You, Me and Carrie-Lee (non-fiction) - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(This story title is an adaptation of the movie title, “You, Me and Dupree”)

It takes a real cat-lover to love a cat.  More to the point, it takes a real cat-lover to put up with a cat because, basically, a cat wants to own you.  A cat also wants to own everyone who lives with you, whether they are cat-lovers or not.  I have 3 people I live with and 2 of them are neither crazy about cats nor Carrie-Lee in particular.  Not only that, a cat wants to be the “master” or “mistress” of the home domain – that includes every room in that home domain.  And, the thing is – there’s very little you can do about it, whether you are a cat-lover or not.  Cats own you; you never own them.  If they want to spend time with you, they will find you when they want you.  You can never force a cat to spend time with you if he/she doesn’t want to.  Not only that, cats have multi-faceted personalities, an idea which seems to appeal to me since I also have a somewhat multi-faceted (or split?) personality.  I suppose that’s why cats and I get along so well.

When I first saw Carrie-Lee (shortened to Carrie), she had just been born in April 1995, so she was only 6 weeks old in June 1995.  It was my son’s idea that we get a cat.  At the age of 6, he really wanted a cat and he thought he would want to look after him/her too, but the fact is he just wanted a pet cat – someone to love and cuddle when he was lonely.  I didn’t blame him for that.  I was sort of in favour of getting a cat too, but not quite as enthusiastic as my son.  Anyway, the long and the short of it is – we got a chance to obtain a cute little kitten and we took it.  The moment I laid eyes on Carrie, I fell in love with her.  She had this beautiful face with a regal-looking nose and adorable big eyes that stared up at me.  She had these long, delicate ears and her coat was a deep, silky grey with longish fur (but not too long).  I knew that, regardless of what my son thought of her, she was the cat for me.

Being cat-lovers from way back in my childhood, my family had always had cats around the house.  Most of them were males and did their own thing (like all cats do) and I didn’t always pay attention to them.  As I said before, cats own their owners and everyone who lives there; you don’t own them.  But, they can sure be funny when they want to be.  Blacky was our pitch-black male cat who loved to hunt outside in the nice weather, even though he was well-fed inside.  It was more a game for him than a necessity.  He would stalk his prey quietly through the long grass in the field behind our house and pounce on the poor creature he was stalking at the most opportune moment.  Then, he would carry his prize very carefully back to the house in his mouth (after he’d killed it, of course) and lay it on the front door step as if to say to my mother, “Look Ma, I got a great surprise for you!”  Blacky acted so proud of his accomplishment.  And, so he should.  He was very good at hunting small creatures and he knew it. 

Another cat that we had, Tigger, who was an orange colour, loved to play outside in winter in the snow.  He loved being outside no matter what the weather was like; but, when we let him back inside the next morning (he always came home then), he would run in the front door, throw his back legs out from under him to one side and flop down on the floor, panting.  It was so funny seeing him do this so often.

Having Carrie around as a baby was a lot of fun.  And, I treated her just like she was my baby.  She was so tiny at first that after she used her litter box, she would always get some of the wet cat litter stuck to her feet.  So, I would pick her up lovingly and put her into a warm, shallow bath in the tub and gently clean her feet off.  Then, I would take a big, fluffy towel from the closet (for her use only), wrap her up in it and hold her until she’d dried off.  After that, she looked like she’d just been through the mild drying cycle of the drier, with her fur standing up on end all over.  I really think she loved being held in that big, warm towel.  Not that I think she liked baths - she didn’t – but, she sure enjoyed the cuddling she received after I’d bathed her.  This became a normal ritual for us and we both enjoyed it.

Another thing that Carrie did on a regular basis was to race around the apartment at break-neck speed, bouncing from one piece of furniture to another and racing around in this way until she got tired and stopped.  If I’d had a video camera, I would have taken a video of Carrie doing this very thing.  Man, it was funny!  As a youngster, she had no fear of falling or injuring herself.

However, one day, she did injure herself accidently.  Unfortunately, she’d seen a very small, shiny object on the shag rug in the living room and had picked it up in her mouth.  Even more unfortunately, she attempted to swallow this object, which turned out to be a sewing needle.  How a sewing needle got onto the rug, I’ll never know, but I guess I’d been sewing something by hand and it had fallen down.  Carrie then started to creep around the apartment, looking very distressed, and I had no idea what was wrong with her; I just knew that something was very wrong.  I picked her up and wrapped her up in a towel, and with my roommate at the time, Dennis, we quickly drove over to the local veterinarian’s office and were lucky enough to find him free to examine her. 

