Annie Dickerson

Announced at Game Design Expo 2010, the full-tuition scholarship initiative aims to encourage and support women in the game industry by singling out one passionate and talented gamer for intensive training at VFS.

Annie has been documenting her experiences in the program so far, as well as her thoughts and insights into the game industry, through her frequently updated blog. Be sure to check it out!

The former “Teach for America” educator graciously gave us a quick update about how things are going.

You’re a few weeks into your first term in Game Design at VFS. What are your impressions?

Annie: Most days I leave my house at 8am and don’t get home until after 10pm. Fourteen hours may seem like a long time, but it always goes by in a flash. The days are filled with interesting lectures, thought-provoking discussions, and skill-building activities. All of the assignments are designed to push us and help us gain relevant industry experience. Best of all is the people I get to go through this experience with. Our class is incredibly diverse, with people from all over the world and from all walks of life. Within four short weeks, we’ve all become great friends. With such awesome peers and terrific teachers, I’m sure that this year will be filled with crazy workloads, tons of creative brainstorming sessions, and lots of laughs.

How are you adjusting to living in Vancouver?

Annie: My husband and I drove across the country from Washington, DC to Vancouver in late May. It didn’t take long for us to fall head-over-heels in love with the city. With sushi restaurants on every corner, festivals every weekend, and a variety of outdoor activities to try, there’s never a dull moment. The people here are all really friendly, and living four blocks from the beach isn’t too bad.

What are you most looking forward to in the coming terms?

Annie: As I look through all the classes coming up in the next few terms, I can’t help but be amazed. On the surface, game design seems so simple, yet it can be broken down into so many different components. I’m loving the theory and art classes so far, largely because they’re within my comfort zone, though I’m looking forward to digging into the technical side of game design. Most of all, I’m excited to learn more about myself through this process as I work with different people and take on new challenges.

Thanks, Annie. Good luck this term!

Click here to visit Annie’s Game Design blog, “Play by Play.”



It was the oldest remaining vaudeville theatre in Western Canada, fallen into complete disrepair – even then, you could see the building’s former beauty. But as this early July article in the Vancouver Sun explains, restoration efforts have been called off. The Pantages can’t be salvaged.

No Light at Midnight captures that hope, before time and neglect sealed the Pantages’ fate for good. This excellent documentary by VFS Film Production students – including Director Jay Macmillan and Producer Cullen Jones – now serves as an elegy of sorts, a moment in time when the non-profit Pantages Theatre Society was still fighting to restore the theatre and save this part of Vancouver’s history.

Congrats, Azlan!

Sound Design for Visual Media

Jill, née Schachne,  happens to be married to Sound Designer Scott Sanders, who was at VFS with partner Perry Robertson all week to visit with students and share their experiences.

On top of her five wins, Jill has a staggering 21 more Emmy nominations to her name. She gave a talk to students that ran the gamut from the history of Foley – that would be using props to create sound effects that match the picture – to her own career and life as a Foley artist.

“Eventually, her lecture became more of a Q&A, which I enjoyed very much,” says student Erin Hembrador. “She covered both the technical and personal skills needed in the field and was willing to answer any questions we had.”

“Jill spent some time talking about her current work on the show Sons of Anarchy,” student John Born says. “She described her very physical job of watching the characters on screen and then creating real-time sound effects to correspond to their actions scene by scene. This is an important job, because it brings out the depth of a performance and gives it the larger-than-life feel needed for TV and film.”

It’s that physicality  that makes Foley such an unusual pursuit. ”You need to drop your ego, forget about yourself, and gracefully be the character on the screen,” says student Maria Luz Orozco.

“Jill herself has an extensive background in dance,” John explains. “She described how her skills with rhythm and timing gave her the edge needed to perform in real-time along with the quick movements of the characters on screen.”

Like many guest presentations at VFS, it didn’t end when the lights came up. Erin was one student who benefited from Jill’s presence outside the Sound Theatre: “After her presentation, I approached her with a question regarding my final project, in which I was having trouble coming up with the sound of movement for a creature,” she says.

