and a security card. I was still having a bit of the "first-day-of-school-what-if-I-don't-make-any-friends" anxiety, but as soon as I walked into the theatre, I met some really awesome people. We were then treated to a little presentation and then we got into our groups. Film production had an amazing amount of kids. In fact, our group was so large that they split us in to two groups. Unfortunately April and I (April being one of my favourite people and best friend from the trip) were split up. We were sad for only a moment though, as that day would be awesome no matter what! We were at the Vancouver Film School! We were then lead to our classes. My group started with an inspiring directing class. He had a lot of good advice to offer us. Mostly, we talked but in our next class (cinematography) we talked for a only a bit before doing a practical lesson. We got to use various film equipment (I got to film! :D) before it was time to go for lunch. I had the most delicious grilled cheese sandwich with April before we returned to the school for a FILM SHOOT. Yes, with proper equipment and all! That afternoon, we filmed a scene from Reservoir Dogs. It was so fun to do! My mom met me at the school and I couldn't stop going on about what an amazing experience I was having.
FRIDAY
This was the second and final day at VFS. But we couldn't think of that too much - there was still so much to do! We started the morning with another film shoot. This time, it was a scene from 500 Days of Summer (I later watched this film - it was so weird seeing the scene that we filmed!). It went really well, although some of us had some different ideas about how the scene should be done. We then had lunch (I had another amazing grilled cheese) and then we were off to an editing workshop! A few people from my group (including myself) got lost, and went with the other group before realizing that we were in the wrong spot! When we arrived at the theatre where our workshop was happening, the instructor seemed a little annoyed but continued on with a great editing workshop. Once that was done, we went upstairs and got a crash course in AVID (an editing program).
*EDIT - The editing software that they use at my work is AVID. I felt smart already knowing a little about how to use it :)
I edited the scene from Reservoir Dogs, which was my favourite of the two scenes.Unfortunately, we didn't get to make a copy of what we edited. But I still enjoyed the editing process (especially because I actually had lots to work with!).
Then our time was done. It was sad, but we still had the afterparty so we would see each other again soon!
I was supposed to go home (well, back to the hotel) and have some dinner before the party, but on our way home we came upon a cute little coffee shop. Actually, it was more of a chocolate café. We stopped in and they had chocolate everything. I almost died of happiness. We ordered some fondue and my goodness was it ever to die for! So... that was my dinner!
I then returned to the school where I met up with April. A lovely speech was said to all of us - really inspiring! And then they handed out certificates and t-shirts (more merch!). After that, the parents were kicked out and we had an awesome party! Great music, great people, and lots of karaoke! It was such an amazing time, it felt as if it would go on forever!
But before we knew it, our parents came back to pick us up and it was time to go. It was sad and I still miss everyone there!
SATURDAY
The next day, we packed our bags and got ourselves ready for the day. Because our plane didn't leave until 5, we had a fair amount of the day to do some more exploring. So we went to Granville Island! It's so beautiful! We even got to ride the Bombardier while we were there. We explored the shops for a bit. There was this amazing hat boutique where I wanted to buy a cloche hat, but alas I did not. Next to there was another shop that had this amazing lamp that was all weird and modern, but I loved it! We also went into the kid's shops (yes I went through the small kid's door!).
As we were leaving one of the stores, we hear this voice being amplified by a microphone. Curious as we are, we went outside to see what was going on. Outside of the French bakery, was some British comedian. His act consisted of him juggling fire and getting out with a straightjacket, but the fun lasted for about an hour! During the show, he would poke fun at the crowd as well as passerby's. It was absolutely hilarious! I even got to be a part of the show. We (a couple of guys and myself) were told to hold these flaming torches and eventually throw them to him. I. Was. Terrified.... Kind of. You know that commercial where they say "sports skills are life skills"? Well I wasn't sure if the small amount of sports skills that I actually have would be helpful when I'm throwing a FLAMING TORCH OF DEATH (is that even a life skill?).
The British guy first asked the man to my left to throw him the torch, which he did so successfully. Then it was my turn. He asked me if I had ever thrown a flaming torch before, to which I replied, "No". I was then told to take a step closer to him. Then another. And another. And a few more until I was close enough to just hand him the flaming torch of death. All was good and I did not die!
He then performed various tricks with the torches and then was put in a straightjacket, which he successfully escaped from! It was an hour hilariously spent!
My trip to Vancouver was amazing. I know for some people "it's only Vancouver", but to me it was one of the best experiences that I've ever had (thus far). Being there gave me a small taste of what's to come - I have never been so excited and thrilled about the future!
Thanks again to VFS for this opportunity and I look forward to seeing/working with the other students in the near future!
Veronika
Just so you know, I'm writing this out a while after I was at VFS so there are going to be many things that are on the wrong days, or that I have forgotten to mention completely.
WEDNESDAY
So this day started out with me being relatively stressed out. All morning before school I was worrying if I would have enough time later to pack everything that I needed for the trip. As I still had to go to school (until 12:01!) it wasn't as if I had all morning to prepare. With all the excitement, the morning went by quickly and before I knew it, I was flying out to Vancouver. We arrived in out lovely hotel (The Pan Pacific, I think?) and proceeded to explore every corner of our room. We had a room on the corner of the building, which meant that we had a 160º view of the city. Loved it! Once we were settled in, we went for a walk around town and tried to figure out where VFS was. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to find. Right next to the school, there was a sword fighting/fencing/falconry place. We watched some fencing for a bit (I really wanted to join in!) and then we continued our stroll in downtown Vancouver.