The vet could tell right away that she was in big trouble and told us he had to keep her for a few days after performing an emergency operation on her!  Apparently, the needle had lodged in her throat and gotten stuck there and it was imperative that he operate as soon as possible to extract it, otherwise, she would die!  The way I felt when this accident happened is the way I would have felt if Carrie were my human baby.  It was devastating to discover that my baby was in such grave danger of losing her life!  It didn’t matter that it cost me a few hundred dollars that I really couldn’t afford to spend – since it was right at Christmas time, after all – but I paid the required amount without complaining.  I just wanted Carrie back in one piece and healthy again.  Soon after the operation, three days later, the vet said she could come home to recuperate.  He said that it was a good thing she had not swallowed that needle. 

I’ll tell you – I had been very frightened by this accident and was relieved to find out she was now out of danger.  It was pretty uncomfortable for her until the incision inside her throat healed, but she returned to completely normal health after a couple of weeks.  I resolved to be much more careful from then on about leaving any small sharp objects, like needles, around where they could be of danger to her.

One thing that she did on a regular basis was done night when everyone was supposed to be asleep.  She would roam around the apartment at night because, after all, cats are nocturnal in nature.  She would find her way into my dark bedroom and somehow get up onto my bed (not an easy feat for her, mind you) and then jump, full force, onto my legs.  I never knew when she was going to do this.  All I’d feel was this sudden “thing” with sharp claws land on my legs!  If I didn’t already know that it was a cat, I would have thought it was some big, hairy tarantula!  It definitely startled me and kept me from relaxing completely right away.  (I’d always been somewhat of an insomniac anyway – it took me a while longer to fall asleep than other people).  Anyway, once she got tired of running around and giving me a minor heart attack or two (by jumping onto my legs), she would finally crawl into bed with me and lie down on my pillow.  She would curl her little body around my head and fall asleep.  Curiously, that never bothered me.  I had supposedly developed a mild allergy to cat fur some years ago, but so far, I had had no such reaction to Carrie’s fur.

Something I liked to do, on occasion, was to take pictures of Carrie with a disposable camera, which produced surprisingly good quality pictures.  I’d thought a lot about getting a new digital camera for myself because I love to take photographs of all kind of things, but I could never seem to afford a digital camera of my own.  Still, I persisted in using either a regular pocket camera or a disposable camera (both with a flash attached) and took lots of pictures of Carrie, whenever I had to urge to do so.  She happened to be very photogenic and didn’t seem to mind it whenever I wanted to photograph her.

An interesting thing happened during the time when the apartment building’s management was planning on replacing all of the toilets (floor by floor) with these “low-flow” toilets that were supposed to be more environmentally friendly.  When a floor of the building was having all of its toilets replaced, all of the doors to the hallway of those apartments had to remain open so that the workmen could come and go, unimpeded.  During this time, I didn’t think too much about where Carrie was.  I knew that she was a homebody anyway and would probably not go far from home.  But, as the work was proceeding, I suddenly realized that Carrie had been missing for a while.  I started calling her name out in alarm, thinking that someone had taken her from me.  There was no answer from her and no one else had seen her (or didn’t want to tell me that?).  Anyway, I was getting more upset by the moment when I decided to look under my bed.  There, in the deepest, darkest corner, I could see two bright eyes looking out at me.  I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time – I was so relieved that she was here at home, hiding.  At least, she knew enough to stay out of the way of the workmen.

As Carrie got older and became a senior (15, in cat years), she started to become sick more often.  She developed problems with her teeth, most of which had to be extracted.  She also developed feline diabetes, which is very similar to human diabetes.  Except for one thing – after 8 months of my giving her injections of insulin twice daily, she suddenly recovered from it completely.  To this day, there is no sign that she ever had diabetes – it’s gone for good.  But, now she has developed another serious problem:  hyperthyroidism.  This is a condition in which the pituitary gland produces too much thyroid hormone.  It can speed up a cat’s heart and cause premature death as a result.  The same thing can happen in humans with this problem.  So, I now have to give her some medication twice a day called Methamazole, which is used to help regulate her thyroid levels.  Carrie looks pretty skinny to me these days; she doesn’t digest her food very well either, even though it’s food designed for senior cats.  I guess I’m going to lose her one day soon.  And that fact will break my heart.  I really do love her.

