Karina Garinian
Karina Garinian
VFT Program-2010
What education did you have before you took the Visual Effects for Film and Television course?
I entered the program with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honors from York University and a Design certificate from Seneca College.
Tell us a bit about your experience at the college.
I had a very positive experience attending Seneca college. I made amazing friends in my class and still keep in touch with them today. The instructors are industry professionals and extremely helpful. They answered my questions during class and after hours. They also reviewed my projects one on one and gave me feedback. They told us stories about working in the industry and taught us everything we needed to know to achieve a competitive advantage.
Also, the facilities were great; we had 24 hour access to computers, which were updated with the latest software.
Before I graduated from the VFT program, I had the opportunity to work on a feature film with my classmates. This opportunity gave us industry experience and it was a great addition to our demo reels.
How do you use the education you got at Seneca in your job today?
After graduating from the program, I worked for Global TV and I am currently working at Cineplex Entertainment. My job requires a lot of motion graphics, compositing and 3D integration.
I use many skills I learned from the VFT program while maintaining a technological and creative advantage. Even in the workplace you have to learn new programs and upgrade your skills. Instead of using Maya at work I had to learn Cinema 4D. I was more comfortable working with Maya because it was one of the major programs we were taught in class. But I was able to learn Cinema 4D quickly and easily because they are similar.
What advice would you give potential students who are thinking of taking the course?
The VFT program is intense because you learn so much in a short amount of time. You have to prepare yourself to work long hours on multiple projects and meet strict deadlines. Pick your focus, master it and create your demo reel to showcase your talent. But do not limit yourself when it comes to job hunting because you might not always find your dream job right away.
You have to be passionate, work hard and love what you do for a living. If you dream of working on movies or TV shows, then the VFT program is for you.
Karina Garinian
VFX | Motion Graphics Demo Reel