Shelter- written and directed by Jeff Rocha

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that jumbo.

Enjoying my vacation home for the holidays until early January. In the meantime.... here is a short film by a friend and classmate of mine Jeff Rocha. If this final project doesn't put you in the Christmas Spirit I don't know what will.

SHELTER - Shortfilm from Jefffooo on Vimeo.
A VFS foundation final short film project. Shot in the scenic coastal city of Vancouver. SHELTER tells the story of a homeless man (Joseph Taormina) and a stray dog's  (Wapisiw) venture through the city. From the rundown urban streets of Hastings, to the panoramic port side beaches of Maine, together they go on an introspective journey to find the true meaning of home.

Director/Writer/Editor: Jeff Rocha
Matt Shaw: D.O.P/ 2nd AD
Julian Chapdelaine: 1st AD/Production Mngr
Adam Buhler: Asst. D.O.P/Cam Op
Naseef Izzudin: First AC
Denise Allen: Dog Wrangler

Safe Drive.
PADZ:)

ADrift

Here come the final projects!
Check out my friend Arturo's final animation project.
Definitely one of my favourites.
Great job!

Adrift from Arturo Lopez on Vimeo.
This is my final project for the Foundation Visual Arts & Design program at Vancouver Film School.
Thanks to all my class, my teachers, my family, and of course to Miss Emily Brown (you're great).

PADZ:)

The Santa Claus Parade

All moved out and all moved in to my new apartment downtown. Such a great location, no more spending hard earned twoonies on bus fair. Im excited to get my furniture from home when I UHAUL it here with my new roommate in January. We're located right beside a school and a dog park that hosts "Pug night" once a week so I can head down there and watch all the little snorters running around. 

On Sunday Dec 5, my friends and I headed a few block away to see the Santa Claus Parade. A good cross in quality between Welland and Toronto, so....not bad!

Just about done all my paperwork for my final project. Starting to get excited about my visit home!
PADZ:)

Winter in VanCity

Hey!

The snow has arrived, it may not stay but MAN it's been cold lately. Numbers hitting as low as -10 downtown. It's the first snowfall I've seen stick here all year, it usually just hangs out in the mountains. Walks to school are chilly and bike rides are painful but it looks pretty nice right?

PADZ:)

Working with Home & Garden Television

This past week for a 3 day stretch in between school projects I was working for a new show on HGTV called CONSUMED. It's the latest pilot in Lifestyle Television filmed in and around Vancouver and hosted by Jill Pollack, one of the producers of the show The Bachelorette. Consumed is an extreme experiment in downsizing for families who have drowned their homes and themselves in "too much stuff". The show challenges each of it's families to pack up all of their belongings, with the exception of ten personal items, and live without it for thirty days. At the end of the challenge the family decides what they can and cannot live without. Oh and there's an entire home renovation thrown in the mix as well. Classic reality TV, I love it.

My job on set was helping the families sort through their things and packing it up to be shipped out. A great environment to be hanging out in as we were also moving in and around the crew shooting the show. 

Here's a shot of my little friend Alyssa as she sorted through her toys trying to decide what to keep.
Catch CONSUMED on HGTV in the summer of 2011.

OH AND HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDMA PHILLIPS, WHOLE-E-SMOKES THATS A BIG ONE!
Hope you had a slice of cake for me!

PADZ:)

Another Awesome Day on Set.

On Saturday November 13th my last director Julian Chapdelaine shot his final PRESSURE, a torture scene involving stunts and interrogation. We shot at our school's latest purchase Storyeum, which is a gigantic building downtown with huge pre-built sets containing an underground village, a train and a jungle room the size of a gymnasium. My largest crew yet, Julian had a team of 20 people including 3 actors, 2 makeup artists, 2 sound students, 4 grips, 3 stand-ins, 2 production assistants, a weapon supervisor and a partridge in a pear tree, among others! It was insane. But so much fun to be a part of. I want to make student films forever! Is that a job?

Check out most of our crew!

And more pictures from production day here:
www.picturesfromset.com
PADZ:)

Busting My Acting Chops

A rare opportunity arose this week when an actress dropped out of one of my classmate's films and I got to step up and and take on the role. I played an interviewer in Jessica Chan's mockumetary trailer entitled Afterlife that lightly plays out a true story of spirits and energy waves. It was a short yet sweet production day done on our school's campus and things went well, most likely due to my mad skills in front of the lens, what can I say? The camera loves me!

PADZ:)

On set with Zachery Cressman

Last weekend on November 6th and 7th we filmed my friend Zach's final film, Feline Friendly. Zach wrote a hilarious "mockumentary" about an individual's somewhat inappropriate relationship with his cat and it is anticipated to be one of the comedic highlights of our graduation screening. Zach is the second of the three directors I'm working with for final projects and things are really starting to come together for the third as well. 

