BECOME A
PROFESSIONAL
FILMMAKER

Digital Filmmaking

I WANT ANSWERS!

Overview

Learn everything there is to know about digital filmmaking from the Centre for Arts and Technology digital film school. At one of the leading digital film schools in Canada, our digital filmmaking program has established the reputation as “the filmmaker’s film school” allowing students to work with our industry pros while gaining valuable knowledge and industry insights. If you’ve always loved movies, and the idea of telling stories through the magic of filmmaking keeps you up at night, then the Centre for Arts and Technology digital film school is right for you. You know that a successful film production relies on much more than the director and talent under the spotlight. You understand that every crewmember, from grips to set decorators, plays an important role in the final product that hits the screen. Are you ready to dive into one of these exciting roles and say “Action!” to your career in film? Graduates of the Digital Filmmaking program from one of the leading digital film schools in Canada go on to careers locally and all around the world. You could launch your career as a:

  • Camera Operator/Director of Photography (DOP)
  • Lighting Technician
  • Production Assistant
  • Locations Audio
  • Screenwriter
  • Producer
  • Director/Assistant Director
  • Independent or Documentary Filmmaker
  • Editor
  • Grip/Gaffer
  • Production Designer

 FILM SCHOOL TRAINING KELOWNA, BC

British Columbia has one of the largest film industries in North America, which continues to expand yearly. Centre for Arts and Technology has developed a reputation as “the filmmaker’s film school”. The reason? All of our students get the chance to direct at least one of their own short films, and gain experience on both small independent film shoots and larger budget productions. Your instructors at Centre for Arts and Technology film school are top pros who have worked their way up the rungs of the film industry ladder, collecting valuable knowledge and industry insights along the way. You’ll gain from their wisdom regarding every aspect of film production. Your days at one of the leading digital film schools in Canada will be spent in our custom-built production studio, industry-quality editing labs, and working as crewmembers on the sets of local productions. In just 18 months, this accelerated program will teach you: Production Planning—Budgeting—Screenwriting for Narrative Films—Cinematography—Lighting, Composition and Framing—Film Blocking and Staging Casting and Directing—Digital Technology—Post Production and Editing with Final Cut Pro, After Effects and Pro Tools—Proposal Writing, Financial Backing, Marketing and Distribution—Promotion and Film Festival Submission.

“Centre for Arts and Technology had everything I hoped for: a small class size, one-on-one attention, and dedicated instructors. I get to make art every day and it never feels like work. For all you potential students—be prepared to make something awesome out of your life. Anyone who takes this course is in for a real treat.” –     Carly Sappier

Campuses

Kelowna

Program Length

18 months

Application Deadline

September 6th

Course Flow

  • Semester 1
  • Semester 2
  • Semester 3
  • Semester 4
  • Semester 5
  • Semester 6

In your first quarter, you will be introduced to nonlinear editing, basic camera operation, gripology and lighting from both a video as well as still photography basis. Each course has been designed to dovetail into the next and offer the student a thorough understanding of the basic operation of the camera from a DSLR perspective. You will be introduced to digital compositing techniques, three and four point editing,  computer graphics, file management and format conversion. You will also be immersed into the world of visual storytelling by examining individual components, aspects and concepts concerned with the visual medium. Specific detail is paid to the relationship between the writer, director, and the audience. Emphasis is placed on understanding the basics of narrative, aesthetics, and the practical application of the techniques behind these theories.

In your second quarter, you will push forward into intermediate post production techniques and practices using the Adobe CS suite of software. In Location Audio, you will learn about the equipment, techniques, protocols and procedures used in on-site recording for film and TV, including the usage of shotgun mics, lavalier mics, field mixers and recorders. Your second term will also move into intermediate camera and lighting techniques, including studio and location lighting. You will continue to be immersed into the world of visual interpretation through intermediate camera techniques and advanced lighting scenarios. You will commence your writing education in term two with your first screenwriting class which will breakdown and clarify the requirements of good a script. Each student will complete a short film script by the end of term with a competition to determine which students script will be produced in the following term with a mentor director and a small budget in place.

