Diploma in Digital Visual Effects

at Centennial College - Story Arts Centre Campus Canada

Interactive Media Management at Centennial College prepares students for various user experience design, project management and communications roles in a wide range of industries. Graduates possess the ability to develop digital strategy, create effective content, design intuitive interfaces, conduct user research and execute digital projects. 

You'll find this graduate certificate program, facilitated through the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design at the Story Arts Centre. The program aims to create exemplary professionals with interpersonal and ethical decision-making skills. Interactive Media Management alumni excel in diversified industries including mass media, digital entertainment, creative agencies, corporate communications, game studios, marketing and advertising firms, non-profit, education, health, government organizations and software design firms. Moreover, freelancing and creating small business opportunities are also successfully pursued by graduates.

Your courses will teach you how to plan all elements of an effective interactive digital experience, starting with assessing what your audience needs to accommodating their needs through the interface, its design and the words it contains. By the end of the program, students work on two real-world client-driven projects and publish their digital portfolios.

The interactive digital media industry is booming and the demand for interactive media management experts continues to grow. To help meet this demand this collaborative and project-driven program will emphasize:

• Digital Strategy
• UX Design
• Content Strategy and planning
• Interactive storytelling
• Analytics
• Digital project management (gant charts, budgets, project management, agile methodology)
• Researching and surveying the interactive media management landscape

Film and Television – Business is a unique program offered by the School of Communication, Media, Arts and Design that will prepare you to take on the business aspects of the television and film production industry. Today's film and television producers need more than just good ideas and a crew to get their projects off the ground. They need people with the skills to handle the financing, management, legal, distribution and business affairs. That's where you'll come in.

The two-semester – Television and Film - Business graduate certificate program will emphasize the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit and a global outlook. You'll explore the industry's legal, financial and regulatory frameworks and develop skills necessary for producing in the current Canadian and international market. To round out your training, you'll complete a field placement that will allow you to gain experience in the industry prior to graduation.

This program is unique in Canada, and it will:

• Combine knowledge of the film and television industry with the principles and practices of accounting and business;
• Focus on developing strategies and plans for various business aspects of the film and television industry (e.g., project financing, program sales and marketing plans, and business plans for launching and operating an independent production company);
• Integrate knowledge of the global marketplace, distribution models and additional revenue sources;
• Provide opportunities to learn production techniques — in both crew and leadership positions — through the various stages of pre-production, production and post-production.

The Public Relations – Corporate Communications program takes just two semesters to complete and is one of the most highly regarded Public Relations (PR) programs in Toronto.
The courses in this Public Relations Graduate Certificate program, which is based at the Story Arts Centre campus, reflect the thinking that no two days in PR are alike. The industry experts who teach the courses ensure you:

• Learn to research, write, plan, edit, design and implement everything from strategic communications plans and employee newsletters to gala dinners for hundreds of people.
• Gain an understanding of how communications strategies influence employee attitudes, shift stakeholders' opinions and tell an organization's story to the media.
• Connect with the PR industry.

You may want to consider this School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design program if you have previously completed post-secondary education, possess strong writing skills and have the ability to manage various projects at the same time.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device (i.e. laptop, tablet) that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware requirements.

Program Highlights:-

• This Public Relations program's curriculum highlights learning by doing while emphasizing employability skills and landing a job.
• The offering leads the way in social media and PR content.
• Because the program is facilitated from Centennial College's Story Arts Centre in Toronto, you are close to the heart of Toronto's PR industry.
• You complete a full-time, eight-week field placement in the industry.
• Student membership in one of the following associations is included in your tuition and fees: The Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) or the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

The Publishing - Book, Magazine and Electronic program is one of the most prestigious programs of its kind in Canada. Through hands-on education, it will prepare you for employment in a wide variety of areas in the publishing industry.

Established in 1974, this unique and award-winning publishing graduate certificate program has earned several accolades for academic excellence and for the career success of its graduates.

In this School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design program, you'll learn to:

• Be an integral part of the team that helps to shape the evolution of Canada's cultural and literary landscape;
• Publish e-books;
• Help build the careers of the next generation of writers in the publishing industry;
• Take part in publishing the bi-yearly On the Danforth magazine.

Your experience in the Publishing program will be rounded out by an industry field placement at a book or magazine publisher in Toronto. During this time, you'll acquire critical working experience, industry knowledge and professional relationships as you initiate your new career.

A career in book, magazine or online publishing promises a world of innovation, stories and culture that integrates your creative, marketing and business skills.

Program Highlights

• The accelerated two-semester format will cover all facets of the publishing process, including e-books and online magazines.
• You'll complete a six-week field placement in the industry.
• The graduate certificate you'll earn reflects a high standard of learning.

The Lifestyle Media program is a one-of-a-kind graduate certificate offering designed to train specialized media professionals who are at the hub of lifestyle media.
In this media program's courses, you'll effectively collaborate with real-world industry partners, clients and audiences to produce quality content for web, social media and traditional media platforms. You'll also gain the skills necessary to work entrepreneurially using contemporary digital media platforms and technologies to market yourself as an independent brand.
Lifestyle communicators are subject-matter experts who are able to take their passion and depth of knowledge to reach behind-the-scenes and share these worlds with audiences that want to both learn and be entertained. Successful lifestyle communicators influence trends and tastes and can become trusted sources of reliable information.

Program Highlights

• The interdisciplinary Lifestyle Media curriculum will include writing, visual communications, social media and entrepreneurship.
• You'll gain the ability to develop sector-specific expertise in areas such as fashion, beauty, food and health.
• There will be a strong focus on social media and web production, including analytics and measurement.
• You'll participate in an industry field placement in an area of your interest.

