Awe-inspiring: animation: Vancouver Film School students produce impressive and award-winning animation.(SPONSORED EDITORIAL)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Results matter." At Vancouver Film School (VFS), Canada's largest private post-secondary entertainment arts institution, it is not just a motto; it's a mantra, for students and instructors alike. This principle guides teachers and students in the VFS Classical Animation program, and they give the industry the very best of themselves--with stellar results.

The VFS Classical Animation program is an intensive, one-year curriculum designed to turn out professional animators in just one year. In those 12 months, students learn and experience the entire animation process, from concept development to finished product. All the cornerstones of animation technique--drawing, storyboarding, layout, background, and character design--combine to deliver a comprehensive, well-rounded education in classical animation.

"Students in Classical Animation are living, breathing animation for a year," explains Larry Bafia, Head of Animation & Visual Effects at VFS and a former Commercial Animation Director and Sequence Lead Animator at PDI/DreamWorks.

Over the course of six months, students learn technique and theory, as well as how to present their work and benefit from critiques. Woven throughout is a nuts-and-bolts technical education, ensuring that future animators have the technical experience and know-how to produce professional-looking results. The sixth month ushers in the development phase, in which students "take an original idea, boil it down to its essence, and determine how to put it into film language," continues Bafia. Of the curriculum, says Bafia, "We set the standards high. If they work hard enough, they will rise to the occasion." And rise they do.

To gauge the quality of VFS student and alumni work, one needn't look far: VFS student works are part of noteworthy entertainment-art showcases, including YouTube.com, where hundreds of impressive VFS student pieces reside (http://youtube.com/user/VancouverFilmSchool). VFS submits its students' animated ...