The thing is – cats love their owners unconditionally, but people often don’t love other people, even those they live with, unconditionally.  With people, there are always conditions attached to a love relationship.  I understand that well because my own relationships, particularly those with the opposite sex, were often like that.  Even my familial relationships were like that.  So, when I tell people that I often prefer the company of my cat compared to that of most people, I really mean it.  It’s not that I don’t like to be around people; I do.  But, the fact is – Carrie loves me and I love her and when the time comes to say good-bye to her because her health is suffering too much, I will miss her very, very much.  She has been, and continues to be, a very important part of my life.

copyright 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.

Where Are Our Kids Going? (non-fiction) - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(Inspired by the theme of the documentary Waiting for Superman, 2011.)

My name is Marisa Ridley. I was recently appointed Chancellor of the New York City District School Board (NYCDSB). The politicians who appointed me were finally so concerned about the horrible state of American public education at the elementary and high school levels that they really needed to do something radical. Not that they knew what to do, however. That’s where I came in. I was deemed to be their radical solution to a problem in public education that had grown so out of control that it could easily be likened to an accelerating bus rushing down a steep hill without any brakes.

It had been a well-known fact for decades that the costs of public education were escalating uncontrollably. No matter what measures were taken by politicians to invoke educational reform, nothing seemed to work. Since the postwar era, the costs just kept climbing; yet, these costs could not be justified by the matching achievements of youngsters in the public school system. No one in a position of authority seemed to be able to reduce these spiralling costs that had grown so out of control and, worst of all, these same authority figures had simply no idea why the kids were not learning or achieving. It was a problem that was very complex with many facets to it.

As a basis of comparison, it currently costs in the neighbourhood of $33,000 per year to house a convicted felon in a federal prison. After an average four-year sentence, the total cost of housing just one federal prisoner is $33,000 x 4, or $132,000! In addition, none of the money being spent on federal prisoners could ever be recaptured in the form of productive work. These were non-productive dollars being spent. In fact, it takes less money to send just one kid to private school for 13 years! Each year of private school costs about $8,300. After thirteen years, the total cost is $8300 x 13, or $107,900. The difference is $24,900 more to send a felon to prison. Spending this same amount of money on educating a child would yield someone who would be fully educated up to grade twelve and ready to enter college or university to start their field of study without any remediation in the areas of reading or math. The chances of this student being productive in society are now much closer to 100 percent.

As the new Chancellor of the NYCDSB, a position that could be likened to a master superintendent of all superintendents of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, it gave me the ultimate power to make massive changes to the American public educational system that could be supported by the politicians who had appointed me. Of course it would be a matter of time before the parents (taxpayers) whose youngsters’ achievement levels were suffering as to whether I would end up doing what was considered “right.” Would I be the “superwoman” everyone was looking for—the one who would rescue this badly failing public school system? 

As any problem-solver knows, one must first and foremost understand the problem with its many factors in order to even begin to solve it. The factor that seemed to be the most obvious was the huge bureaucracy that the public educational system had evolved into over a period of decades. To illustrate, there are many sub-school districts within New York City. These were all funded by a combination of federal and state injections. The multiple layers of authority in the public school system often cause confusion as to who has authority to do what. Conflicting curricula are expected to be adhered to by all teachers, yet some teachers have found it practically impossible to cover more than half. Conversely, a few great teachers not only cover the complete curriculum, they can cover a good deal more as well.

In the postwar era, the public school system was designed to do certain things, like streaming students into particular areas of study based possibly on pre-high-school test scores, but sometimes on other subtle and subjective factors. Some students were deemed high achievers before they even entered high school, so they were streamed into strictly academic programs. Some students were deemed lower achievers, so they were streamed into more technical, practical programs. And, some students were found to be somewhere in the middle and they were streamed into partially academic and partially practical programs. Because of the streaming that happened even before students entered Grade 9, their fates were already pre-determined. The high achievers were seen as university- or college-bound after graduation; the lower achievers were meant to go right out to work in the factories or as apprentices in the trades; and the middle achievers were meant to go to work in offices or stores and did on-the-job training as part of their work. This kind of streaming, though somewhat arbitrary, did what it was designed to do and did it well for a long time.