“She was happy to help, checked out the visual for my project, and came up with a creepy sound using quarter-inch tape and pieces of straw within seconds of being in the prop room. She then told me to add a wet chamois to it, so I went to Canadian Tire, came back to school, set up a Foley room, and it sounded great!”

Day 1
Days 2 and 3
Fireworks
Day 4
Day 5

Registration for the remaining Summer Intensives is closed, but if you’re interested in attending one in the future, you can head on over to vfs.com/summerintensives to sign up for the mailing list.

As a cinematic artist on the game, 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Alvaro Buendia‘s work has helped feed the hype machine, and will be seen by countless gamers for years to come. Alvaro has been working on Blizzard’s cinematics for about three and a half years now, and we caught up with him way back in ’08, before he could even talk about any of the projects he was working on – although we had some guesses.

Here’s an ad spot from June that shows off some of his handiwork on StarCraft II. Congrats, Alvaro!

By Jesse Barden

Student Jesse Barden, flanked by Perry Robertson (left) and Scott Sanders (right)

This past week, the students of the VFS Sound Design program were paid a visit by Scott Sanders and Perry Robertson. We had been looking forward to their arrival for months, excited to meet and learn from two of Hollywood’s most prominent sound designers. These men have been partners in sound for many years, and have more recently become business partners as they founded Ear Candy Post in LA. Perry and Scott have been creating spectacular post production sound work for films such as Rambo and Up in the Air, as well as numerous other Hollywood blockbuster titles.

During private instruction with our class, Perry discussed the concept of focus – how to draw the audience’s attention to what needs to be heard. In that regard, he stressed the important role of dialogue, and that it is central in conveying the story to the viewers. He taught us how to give it clarity while ensuring that the rest of the sounds remain adequately present. Perry used Pro Tools sessions from Rambo to demonstrate these concepts. In terms of editing, Perry touched on ways to edit production dialogue with ADR – the goal being to make potentially unnatural transitions sound clean and seamless, to reduce any chance of distracting the viewer from the story.

Scott demonstrated some of his techniques in sound design, using examples from both Rambo and Jennifer’s Body. He showed us how he went about designing some of Rambo’s frenetic battle scenes, wherein he gave different weapons their own distinct sound to subtly convey the character of the user. One Pro Tools session, dedicated entirely to gunfire, was comprised of nearly 300 tracks divided into gun mechanics, discharge, fly-bys, and impacts. That level of detail was impressive, and the result is intense and impactful.

I was fortunate enough to attend a lunch held for Perry and Scott last week. This gave us some time to set aside technical practices in sound editing and talk about things such as the film production process, business, and about how these two men got to where they are today. They spoke about the chances of landing that dream job in the entertainment industry, pointing out that a certain amount of luck is always required. Still, they remained optimistic, encouraging us to “make our own luck” by working hard and being determined.

Perry and Scott were wonderfully positive and encouraging; they answered our questions before we could even ask them. They would often forget about break times or intermissions, and continued to chat or take more questions. They told us, “When you love your work, you want to talk about it.” And how true it was, as we all experienced their passion for their craft, and the enthusiasm to pass their knowledge on to us. At one point during a lecture, a student in the crowd asked Perry and Scott, “Where do you find your inspiration?” It struck me then that these men are inspiration; they are the ones who construct the emotional core of the films we all love. It is their work that we respect.

This past week was an amazing learning experience and a total inspiration. I extend my sincerest thanks to Perry and Scott – and their wives! – for taking the time to come and share their knowledge with us.

Melody and her colleagues at the highly-respected Vancouver-based audio post-production facility Sharpe Sound are nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special for their work on the Syfy miniseries Alice, a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland.

For the 2007 VFS graduate who was a sound effects editor on Alice, it’s a big highlight in a young career. Melody will be heading to L.A. in late August to attend the gala, but for now, we managed to get her reaction to the nomination and some background on her professional life.