PADZ:)

Natalie Dee, you've done it again.

Just another gem from my favourite comic blogger. Get into it.
PADZ:)

Filming of BEARD

Shooting of final projects is underway. One of the three directors I'm producing for, Naseef Izuddin, shot his conversational short film entitled BEARD last Saturday October 30th. We shot at the Vancouver Film School Cafe downtown with a crew of six plus two actors. The film takes a slightly humorous approach as it touches upon the stereotyping of terrorists. It was a surprisingly  smooth day of filming and the director was happy with the way things turned out. That's one headed into post production and two more films left to shoot. 

We're getting there! Happy daylight savings!

PADZ:)

Happy Hallowiners!

My friend Zach and I on Halloween. Sweetest Lumber Jack ever.

PADZ:)

Time Capsule Preview

Time Capsule - Trailor from PaddyRumble on Vimeo.
In 2009 me and 18 of my closest friends turned 25, I captured it all in hopes to share it with them the year we all turn 50.

PADZ:)

Cangratulations

Congratulations to our predecessors, the class of FD40. Graduating just before us from the Foundation Visual Art & Design Program at VFS. Some very promising talent was showcased at their Graduation yesterday. Good luck to all of them as they head off in their individual directions. Two more months and its our turn! Oh boy.

PADZ:)

LIGHT the NIGHT

This Saturday, October 16th our school was asked to join the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's LIGHT the NIGHT Walk held in Vancouver's Stanley Park. A team of 12 of us volunteered our time to film the affair and run interviews of major contributors. All in hope to create a video that helps promote the event in upcoming years across the country. Funds raised help each host community by supporting research, free educational materials, local programs and personalized assistance to family and friends of survivors. Of course we enjoyed making our tiny donation and hope that Vancouver Film School will be long time contributors to the LLS.

"Light The Night Walk events are evenings filled with inspiration. Carrying illuminated balloons - white for survivors, red for supporters and gold in memory of loved ones lost to cancer - thousands of walkers - men, women and children - form a community of caring, bringing light to the dark world of cancer."- LLS

PADZ:)

Thanksgiving on the Island

Finally made it out to the Island over the long weekend. Rented a car, took a ferry and drove an additional 30 min to Victoria, BC. It's about a 2 1/2 hour trip all together and can cost quite a bit of tree house dollars. Don't let the Ferry website fool you, the 15$ reservation fee is exactly that,  just a reservation fee, you have to let the trip itself be part of the experience. It's a nice little spot though, once you get there, ideal place to take your Grandparents I'd say. Great location to take the scenic route along the shoreline and visit parks and gardens, so, that's what we did. Lesley Todd got us a family and friend's deal at the Fairmont Empress and the hotel itself was probably one of the highlights. Perfectly located right on the water between downtown shopping and the Victoria Parliament Buildings. Not a bad little getaway, not bad at all.

PS! You can click on the images to see a larger version!

Checked out the old Victoria Skatepark.

Fed the seals at Oak Bay Marina.

 Hanging out with the ducks in Beacon Hill Park.






That's all for today, byeeeee.
PADZ:)

Plugging Away

Oh hey.
You again.

When you enter Term 5 each student is required to pick a stream that they are most interested in. Animation stream, Digital Design or the stream I've chosen, Film Production. For my final project I'm acting as the Production Manager for three other students as they produce films for their projects. It's a classic example of taking what you do best in life and trying to use it for your advantage. So I get to use my highly polished  organizational skills to help my directors with time management as well as any and all managerial documentation. It's fun, I talk, they listen, we make movie magic. And that my friend, is what it's all about. 

We also attend a few classes a week so our Film Instructor Chad can inspire us with lectures and workshops about camera technicalities, lighting strategies and on set protocol.

 





                      One of my directors Julian has
                    the old DVX 100 all figured out.

        




              A lighting workshop where
      we learned to light for the "Noir" effect.

  
 

            A lesson on maneuvering a dolly.


Thanks for stopping by!
PADZ:)

MIKE & MOLLY

Sooo...I'm a bit of a television watcher. A bit. Quite possibly stemming from my days growing up at 5 Cynthia where after school activities included a fight till the death for power of the remote and 6PM not only meant dinnertime but also the most recent episode of the Simpsons. It's become not only a lazy approach to waste time but also a life choice...I stand by it...AND get this! You can now watch television on the Internet! SO, lucky for you, every once in a while I come across a show that manages to keep my interest. I'd like to introduce you to MIKE & MOLLY.  

If you're looking for a little comic relief and enjoy a couple of people who really know how to laugh at themselves you should probably tune in. Think Biggest Looser meets How I Met Your Mother. 

Just genius. 

Go check it out will you! 