I believe the trouble started when the postwar era was well over and we were pretty much into the 1990s (or possibly as early as 1985). The school system had not changed while the world around it was changing rapidly. It was still using the old streaming method to decide students’ fates in high school. By the early-to-mid 1990s, personal computers were becoming popular in homes and offices. A great need in business developed for personal computers to be able to communicate with each other. Computer networking technology was forced to advance as well. But individual schools didn’t use computers yet except in the individual offices and on the school boards. These were most likely large file servers (in the schools) or mainframe computers (in the school boards), which could store and process massive amounts of data about students and teachers, as well as other employees of a school board. Maybe no one knew computer technology was going to take off like it did and become so popular.

What I had to do first was decide the most pressing problem and work on each issue. It was obvious to anyone with an eye on public school-board statistics that overall, American kids, even in the elementary schools, were not learning well enough. They could not read past the Grade 3 level, and their math skills were equally appalling. Why? It was obvious that certain schools in the NYCDSB were great, but they were few and far between. Why? The bulk of the public schools were just pushing the kids through elementary school, despite their poor reading skills, and sending them on to middle school and then to high school. The fact that these kids were being pushed through the elementary grades adversely affected their achievement levels so that, by the time they got to Grade 9, they were still reading at a primary grade level and were now barely passing their school subjects. Since reading is an essential skill in all school grades and subjects, this was an area that definitely needed work. Without reading, a student could not progress and would most likely drop out of high school. In fact, many of the NYC public high schools were considered “dropout factories” for this reason.

By the time I came onboard, there were so many schools in the NYCDSB that were considered “dropout factories” that I could not, in good conscience, ignore it. This fact would have to change. How though? Was it the principals who ran the individual schools that made this happen? Was it that certain teachers in these schools didn’t care about the kids’ educational needs and just gave up on them? I did not want to believe that we had teachers in the public school system that simply did not care enough to at least try and teach their students something every day, no matter what it was or how small. However, it seemed to be true; there were actually teachers being paid a full-time, contract salary that were either not performing their jobs at all or were performing them very poorly. Why? Had they just given up on their own abilities to teach their students or were they just content to lie back and collect a salary that they clearly didn’t deserve? I needed to know to what extent this was true. If it was, it certainly merited being changed on a massive scale. However, I was not sure what I would be able to do yet because of the big and powerful teacher unions that could keep teachers (especially tenured ones) on the payroll until they retired. Why?

As it happened, there were tons of teachers in the NYCDSB that were considered lazy or unproductive. They were the ones who would ostensibly come to work on a daily basis but did very little to create a cheery, welcoming environment for the kids in their classes. This fact was possibly more obvious in a high school where the kids changed classes and teachers every period. But it was true in the elementary and middle schools, which shocked me. I had to ask myself, Why would a man or woman who was fortunate enough to get through college or university for four years and then teachers’ college come to a public school to work only to give up on his or her huge responsibilities to the kids? Wasn’t there any accountability to the principal of the school? Wasn’t there a performance appraisal process that could filter out these bad teachers and get rid of them? These issues didn’t make any sense to me, but I resolved to find the root cause.

Another big issue, perhaps the biggest, was the power of the biggest teachers’ union in the nation: The American Federation of Teachers (AFT). This union did not support any issues that included firing individual teachers or getting rid of surplus teachers. All American teachers had to belong to this union, and they were forced to abide by the union’s directives; otherwise, a teacher could not expect any protection from the union if the need ever arose. The big problem was that AFT had a lot of money, which they used to back federal politicians who, once they were elected, had a lot of authority over the public education system and could make changes that would favour the union that had helped get them into power. But it seemed to me to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is, the teachers’ union helped to get certain politicians into power using union money and now, the politicians had to protect the union’s interests in return. This was a situation that needed to change, but was highly unlikely. I did not see how I could bring about real change without the unions on my side. I needed them to be on my side because they were the ones who directed their teacher members to vote on union issues that would arise from time to time. If the members were directed by their union not to vote at all, or to vote against one of my directives that affected them, I would lose, it was that simple. How was I, by myself, to execute the massive educational reforms that the politicians in power had wanted me to invoke if the teachers’ union was not also on my side? It was a catch-22, in which I would be the chronic loser. Was there any real solution?

I eventually managed to execute some massive educational reforms, as I was hired to do. I ended up closing 23 of the worst public schools in New York City, I fired at least 23 principals (who are considered “managers” and thus can be fired) and I directed and assisted other principals in other schools to fire 50 teachers who were considered very poor or unproductive, based on their personal track record with their kids. But of the 50 teachers who were fired, 33 had to be rehired with back pay. Why? Who knows? I did what I thought was the fairest thing to do within my power. And since I had a lot of power, I felt this was a huge advantage.