Hi, Melody, and congratulations on the Emmy nom! Let’s hear your origin story: was there a moment in your life when you realized that sound design was something you wanted to do for a living? How did that come about?

Melody: I actually stumbled on the Sound Design program at VFS by accident… sort of. I was 25, living in chilly Winnipeg, Manitoba, and doing nothing really important with my life – unless you consider waitressing important!

I decided I needed a huge change, so I started shopping for schools in BC. I found VFS and started looking into the various programs offered. That is when my life changed forever. I found the Sound Design program, read about the courses, and was, like, “I can do this for a living?!” Rad. I had no idea that such a program existed!

I called right away and spoke to an advisor. I was so excited. It was all over after that. I started saving every penny I made for school.

I suppose I was always interested in sound, looking back now. My sisters and I would “broadcast” radio shows to our friends and family via pre-recorded cassette tapes. I had no idea at the time, but we were actually incorporating foley into our radio programs – recording all sorts of sound effects from around the house to make the program more interesting. Back then, I thought that clapping your hands sounded like tap dancing!

I knew the program at VFS would be a challenge for me – and it was. But I managed to graduate at the top of my class and I loved every minute of being there.

Like many sound professionals, you wear a lot of hats – sound effects editor, field recordist, sound designer… Do you have a favourite?

Melody: That is a really hard question to answer! Right now, I am doing mainly FX editing, and I love it. It is really challenging. You have to get everything absolutely perfect. There is not really any room for error because you are designing sounds to match what people are physically looking at on the screen. Everybody knows what a door sounds like, for example, so your door better sound like that specific door. If you are doing more special effects design, there is more room for interpretation, so you have more room to play and get really creative.

Field recording is really, really fun! I was actually just in Thailand a few weeks ago and I recorded a bunch of really awesome sound effects! It’s a rush. You get to go out into the world, instead of being cooped up in a windowless room for 12 hours a day, and just listen. There are a lot of really neat sounds you can record if you just take the time to listen and explore! I know that sounds really cheesy, but it’s true!

A favourite… I’d have to say design. That’s what I’m aspiring to become. An amazing, amazing sound designer. I have a long, long way to go, let me tell you! The longer I’m in this industry, the more I realize I have a lot more to learn… which is good. I never get bored!

Our readers might not know what an SFX editor does. Could you explain your responsibilities on Alice, for example?

Melody: An SFX editor creates – either by using his or her own recorded sounds or piecing together an original sound made up of a selection of library sounds – sounds for picture which actually physically exist in real life. For example, doors, vehicles… I find myself editing a lot of fight scenes as well.

Working on Alice, I was responsible for all of the doors, the fight scenes, horses, some specific background effects, and a lot more. In the case of Alice, the vehicles, like the Scarab and the flying flamingo racers, were the job of the designer. You normally do not find flying motorized flamingoes in the real world.

When you started work on Alice, did you have any idea you were working on something special, from a sound point of view?

Melody: I knew Alice was going to be a lot of fun and a lot of work right from the start. I was also totally nervous, because it was my first time working with two of the best designers around, Kris Fenske and James Wallace. There was so much going on in the film, it was great! I even got to do a few “design-y” effects myself! I really enjoyed the opportunity to get creative and work on such a great show.

When and how did you find out about the Emmy nomination? How did it feel to have your name listed there?

Melody: Oh, gosh, my roommate works for Sharpe Sound and actually sent me a goofy text message letting me know I was nominated! I kind of still can’t believe it. It all seems a little surreal to me still! I am very proud to be listed with the others on the ballot. They are amazingly talented people. I almost feel like I don’t deserve to be listed alongside them! But I worked very, very hard on the show.

I’m heading down to the Emmys the weekend of the 21st of August. I think it’s one of those things where it’ll finally hit me walking down the red carpet or something. Hopefully I don’t pee my pants right then and there. That would be embarrassing… although they do say any publicity is good publicity… ha ha!

