Alexandre Lafortune, Effects Supervisor

Since 2002, the NAD Centre attributes the Tribute Prize to a graduate that shines with an exceptional career in the film and television post-production and/or game developement. This year, we chose to pay tribute to the profesionnal contribution of Alexandre Lafortune, a 1994 graduate of the Film and Television program.

A 33-year old Montrealer father of 3 Alexandre Lafortune started his career on spinning wheels with a first project in which he created, scripted and directed a commercial for non-profit Tel-Jeunes organization with the Softimage team. Freshly out of school, Alexandre did not waste any time. Successive mandates from 1994 to 1997 enabled him to confirm an undeniable polyvalence: Big Bang, Innovitech which was preparing a production for the universal exhibition of Lisbon, NAD Centre to teach Softimage 3D, Enzyme Digital Marketing; Buzz Image Group on the Johnny Quest project and then the TV series production of Barbe Rouge at Productions Roger Héroux. Afterwards, Alexandre worked 4 years at Voodoo Media Arts as Senior 3D Animator where he collaborated on numerous TV advertisement messages for clients such as Tropicana, Canon, Molson, Rogers, Cherrios and Lucky Charms. In 2001, he joined Buzz Image Group, one of the most important post houses in Quebec. As Effects Supervisor, he worked on several significant feature film projects such as The Fountain, Brokeback Mountain, Stay, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Extreme Ops and TV ad campaigns for clients such as Ford, Toyota, Bell, Discovery Channel and YTV.

We extend our warmest thanks to Alexandre for inspiring the young cgi relief in their dreams of a brilliant career in the fasciinating world of post and visual fx.

Senior artist / Level Designer, Valve Corporation (Montreal)

Stéphane Gaudette, a graduate of the Film and Television program (CTV E97) has been working for the past 8 years for the most important video game studios on the US west coast (Eidos, Blizzard and Valve corporation) as artist and director of titles such as Tomb raider, Half-life, Team fortress, Legacy of Kain, Diablo and several others.

Back in Montreal, he continues to work with his partner Isabelle Lemay for Valve corporation. Stéphane and Isabelle made their debut in video games in Montreal at Microids, a company that is now a part of the Ubisoft family.

Founder of Novamotion (France)

Frédéric Gaudette, a graduate of the Film and Television program (CTV E97), started a video production company in 2004 called Novamotion, in Annecy in France. Specialized in motion capture, Novamotion produces animations, TV productions, films, video games and TV spots among others.

Last January, Frédéric became the first Quebecer to receive a “diplôme d’État” by the Sorbonne and to be invited to the Élysée by the President of the French Republic as a “Meilleur ouvrier de France (MOF)” in digital imaging in order to highlight the excellence of his work, his willingness to succeed as well as his professional skills. Such a title has been awarded every three years in France since 1924.

Compositing, Rising Sun Pictures (Australia)

A graduate of the Film and Television program (FXAU03), Éric Ponton has been a digital compositing artist for important studios such as Rainmaker, Meteor Studios or Digital Dimension. Éric now has numerous film productions to his name such as: “Final Destination 3″, “300″, “The Covenant” and “Get Smart”. He has also given courses on the Fusion software within the context of an intensive compositing program at the NAD Centre.

For 6 months now, Éric has held the position of compositor at Rising Sun Pictures in Australia.

I’m currently working on the sixth episode of the adventures of the famous sorcerer with glasses, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which will be in theatres on July 17, 2009. I fully intend on extending my stay here and participating in other films which should start soon! stated Eric.

Content

This workshop is intended for professionals of visual effects who want to learn matte painting techniques. Content will cover: the fundamentals of matte painting, the creative workflow and a supervised exercise where the participant will create his own scene. At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to incorporate matte painting in their creative pipeline.

Trainer: Yanick Dusseault

After his studies at Sheridan College, he completed his knowledge in 3D animation and special effects at the NAD Centre in the 90′s. Thereafter, he collaborated on several movies that led him to the West Coast where he is now working. Yanick Dusseault, also known as DUSSO, is a well-known visual artist who has created rich and detailed background imagery for several movies. In 2003, he won the prestigious prize of Outstanding Matte Painting in a motion picture from the Visual Effect Society (VES) for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean. He previously worked for prestigious visual effects studios such as: ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) and Weta Digital. His matte paintings have been featured in, among others, blockbuster movies such as: Star Wars (Episode III), Pinocchio 3000K, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Island, The Fellowship Of The Ring (The Lord of the Rings), The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings), War of the Worlds. His personal and professional works can be seen at: www.dusso.com

Requirements

Participant must have knowledge of, at least, one of those fields: 2D/3D software, compositing, video editing, and visual effects supervision.

Lenght

One day, lab time included.

Learning material

Reference sheets & notes

Diploma

NAD Centre certificate of completion

Tuition fees

$395 including all necessary materials and meals for the duration of the workshop. Please consult the Registration section for more information.

Richard Clément-Tam and Hubert Zapalowicz both awarded 4 000$ scholarships! Both students had been accepted to the January 2007 session of the NAD Centre’s 3D Animation and Visual Effects for Film and Television program, and both satisfied the artistic and technical requirements needed to obtain a scholarship.

The NAD Centre recognized that the originality, quality and relevance of the work submitted reflected the talent and determination necessary to pursue a career in the film and television post-production industry.

The program Earn your scholarship was established to reward excellence among our candidates and to favour access to our two regular programs in Film and Television and in Video Games commented Suzanne Guèvremont, NAD Centre General Manager.

The winners received documents confirming their scholarship awards along with (from left to right) Suzanne Guèvremont, Richard Clément-Tam, Hubert Zapalowicz and Albane Français from the NAD Centre.