You'll find it on CBS Thursday Nights at 8pm.

PADZ:)

PACIFIC SPIRIT REGIONAL PARK

Had a nice Saturday to myself today as I've been all over my homework like white on rice lately. Also got lucky with a break in the rain so I took the old road king (my bike) out to Pacific Spirit near UBC for some hiking. Nice little place to get lost in the woods by yourself....terrible map offerings...couldn't have done it without the trusty IPhone. What an amazing tool, I don't know how anybody makes it through life without one...AND I remembered my camera!

 Spidey Sense

 Some really nice trails to discover.

TREES!

PADZ:)

Elise Estrada Final Cut

Allo!
Here is the final cut of Elise Estrada's Music video "You're so Hollywood" that I worked on set of a few weeks ago. Check it OOUUTTT.




PADZ:)

ALY HIGGS!

Hey there,

My little friend Alison stopped by Vancouver this past week and before dropping in on her sister in North Van she paid me a long awaited visit. The weather was at its highest BLAH potential but we made the best of it by catching the tail end of the Fringe Theatre Festival on Granville island, taking in a few flicks, touring the city on our bikes and tapping into Vancouver's Mexican district through sangria and guacamole. You guessed it! Here come the highlights!

 Fountain City!

 "Aim you should be stretching, put that phone away!"

 We thought the pitcher would be a great idea at 4PM....it was!

 Epic Burrard Street Bridge Shot

Sittin on a log.

 Making friends with the creepy statues on English Bay

More school updates coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

PADZ:)

On set with Elise Estrada

HEY!

Term five, the beginning of our final projects. 

Since things at the beginning of the term seem to be moving pretty slow, yet smoothly, I was excited to take some time to work on set of a music video RockStar Music Corp was producing for Elise Estrada. My position on set was a Production Assistant and I was working as an"on location sound engineer" which basically is a fancy word for playback. Lots of hauling equipment, getting water for crew and holding umbrellas over people's heads as per usual on set but its a giant leap in a great direction and it's always lots of fun. Check it out!

The song was called "You're so Hollywood"

Some of the dancers were from the Canadian version of So You Think You Can Dance, I still don't understand why the guys wore dresses and everyone wore shoes on their hands, maybe I'm just getting old.

If you ask enough people questions eventually you'll find someone who's willing to tell you all about their position on set. Today it was the camera operator.

Mister Director

Final scene. Very late at night, very cold water. Glad I was just pushing play.

See you soon!

PADZ:)

Fun with Storyboarding

Hey team,
Here's a breakdown of our freaky 13 storyboards. It will give you a good idea of how we map everything out. Storyboards are drawn and cut by Kirk Lepiten, an unreal artist in the animation stream of my program.

Capture - Storyboard Cut from Kirk Lepiten on Vimeo.

PADZ:)

Quick Visitor

My friend Catherine had a chance to stop by the city last week for a quick visit before heading up north. She starts teaching in Fort Ware this year and her flight from Toronto to Vancouver was the first of three to get her there. Fort Ware is an aboriginal community in northern BC and from what Tuna has told me the school is the most exciting part about it. No wait, she thinks there might be an arena as well. Partaaay! I sent her off with some novels and Sodoku books to maybe help her pass an hour or so each day and told her she can come back down to visit any time she wants. Good luck Tune, have a good first semester! I will see you at Christmas time back in Welland and you can tell me about all the crazy times you had down at the old community arena. 

One of Tuna's last meals before she has to cook for herself. Typical Tuna picture posing with a random object.

PADZ:)

Working on set

Busy. Busy.

Term five is underway and over our brief break I got the chance to help out on the set of a short film being shot just outside of the city. It was a late 1800's- early 1900's period piece directed by Jennifer Li, a recent Film Production grad from VFS. I was working as an Art Assistant which means helping build, develop and dress the sets to make them look like they were from over 100 years ago. I learned a lot about how a film set runs and who does what during production. I got a taste of the long hours that go into making a short film on a micro budget and got to feel the satisfaction of a wrap day. I wish Jennifer luck as she heads into post production and look forward to working on set again soon. 

Here are a few pictures I snuck in during shooting.....

The film is called MARIGOLD and it is scheduled to hit the festival circuit in 2011.

They got to work with lots of fun toys.

LOTS of fun toys.

Here is a kitchen set I helped age with hot chocolate powder.

Make-up team hard at work.

PADZ:)

Video Installation- HANDS

This is video art installation created for Term 4's Art & Creativity class. There is an overlying given theme of memory and you may recognize some of the found footage. Created with a group of four...please enjoy.