Thanks, Melody, and good luck at the Emmys! Readers in interested in seeing what Melody’s up to in the sound field can check her IMDB profile and her personal portfolio site.

This year’s Illuminares (at W2 Storyeum downtown while the usual location is undergoing construction)  is this weekend, Saturday, July 24th. All are welcome, the event is free, and if you’re in town, we highly recommend it! You can find the details on Facebook.

That means we’ve got a great excuse to show some recent work by Digital Design student Jordan Scott, whose final project is a promotional video for non-profit Illuminares organizer Public Dreams. Take a look!

Continuing from Monday night’s screening of Up in the Air, one of many films Sanders and Robertson collaborated on, the duo kicked things off with their personal stories of how they came to work in the film and television industry.

Scott Sanders

Sanders was a guitarist-turned-aspiring recording engineer who started off with a janitor’s gig in a sound studio. With a joking fondness for those days, he recounted cleaning the bathrooms of stars like Phil Collins and Stevie Nicks.

“Cleaning that studio was where my audio education began,” Sanders said.

During his graveyard shifts, he started showing a curiosity in what the audio technicians were doing and — lucky for him — they taught him all about it. Shortly thereafter, he put down the mop for a mic. The studio where he worked eventually retrofitted their facility to accommodate post-production sound projects and he cut his teeth in the film and television industry working on the Dinosaurs series.

Perry Robertson

A self-described “preacher’s kid”, Robertson found his profession through an internship at a sound studio that gave way to working in live televised sporting events. After pursuing that path for a time, he went back to a Dallas studio and worked on his first scripted series, Barney & Friends (yes, the big purple dancing T-Rex).

“My dinosaurs were tougher than yours,” Sanders joked.

Robertson then took the plunge and moved to LA — where he said he had no job, nowhere to live, and no girlfriend. That all changed in a matter of weeks when he started networking with all the right people, found steady work, and even met his future wife. (A good month, indeed!)

On ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)

Sanders and Robertson discussed how directors have love/hate points of view on ADR. After working with Jason Reitman through all three of his feature films (Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air), they know that he will continue to shoot a scene until he gets the best on-set sound to avoid sending his actors to the studio for ADR.

As Robertson explained, ADR — whether it’s good or bad — can have a massive effect on a film: “I’ve seen Laurence Fishburne go in and change the entire tone of a movie with his ADR,” he said.

Ear Candy Post Meets Rambo

When the studio Robertson and Sanders were working for was bought up by a larger company, they decided to gather a small team and found Ear Candy Post. After seven years, they’ve worked on some huge films, and they gave Sound Design students a little taste of their working process.

They screened one clip of Sylvestre Stallone’s most recent Rambo film, first illustrating the kind of temporary sound effects the picture department will supply them with in order to convey the general idea. Sanders and Robertson will then use those placeholders as a guide for their work, which then has to be approved by the director — who, in this case, was Stallone himself.

They soon came to learn that if the gunfire sounds weren’t always in the red on the mixing board, they weren’t doing their job.

Sanders explained that Rambo, with its countless explosions and war cries, was actually an easier film to do sound for compared to another recent one they worked on, Lars and the Real Girl. That film was shot in a very quiet, snow-covered Wiconsin landscape that required much more attention to sound than they had anticipated.

“You can cover things up with explosions,” Robertson joked, but that’s not the case with quiet domestic scenes though.

The Advantages of Today

“You’re in such a better place than we were when we were your age,” Robertson said, referring to Sound Design students’ ability to experiment with top-of-the-line VFS sound equipment and the ease with which they can access and use software like ProTools.

“The tools are no longer the problem,” Sanders said. With the increase in accessibility, the aspiring sound designer has to put all the more effort into learning the soft skills that will make their work stand out amongst the crowd.

The talk wrapped up with a lively Q&A session during which Robertson and Sanders answered all questions about their work, backgrounds, and the industry.

Their visit to the Sound Design for Visual Media department wraps up today, but there are more great stories and advice to come from two of the top sound professionals in Hollywood!