What I couldn’t do was massively change the essential structure of the huge bureaucracy, which now managed the many-layered public educational system in New York City except to offload a good part of the work from the head office down to other places like certain schools and the principals of those schools. [ASI5] In the process, I received a lot of flak from the various people who were affected, and I wasn’t very popular with these people for putting my directives to work. All I know is that I had the power to do something about this horrendous situation and a real chance to help kids move forward in life, and I did what I could to change things. For that I am proud that I actually made some changes that made a difference in the NYC public school system.[MJO6] 

But what about the kids? Would they be better off as a result of my radical educational reforms? Would they have something to look forward to when they came to school every day? Would they have any hope for a better future because of obtaining a better education that should prepare them properly for a highly technical and skilled future work environment? If not, then I hadn’t finished doing what I’d set out to do. If so, then these kids would have a chance to go to a great school that had great teachers that were both able and willing to give them the time and instruction that they most richly deserved. This meant that they would be better prepared to compete in a global marketplace with kids from other countries for any of the future technical and/or engineering careers that they may want. In any case, whatever career they chose in whatever field they chose it in, every kid would have choices and that is really what a full and happy life is all about, isn’t it?

To give every kid every chance at a good and thorough public education, it had become clear that a kid’s home environment should not be held against him or her. Living in spirit-crushing poverty, crime-ridden and drug-infested neighbourhoods and broken homes with single parents—or worse, abusive parents—would be, unfortunately, enough to prevent a kid from getting the good education he or she would need to break out of this vicious cycle.

For families that live in poverty, kids who have truly caring parents can still have a tough time. These parents want to give their kids the best educational opportunities possible. Instead, they have to be subjected to a school-by-lottery procedure that randomly determines who can go to the best schools. It’s the only “fair” way of giving kids a real chance at an education when the number of applicants to any particular school by far outweighs the number of spaces available. No one thinks this is fair, but it’s the only system we have.

After all is said and done, where are our kids going? Are they going to be able to go to good public schools and get a decent education so they can have decent lives? I’ve asked myself that question many times, but who knows how long my time in office will last? I was appointed to it and can just as easily be removed from it. I hope that while I’m able to do something of value, I can at least make sure that each kid, no matter what his or her economic circumstances, can have fair and equal access to a public education system that hires only kind and caring teachers and has a way of getting rid of the teachers who do nothing but harm the public educational system. Am I only talking about American public schools? No, I’m talking about public schools throughout Canada and the United States. Hopefully, because of the radical educational reforms being done here, other countries will then be encouraged to follow our public educational model for their children.

copyright, 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.

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To Be a Voting Tax Payer (non-fiction) - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

I am a voting tax-payer who lives in the Ajax-Pickering constituency. During the school year 2012-2013, I wrote a letter to my Ontario Liberal MPP (as well as many other MPPs of all the parties) to express a collective displeasure on the part of Ontario teachers since I am one of them. All Ontario teachers are members of various unions, one of which is the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), to which all public high school teachers belong. Still, OSSTF is only a subset of total education workers who were adversely affected by the passage of Bill 115, a very controversial education bill. Currently, there are approximately 60,000 OSSTF members, so one can appreciate how extensive an effect this new and very controversial law was having on all workers in the public education sector.

The point I wanted to make with my letter below was that Bill 115, a bill which had given sweeping powers to the Minister of Education, Hon. Laurel Broten, took away our fundamental right to collectively bargain and negotiate our teacher contracts via our union, OSSTF. A very dangerous precedent was being set here. Where would it lead, ultimately? In particular, I was extremely fearful for the future of the teaching profession in Ontario as a direct result of this legislation.  Later, when Bill 115 was ultimately repealed, I did not feel better somehow.

__________________________________________________

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Mr. Joe Dickson
Ontario Liberal MPP, Ajax--Pickering
Suite 201A, 50 Commercial Avenue
Ajax, Ontario L1S 2H5

Re: Protest against Bill 115

To Mr. Joe Dickson:

Sir, I would like to express my vehement objection to the recent law (Bill 115) passed by the Liberal Government here in Ontario. Our union (the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation or OSSTF) has traditionally participated as fairly as possible in all bargaining and negotiations regarding any new contracts for its teacher members. As an individual teacher and OSSTF member, I now feel that I am at a distinct disadvantage in this new situation. I feel extremely disappointed, resentful and utterly powerless in my current role as a high school teacher. This is a relatively new feeling for me in the more than 12 years that I have spent in full-time teaching for the Toronto District School Board.