PADZ:)

Short Horror Film- CAPTURE

Finally finished Term 4's most copious and time consuming project, our Freaky 13. As I talked about previously, this was a short horror film we had to film in exactly 13 shots and have the duration come in under 3 minutes. We had a time span of approximately 8 weeks to pull off the entire production, amongst all other classes and projects, and we are very happy with our results. Definitely have to give props to my five man crew, we all put in long hours and dedicated as much as time as we could into our final cut. 

I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed producing it. Please offer any feedback and constructive criticism. I am always open to it.

CAPTURE- Vancouver Film School (Freaky 13) from PaddyRumble on Vimeo.
An assignment in the Foundations program at VFS- Make  a Horror Movie filmed in 13 shots.

Additional sound by THE SNIPS http://thesnips.com/

PADZ:)

MAYA 3D Animation

One of the great characteristics of the Foundations Program at VFS is that you get to learn a bit of every part of the entertainment industry. In one class in particular we learn the basics of a 3D animation program called MAYA. I would love to say this opened my eyes to the wonderful world of the future of film but geeze....this damn fish nearly sucked the life out of me. This is not an easy program to master. Needless to say, I don't now, nor do I EVER plan on making 3D animation a part of my future. Enjoy my very first and inevitably my very last MAYA creation. I named him Eddie.



Maya 3D Animation from PaddyRumble on Vimeo.

PADZ:)

Road Trip

When I left home in January I was given some very generous gift cards from friends and family. A few of which were for Walmart (thank-you Laura bates and the DellaValle family) and I haven't had the chance to make it to one until today. The closest one is in North Vancouver, about 8.4km from my house. It's about an hour trip by public transit so I decided to bike it...I made a day out of it and came home with a backpack full of goodies from Walmart. Here's a short snippet of my ride home.



Stanley Park BikeRide- IPHONE from PaddyRumble on Vimeo.

The song is Jeremy Fisher- Scar that Never Heals
and I filmed this marvel on my trusty IPHONE.

PADZ:)

Term 4

Hiya,

Just to give you an idea of what I'm up to with school these days....

A large portion of Term 4 is the production of a short horror film they call "Freaky 13".

It's a 3 min film shot in exactly 13 shots including one with a green screen. 

The process lasts the entire term and involves writing, storyboarding, pre-production organization, casting, makeup design, shooting, editing and sound. It's probably one of the larger projects we've gotten the opportunity to take on and one that a lot of us are really excited about. I am working as the Production Manager of our team and feel like I got lucky because everyone in my group is very cooperative and passionate about our project. 

Here is a photo of our group on set last Friday August 6.

Stay tuned for the final edit in less than four weeks.

PADZ:)

Natalie Dee

Such a typical Penny move.

PADZ:)

BC DAY LONG WEEKEND

Another quick break from school for BC DAY which was Monday August 2nd. My friend Joel came over to visit as well as catch up with lots of old friends from when he lived here not too long ago. We rented a car and headed to Whistler for the weekend, did some hiking, ate some sushi....

Probably one of the highlights of the weekend was during the drive home when we stopped about halfway back to the city in Squamish at Stawamus Chief Provincial Park. We hiked the second largest granite monolith in the world which was basically an upward climb of rock faces and man made staircases. Despite the half digested sushi and beer holding us down and our lack of preparation to pack water, the 2 hour climb seemed well worth it when we made it to the top. I didn't even have my camera but here are a few pictures I took on my phone. 

PADZ:)

Video Intsallation

Hello again,

I am happy to bring you news that I've been busy again lately. Always the way I like it, never any complaints. School is being filled with lots of video assignments as well as a few first-time computer program courses that are just striving to keep my attention..... But I try to give them the benefit of the doubt hoping at some point I will make the connection to their content and what I hope to be working on in the future. 

In our Art & Creativity Class we are studying commercial art as well as a variety of video installations. We've been gallery hopping around the city once again and were able to catch a glimpse of some great artists that have paintings and photos circulating around the city. We also visited a group called VIVO (Video In Video Out) where we were introduced to the organization's mandate and history of activities supporting independent filmmakers, videographers and artists. It was interesting to see a modern, alternative option to film making and be inspired for our own video installation projects. 

Below is my group's Identity piece. All footage, sound and content is original and the video is made to play in a loop. Please, click the link and take a look. 

IDENTITY- LINK

You can also check out some of the other video's made in our class at this website.
http://www.youtube.com/termfourarchive#g/u
PADZ:)

English Bay Sunset

Just stopped by one of my favourite little spots in Vancouver the other day for a romantic sunset with my camera. Sunsets on the west coast. Another classic reason to love Vancouver. 

PADZ:)

Art & Creativity

Last term we dove into some Pop Art and the origins of Post-modernism as we made our way through the history of art movements to present day. These are a few paintings I developed to show my understanding of the way this movement was characterized by themes and techniques derived from popular mass culture. Enjoy them as you wish. 

Both Untitled.

PADZ:)