Sound Design Class 43

Time flies when your having fun, and the last year went by in a heart-beat! I should say at this point that the person having all the fun over the last year was my daughter Jennifer, who has spent the last year in Vancouver, where she is - was enrolled at VFS (Vancouver Film School) where she studied Sound Design. Jennifer's graduation took place on Tuesday the 19th, so I flew out to the coast for the happening.

I have to say that they heard I was coming and rolled out the welcome mat in regards to the weather! I was pleased with the crystal blue skies upon reaching Vancouver, and enjoyed the ride in to the city with my sister Sonia, who picked me up at the airport. Sonia lives in downtown Vancouver, and this proved to be a great location to get familiar with the core of the city, as there was a whole lot going on in the neighborhood. I quickly became familiar with the goings-on, while wandering around this very cool city, and over the course of several days, I discovered the interesting parts of the downtown that yielded photos that I was pleased with.

I enjoyed the Gastown district with its historic charm and distinctiveness. Gastown is a refreshing mix of old and new. Various shops have the streets buzzing during the day, and a host of restaurants and nightspots keeps the area humming into the wee hours of the morning.
I have to say that the permanent residents as well as all the visitors, provided me with a lot of interesting photos of faces! I spent part of one day working my way along the seawall that runs all the way around English Bay from Stanley Park in the northeast, and around False Creek at Point Grey facing the Strait of Georgia in the southwest. While working my way around on the seawall, I discovered that this is a favourite destination for walkers, runners, bicyclists, and roller-bladers, as they were in good supply on this very beautiful day that was served up. Of course, I cannot forget the photographers, as they were out in force, including pro-photographers who had brought their clients down to the seawall for photo-shoots. Their reasoning for choosing the seawall as a location was easy to understand, as the location was perfect, just like a huge outdoor studio!

The 19th dawned bright and clear with skies that were once more crystal clear with the promise of a great day for Jennifer's grad. For those of you not up to speed, the Vancouver Film School is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, and since being founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition as Canada's premier post-secondary entertainment arts institution, and one of the most distinguished in the world.
The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around downtown Vancouver and is comprised of six buildings. The VFS graduation was being held at the Vancouver International Film Center theater, and what a terrific location to hold this most important of events. All the graduates (eleven) looked wonderful, and I was most impressed with them all upon meeting them. The highlight of the program were the video's that each graduate put their blood, sweat and tears into, and it showed! What a spectacular screening it was, and they were all winners in the eyes of the audience.

Once the screening of the video's was done, the graduates received their diplomas, and then the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions of the graduates. The VFS graduates certainly knew their stuff, and each of them was able to answer the questions that were asked of them by the audience without hesitation.
Once the graduation ceremony was finished, you could tell that these close friends were having trouble saying good bye, as they had just spent a year forming very close bonds with one another. But, it was time to move forward, and before long the graduates of Class-43 would be returning to their respective countries of Canada, Venezuela, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and the USA.
I spent another day in Vancouver before I too had to return to my home turf, but I have to say that I had a terrific time while out on the coast.