The Communications and Media Fundamentals program at Centennial College is an intensive one-year preparation undertaking. If you're looking for a pathway to pursue further post-secondary education, consider this certificate program, which will help you to develop communication skills while offering an introduction to the communications and media industries.

With guidance from experienced Communications and Media Fundamentals faculty members and practical application of theory, you'll obtain competencies for short- and long-term success.

In this media program's courses, you'll:

• Partake in creative exploration and experimentation with contemporary digital and social media production tools;
• Create and maintain forums on social media networks using rich media applications;
• Apply theoretical principles to produce practical and focused written communications and media solutions;
• Research and describe media forms, audiences, platforms, and "traditional" and "non-traditional" communication methods;
• Use appropriate vocabulary, terminology, basic numeracy and communicative strategies necessary for the communications and media environment;
• Apply developed English language skills to a presentation portfolio;
• Write and present in basic narrative formats for a variety of media platforms;
• Examine roles and responsibilities of global citizenship in personal and professional contexts;
• Examine beliefs, values and behaviours that form individual and community identities and the basis for respectful relationships;
• Apply knowledge of communications and media workplaces, environments, and practices to develop job search strategies and early career success strategies.

Program Highlights
When you successfully complete Communications and Media Fundamentals, you'll receive an offer to these College's School of Communication, Media, Arts and Design three-year advanced diploma programs:

• Advertising and Marketing Communications Management
• Journalism
• Broadcasting and Film

Centennial College's Advertising Media Management program will prepare you for a career in media planning and buying within the advertising and communications industry. 

Intensive, hands-on, industry-approved advertising media management courses will provide you with the fundamentals of media management. At the same time, they'll highlight consumer-driven communication channel choices (such as mobile platforms) for advertising messages.

In this graduate certificate program, you'll:

• Develop expertise in reaching target audiences with creative messages;
• Build your business and negotiation skills on behalf of advertising clients to achieve strategic results;
• Expand your knowledge of emerging media;
• Master industry-specific syndicated research databases and software;
• Complement your in-class education with a 14-week industry field placement.

The Bachelor of Public Relations Management, Honours program at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre is a unique, first-of-its-kind offering in Canada that combines public relations and business studies. In four years, this program will prepare you for an exciting career in public relations (PR), social media and corporate communications.

The Bachelor of Public Relations Management, Honours program, offered by the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design in collaboration with the School of Business, will balance the theory, principles and application of PR with a solid foundation in business principles through ten core business courses.

During your time in the program, you'll complete real-world projects that will allow you to apply your newly-acquired knowledge. From writing media releases to planning events, you'll engage in practical scenarios that will ground the core classroom concepts of this four-year degree.

To prepare you for a variety of careers, the Bachelor of Public Relations Management courses will include a strong focus on:

• Writing
• Social and digital media
• Research and communications planning
• Strategic communications
• Corporate communications

The Digital Visual Effects program is the only two-year college diploma offering of its kind in Ontario. Facilitated at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre, it provides you with the opportunity to learn the industry-standard techniques required to produce the photo-realistic visual effects seen in films that would be impossible to capture with a live-action camera.

In this diploma program's courses, you learn to work with the various aspects of the film-making process and bring them together into a seamless final product, while also developing your skills in industry-standard software. The Digital Visual Effects program focuses on the core skills needed to make you employable in the VFX industry and gives you the ability to explain how visual effects contribute to the entire process of storytelling in motion pictures.

You channel your efforts into demonstrating these concepts and core skills through a unique final project, for which you produce a demo reel suitable for job application in the visual effects field.

Program Highlights

• You learn industry-standard techniques in image processing, editing, lighting, rendering, matte painting, set extension, compositing and post VFX that employers are looking for.
• During the program, you produce a marketable demo and self-promotional package suitable for the VFX industry.
• A field placement in the final semester provides a valuable opportunity to work in the visual effects industry.
• You attend Digital Visual Effects courses at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre, located close to Toronto's downtown core and the major VFX studios.
• During your time in the program, you study and work in labs that are equipped with the latest tools and industry-standard software.
• The program provides a practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach that prepares you for sustainable VFX-related careers.
• Opportunities exist to collaborate with students in the digital animation, game design, photography, broadcasting, music, art and theatre programs at the Story Arts Centre. This is a unique opportunity to network, learn and work with industry professionals.

The Script to Screen – Advanced Television and Film program at Centennial College offers a comprehensive, in-depth and hands-on understanding of what goes into developing and producing quality feature films and TV shows.

This multidisciplinary two-semester post-graduate program — facilitated by the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design in the hub of Toronto's film and television district — will be especially beneficial for writers, directors, producers, editors, actors, and other film and television craftspeople who want to expand their industry knowledge.

The major focus of the first semester will be on creating, pitching, outlining, developing, drafting and polishing production-ready short film scripts. During the second semester, you'll have the opportunity to prepare, perform in, shoot and/or post a number of these productions.

Additionally, Script to Screen – Advanced Television and Film will see you deconstructing classic films, television shows and scripts of all genres. The program will also provide advanced instruction from industry professionals in your major and minor areas of craft interest, along with extensive employment information.

Program Highlights

• The Script to Screen – Advanced Television and Film program is unique among the few other post-graduate film and television offerings currently available in the Greater Toronto Area.
• Instead of immediately streaming you into master classes, the first semester will ensure you obtain a solid working knowledge of the various roles people have when working on a film or television production.
• The amount of included foundational lessons will allow you to better collaborate, improvise, problem-solve, and empathize with your fellow cast and crew members.
• The program will focus on dramatic filmmaking, comedy and several other genres. It will not, however, include documentary filmmaking.
• At a time when student films continue to be key to gaining a foothold in the business, the time and effort devoted to script development in Semester 1 and production and post-production in Semester 2 will result in higher quality student films than are customarily produced.