*EDIT - I just found out that the place I was mentioning is called Academie Duello - Centre for Swordplay. AWESOME!
When we got back to the hotel, I got all cozy in one of the softest housecoats I have ever worn and we ordered some dinner. The highlight of that was the butterballs that we put on our bread. If you go into the photos section, you can see a picture of them.
THURSDAY
Thursday was day one at VFS. Once we found which entrance to go into (VFS has multiple buildings) and went past the security guy I stood in line to get my stuff. For a moment, I was worried that they didn't have me on the list and that I actually wasn't invited into VFS - this still seemed to crazy to be true. But all was well and I was given a folder with some information as well as a VFS backpack, pens, and a security card. I was still having a bit of the "first-day-of-school-what-if-I-don't-make-any-friends" anxiety, but as soon as I walked into the theatre, I met some really awesome people. We were then treated to a little presentation and then we got into our groups. Film production had an amazing amount of kids. In fact, our group was so large that they split us in to two groups. Unfortunately April and I (April being one of my favourite people and best friend from the trip) were split up. We were sad for only a moment though, as that day would be awesome no matter what! We were at the Vancouver Film School! We were then lead to our classes. My group started with an inspiring directing class. He had a lot of good advice to offer us. Mostly, we talked but in our next class (cinematography) we talked for a only a bit before doing a practical lesson. We got to use various film equipment (I got to film! :D) before it was time to go for lunch. I had the most delicious grilled cheese sandwich with April before we returned to the school for a FILM SHOOT. Yes, with proper equipment and all! That afternoon, we filmed a scene from Reservoir Dogs. It was so fun to do! My mom met me at the school and I couldn't stop going on about what an amazing experience I was having.
FRIDAY
This was the second and final day at VFS. But we couldn't think of that too much - there was still so much to do! We started the morning with another film shoot. This time, it was a scene from 500 Days of Summer (I later watched this film - it was so weird seeing the scene that we filmed!). It went really well, although some of us had some different ideas about how the scene should be done. We then had lunch (I had another amazing grilled cheese) and then we were off to an editing workshop! A few people from my group (including myself) got lost, and went with the other group before realizing that we were in the wrong spot! When we arrived at the theatre where our workshop was happening, the instructor seemed a little annoyed but continued on with a great editing workshop. Once that was done, we went upstairs and got a crash course in AVID (an editing program).
*EDIT - The editing software that they use at my work is AVID. I felt smart already knowing a little about how to use it :)
I edited the scene from Reservoir Dogs, which was my favourite of the two scenes.Unfortunately, we didn't get to make a copy of what we edited. But I still enjoyed the editing process (especially because I actually had lots to work with!).
Then our time was done. It was sad, but we still had the afterparty so we would see each other again soon!
I was supposed to go home (well, back to the hotel) and have some dinner before the party, but on our way home we came upon a cute little coffee shop. Actually, it was more of a chocolate café. We stopped in and they had chocolate everything. I almost died of happiness. We ordered some fondue and my goodness was it ever to die for! So... that was my dinner!
I then returned to the school where I met up with April. A lovely speech was said to all of us - really inspiring! And then they handed out certificates and t-shirts (more merch!). After that, the parents were kicked out and we had an awesome party! Great music, great people, and lots of karaoke! It was such an amazing time, it felt as if it would go on forever!
But before we knew it, our parents came back to pick us up and it was time to go. It was sad and I still miss everyone there!
SATURDAY
The next day, we packed our bags and got ourselves ready for the day. Because our plane didn't leave until 5, we had a fair amount of the day to do some more exploring. So we went to Granville Island! It's so beautiful! We even got to ride the Bombardier while we were there. We explored the shops for a bit. There was this amazing hat boutique where I wanted to buy a cloche hat, but alas I did not. Next to there was another shop that had this amazing lamp that was all weird and modern, but I loved it! We also went into the kid's shops (yes I went through the small kid's door!).
As we were leaving one of the stores, we hear this voice being amplified by a microphone. Curious as we are, we went outside to see what was going on. Outside of the French bakery, was some British comedian. His act consisted of him juggling fire and getting out with a straightjacket, but the fun lasted for about an hour! During the show, he would poke fun at the crowd as well as passerby's. It was absolutely hilarious! I even got to be a part of the show. We (a couple of guys and myself) were told to hold these flaming torches and eventually throw them to him. I. Was. Terrified.... Kind of. You know that commercial where they say "sports skills are life skills"? Well I wasn't sure if the small amount of sports skills that I actually have would be helpful when I'm throwing a FLAMING TORCH OF DEATH (is that even a life skill?).
The British guy first asked the man to my left to throw him the torch, which he did so successfully. Then it was my turn. He asked me if I had ever thrown a flaming torch before, to which I replied, "No". I was then told to take a step closer to him. Then another. And another. And a few more until I was close enough to just hand him the flaming torch of death. All was good and I did not die!
He then performed various tricks with the torches and then was put in a straightjacket, which he successfully escaped from! It was an hour hilariously spent!
My trip to Vancouver was amazing. I know for some people "it's only Vancouver", but to me it was one of the best experiences that I've ever had (thus far). Being there gave me a small taste of what's to come - I have never been so excited and thrilled about the future!
Thanks again to VFS for this opportunity and I look forward to seeing/working with the other students in the near future!
Veronika