In your third quarter, you will start to explore some of the specializations in the film industry, including Broadcast News and Television Production, music video and short form documentary.  Production Management and the role of the Producer will be further examined in order to take control over the organizational and business requirements of running a set and or an independent production company. One student’s script from the previous term will be chosen to go into production in this term; this will be a mentored shoot with an industry professional guiding the production forward as the director. All other positions will be held by students, including director in training. The term will also see you develop skills at camera movement through the use of cranes, motorized heads and sliders, 3 AXIS gimbal rigs, handheld rigs more.

In Cinematography, you explore a wide range of topics that allow the lighting cameraperson to control their medium using a small crew, which includes an overview of the camera department with job descriptions of the director of photography, camera assistants and camera operator. You will produce a short Biopic documentary and write the film script for your personal narrative that you will produce in the next term. You will be set up with a live client through a regional technology incubator in an effort to complete a commercial corporate production that meets the requirements of your client. You will continue to work compositing and VFX software, taking on more complex tasks and applying colour correction and grading techniques.

In your fifth quarter, you will use all the expertise and knowledge that you’ve gathered in the first half of the program, to complete a major narrative film project. You will continue to dive deeper into visual effects and motion graphics, which are used in creating motion graphics and special effects in film and television. You and your class in a group effort will complete a half hour factual  television production which includes the development of the project, the casting of a presenter for the TV show, the production and post production of the program for final delivery on the local Shaw network.

In your sixth and final quarter of the program, you will explore the history, processes, technologies, theory, and business of film and TV production from multiple perspectives, including aesthetic and critical socio-cultural perspectives, in your Media Studies course. You will design and build a personal /business website which will include your Demo reel, client pages and a blog in preparation of your job search and or business startup. You will research, develop and produce a long form factual documentary as a final major project in the program and prepare for your final show which will be held at a local venue.

Faculty

VICTOR POIRIER | DEPARTMENT HEAD

Victor’s interest in film started at age 17 when he had the opportunity to work as a PA on the documentary film A Life, by the late award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker Frank Cole. After his work on the film (described by Andrienne Mancia of New York’s Museum of Modern Art as doing “some of the things that Scorsese does in The Last Temptation of Christ, but perhaps better”) Victor moved into photography, studying for a BFA at the University of Ottawa.

Post university, Victor worked as a set photographer, gaffer, camera assistant and camera operator in the Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal film industries; he then opened Erebus Productions, a facilities house which serviced the Eastern corridor with grip, electric, 16 mm and 35 mm film cameras. After a period directing music videos for Canadian bands,  he moved to producing and directing under the banner Panfilms, where he won several awards in various categories, including documentary, national PSA’s, and animation, for a variety of networks, including CTV, OLN TVO and CBC.

In 2001, Victor moved to the UK where he became the director of BBC Scotland’s longest serving episodic television series The Beechgrove as well as several series for ITV and BBC Gaelic. Over the course of eight years he directed and produced over 150 episodes of primetime, from documentary, to lifestyle to reality. Victor also acted as Executive Producer on the BBC series, The Food Trail. Victor gained national recognition for his role as producer/director on the ITV series The Woman Who Ate Scotland, which broke established viewing figures and gained a Scottish Thistle nomination.

After moving back to Canada in 2008, he worked as director of development at Ocean Entertainment in Halifax, Nova Scotia before relocating to the Okanagan.. Victor now lives in Kelowna and works at the Center for Arts and Technology managing the Digital Filmmaking, and Digital Photography departments.

To learn more about working in the Filmmaking Industry, you can listen to our PODCAST  with Victor on our Soundcloud Stream. 

NATASHA HOWES

Natasha has worked in multiple areas of the film industry including production, distribution, exhibition and education.  After her Media Studies degree, she trained at the British Film Institute and launched her career in the UK’s Art-House cinema circuit as a programmer, event producer and critic, whilst studying for her master’s degree in Film at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Natasha created a funded Film Co-operative, producing, managing and promoting the work of regional film artists.  She initiated and produced the popular ‘Screen Test’ and ‘Shorted’ at the Midlands Arts Centre, UK, to actively create audiences for regional film, and programmed film showcases at digital film and music festivals.  She also managed the visual jockey collective ‘Sonic Vision’.

