Key Takeaways
- VFS’s hands-on film school offers five specialized programs that immerse students in real production environments.
- Students graduate with professional portfolios, final projects, and hands-on entertainment industry training that reflect industry standards.
- From directing and acting to makeup and sound design, VFS prepares students to launch creative careers across the entertainment industry.
As we wrap up our blog series on hands-on production at Vancouver Film School – we’re concluding with our School of Film & Television, which features five programs spanning the entertainment industry: Film Production, Acting for Film & Television, Writing for Film Television & Games, Makeup Design for Film & Television, and Sound Design for Visual Media.
From performing on-camera to crafting unforgettable scripts, creating fantastical characters with makeup, shaping immersive soundscapes, and driving the creative & technical elements of filmmaking, these programs place students directly into the heart of film and television production. Students are trained in production environments that reflect industry pipelines, ensuring they graduate with real, hands-on experience, professional portfolios, and the practical skills needed to launch a wide range of careers in entertainment.
FILM PRODUCTION PROGRAM
Of all VFS programs, Film Production offers the widest range of possibilities for hands-on production. With a single intake equating to 50+ films over the course of one year, this means you’ll have 50+ opportunities to add to your ever-expanding reel.
Whether your passion is directing, producing, cinematography, post-production, or production-design, you’ll experience the complete industry production pipeline and collaborate with your classmates and other VFS programs on dozens of films during your one year.
Every Film Production student at VFS graduates with a short film that they’ve written and directed. While this becomes the highlight of your production portfolio, you’ll also contribute regularly to your fellow classmates’ films in key roles, from cinematography to editing, producing, and building sets. Your Final Project – the most ambitious work you’ll complete during the program – is longer, has a bigger budget, and often results in a festival run.
Finally, through an elective course – Episodics – film students have one final chance towards the end of the program to collaborate with VFS’s Writing and Acting programs on a project utilizing the television series model.
ACTING FOR FILM & TELEVISION PROGRAM
From feature to sitcom, mocap and voice acting – VFS Acting for Film & Television students do it all!
- Performance Capture Demo at Beyond Capture Studios: Students step into motion capture suits to experience how movement and expression are digitally recorded and translated into animated characters.
- Voice Acting Demo at The Warehouse Studio: Through the recording process, students explore tone, breath control, & vocal performance to create fully-realized characters, developing vocal stamina, emotional range, & adaptability.
- Studio Shoots with VFS’s Film Program: Students collaborate on film shoots that replicate professional film sets with camera crews, lighting teams, and directors, emphasize communication, timing, adaptability, & the collaborative nature of filmmaking.
- Comedy Projects: Students explore comedic techniques through scripted & improvised material, experimenting with sketch, sitcom, satire, & physical comedy and sharpening their comedic instincts, expanding their versatility, and emphasizing ensemble collaboration.
The journey of a VFS Acting student culminates with the Final Film Shoot – a capstone project featuring large-scale, interdisciplinary collaboration with Film, Writing, and Makeup students. Students bring scripts to life with performances enhanced by professional-level cinematography, makeup, & production design, and are challenged to draw upon their training in character development, emotional truth, physical presence, and on-set adaptability to deliver memorable performances. These films provide polished demo reel material as well as provide Acting students with a deep understanding of collaboration.
Through five specialized programs, VFS’s School of Film & Television trains aspiring filmmakers for the entertainment industry.WRITING FOR FILM, TELEVISION & GAMES PROGRAM
This may not come as a surprise, but Writing students at VFS spend their entire year writing! By the time you graduate, you’ll have amassed an incredible portfolio of long-form samples that includes features, TV specs, and game design docs – depending on which stream you choose to specialize in.
The opportunities for hands-on training in the Writing program are vast. All students complete the Producing for Writers (Story) course, where they’ll write shorts and vote on their favourites. The winning scripts advance to an elective course, Producing for Writers (Production), where students make these films and perform nearly every role from director to producer, location manager and more. Additionally, students who select the Games stream of the program take a Motion Capture Production course, where they’ll write mocap scenes and direct them on-set at Beyond Capture Studios, a professional motion capture studio located on VFS’s campus.
Finally, all Writing students are able to write and submit shot scripts for the Episodics elective, which Film and Acting students will later bring to life for their respective hands-on work.
MAKEUP DESIGN FOR FILM & TELEVISION PROGRAM
It doesn’t get much more hands-on than transforming an actor through the power of production makeup! Makeup Design students work daily with a multitude of physical materials, products, tools, & equipment – the same used by professional makeup artists in the entertainment industry. The majority of the program is spent on hands-on exercises that result in powerful portfolio pieces – from designing, painting, sculpting, mold-making, prosthetics fabrications, & hair-piece construction and then applying these makeups to live subjects.
Once they’ve learned the essentials, Makeup Design students apply what they’ve learned to film shoots, where they collaborate with VFS Film Production and Sound Design students to experience what its like to work as a makeup artist on a real film set.
Towards the end of the program, students spend several weeks creating their Final Projects – the standout piece of their larger makeup portfolio. From concept design to budgeting, practical testing and the final product, this process is entirely led by them! Finally, Makeup Design students have a variety of opportunities throughout the year to get involved with local events. From VFS Open House to Fan Expo and other industry events, students are able to do elaborate makeup applications in front of audiences, showcasing their talents in makeup artistry for film and television.
SOUND DESIGN FOR VISUAL MEDIA PROGRAM
Things move fast in the entertainment industry, and major production studios expect newcomers to deliver from day one. That’s where VFS comes in. Our Sound Design training program – in 1 year – fully trains students to tackle every aspect of audio for film, television, and games.
From the fundamentals of physics and recording to advanced sound design, editing, mixing, and game audio implementation, students gain a complete A–Z sound design education. Their hands-on training is guided by industry professionals who share the lessons they wish they’d known at the start of their careers. Students analyze instructor projects, discuss creative direction, then build and refine their own sessions with direct feedback.
After just three months, students step into the role of sound supervisor in collaborative, cross-program projects. They collaborate twice with VFS Film Production students to complete original film soundtracks, with the Acting program for recording ADR sessions, with the Writing program for recording podcasts & audiobooks, and with the Game Design program for implementing AAA-quality sound for today’s games.
This leads to an exciting Final Project, where students re-design sound for a popular video game trailer, giving it their own unique spin; past students have taken popular game trailers (with permission) from studios like Valve, Ubisoft, Blizzard, Bungie, EA, Riot, Bethesda, CD Projekt Red, Square Enix, and 2K Games and created something that sounds completely brand-new. Take a look at the final project completed by recent Sound Design student, Shah, for Overwatch 2.
READY TO BECOME FULLY TRAINED FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY?
Whether you’re looking to be the next director, actor, makeup artist or beyond, VFS gives you hands on film and television training in 1 year. Book an appointment with our Admissions Advisors to take the first step in your training journey.
VFS’S THREE-PART SERIES ON PORTFOLIOS
You are reading part three in VFS’s series of editorial features on hands-on production. Continue on with part one to discover how this is accomplished in VFS’s School of Animation & Visual Effects and part two for our School of Games & Creative Design.