When she immigrated to Kelowna 7 years ago, she set up the Okanagan Media Association as a networking, skills development and project incubation initiative; and created CopyHowes Communications to produce video and content for the Valley, with clients including: Interior Health; Copeman Healthcare; West Kelowna Tourism; and Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival.

Internationally, Natasha produced an award winning digital feature film, ‘The 13th Day’’, which is distributed in 13 territories worldwide, is available in 8 languages, and has been screened in over 500 venues throughout North America.  She was UK Producer on the 3D documentary ‘Cosmic Origins’; Producer on the award winning Festival short ‘Late Harvest‘ by alumni Benjamin Musgrave; and is currently in production on the major theatrical movie ‘FATIMA’.​

DONALD B. FERGUSON | INSTRUCTOR

Don Ferguson has 36 years of experience in the broadcast industry, spanning from the end of the film days to the digital age of today. Don has had the privilege of working as a Studio Cameraman for the Evening Newscast, worked in Master Control on commercials and TV shows and from there progressed to producing for ENG (Electronic News Gathering). There he worked in the field with reporters and anchors, producing the news. Don also has experience as a Production Switcher for live broadcasts of the news and has worked as a News Director, responsible for the audio and video for live newscasts. Don is versed in all the software used for live productions and non-linear editing techniques.  Don is a partner in the film production company Techyoumedia and has produced several documentaries and TV pilots through this partnership, including “The Force” hosted by Leslie Nielsen and The KVR Diaries with TV host Mike Roberts. A full length sci-fi motion picture from Techyoumedia is in the final stages of effects and sound design.

Don brings his diverse experience with him to Centre for Arts and Technology as an instructor in the Digital Video Fusion Production Program and the Digital Filmmaking Program.

JAMIE COTTINGTON | INSTRUCTOR

Jamie moved to Kelowna from London, England in 2013 after a very successful career spanning around 17 years with BMW UK.

He had been successfully ‘playing’ at being a photographer for around 10 years, never committing to making it his full time gig. However, when everything seemed to align perfectly, he couldn’t ignore the opportunity for a radical change of direction in life. Jamie resigned from his perfectly good job, jumped on a plane and headed to explore what Canada had to offer.

He enrolled at Centre for Arts and Technology, graduating from the Digital Video Fusion Program in 2014, as a way of broadening his creative offering. He has since formed a successful Photography, Videography and Events Management Company, called Pinstripe Productions Ltd., producing work across North America with his two Co-founders.

Aside from his own productions, Jamie is also hired as a Camera Operator for live TV, sporting and music events and is an experienced Gimbal Operator. He has worked on small and large production films and documentaries filmed in the Okanagan and in Europe.

BRANDON OLSON | INSTRUCTOR

Brandon started in the Vancouver Film and Television industry at the age of four as an actor, where he worked on over seventy commercials and two feature films with stars such as Jean Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Scott Bakula and Cynthia Nixon to name a few. After stepping away from acting and pursuing a career behind the camera, Brandon attended and graduated the Centre for Arts and Technology Digital Film Production Program.

Following his graduation Brandon would begin working in pre-production for the same casting directors that hired him as an actor ten plus years earlier. He would also work on sets in the assistant directors department as a background coordinator and in front of the camera again as a member of the second team most often times.

Brandon currently holds a position in both the UBCP union as well as the DGC.

Graduate Success

Thomas Bowerbank

"I really enjoyed the program. I had some great instructors and the program really opened my eyes to all the aspects of filmmaking, some of which I had never really thought about before hand. I loved the freedom when getting to shoot our first and final thesis film’s and getting a grasp on the different avenues available in the industry. Overall it was a really positive experience and it gave me the knowledge I needed to help me find the path I wanted to pursue as a Director." - Thomas Bowerbank