I’m sure that, as a group, Ontario teachers also mirror my own feelings to a large extent. We do not think that this new bill is fair to us at all as education workers and we want it overturned in the near future. As an Ontario Liberal MPP, you are not making our jobs any easier to perform. We honestly want to do the best we can for our students. Many of us are also parents, which means that our children are, most likely, students in the current Ontario public school system. We are all adversely affected by Bill 115 in some way.

I would personally request that you look into this bill’s future ramifications further. New and potentially great teachers may very well become discouraged from ever wanting to enter this profession or from staying, long-term, in this profession. Teaching is, indeed, a truly wonderful and rewarding profession, but what the government has now done to it with the passing of Bill 115 is unconscionable. Ontario teachers, without a doubt, consider this to be a “3D” kind of problem: it’s thoroughly Demoralizing, Degrading and Depressing to be working as a teacher under the thumb of this Ontario Liberal Regime.

Yours truly,


"Shirley Underfire"

Now, we are facing yet another provincial election today, Thursday June 12, 2014.  I was not going to vote Liberal, needless to say.  But, our union thinks otherwise.  The Toronto Teachers’ Executive tells us that unless a riding in Ontario is already NDP (New Democratic Party), we should vote Liberal.  Why? Because, it comes down to the lesser of two evils.  While the PCs (Progressive Conservatives) made our lives absolutely miserable during the Mike Harris years when they were in power earlier on between 1995 and 2003, so did the Liberals do their best to make us feel undignified and disrespected in our proud profession….as if public education and its teacher members were and are the root cause of the provincial government’s problems.  Is it our fault that the province, in general, and the TDSB (our employer), in particular, are in dire financial straits? No, that is not the case.  As we all know, governments are very good at spending public money, or getting the consumer to spend its money, to fund its programs.  Now, it finds itself broke and unable to meet its financial obligations.  What should we as teachers do, then?  Quit our jobs?  Retire too early?  If I knew the answer to that question, we would all be better off because then, we would know what to do to contribute to solving this collective problem.  But, we are just people with families and financial obligations of our own and we don’t think that becoming scapegoats for the current government is at all in our best interest.  So, no matter which party wins today’s election, either as a majority or minority government, no one is going to care about us, either now or in the future, and that makes me very sad both as a current teacher and as a future retired teacher.

copyright 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.

The Power of the Digital Domain: The Visual Effects of Movie Making (non-fiction) - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(From the web site:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_effects and http://www.senecac.on.ca/fulltime/VFT.html )

I had developed an avid interest in film and movie making several years ago through watching many movies and becoming curious about the process by which they were made.  It all started because I wanted to know where the film or movie that I was watching was actually shot as opposed where I thought it had been shot.  I was more than surprised to find out that what I thought I was seeing and what I was actually seeing were usually two different things.  That idea expanded with the use of visual effects that are now so often a part of modern film and movie making.  In my opinion, the best movies are the ones in which it is extremely difficult to tell where the “live action” ends and where the visual effects begin.  It takes a truly talented and dedicated film director and crew to both generate and integrate these visual effects together with the live action to make the movie both realistic and entertaining.  Still, the best movies for me are those that have the best music and don’t overdo the use of visual effects.

Visual effects (commonly shortened to Visual F/X or VFX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on film. Visual effects using computer generated imagery has recently become accessible to the independent filmmaker with the introduction of affordable animation and compositing software.

Visual effects are often integral to a movie's story and appeal. Although most visual effects work is completed during post-production, it usually must be carefully planned and choreographed in pre-production and production. Visual effects are designed and edited in Post-Production, with the use of graphic design, modeling, animation and similar software, while special effects are made on set, such as explosions, car chases and so on. A visual effects supervisor is usually involved with the production from an early stage to work closely with production and the film's director to achieve the desired effects.

Visual effects may be divided into at least four categories:

·         Models: miniature sets and models, animatronics, stop motion animation.

·         Matte paintings and stills: digital or traditional paintings or photographs

·         which serve as background plates for keyed or “rotoscoped” elements.

·         Live-action effects: keying actors or models through blue screening and

·         green screening.

·         Digital animation: modeling, computer graphics lighting, texturing,

·         rigging, animating, and rendering computer-generated 3D characters,

·         particle effects, digital sets, backgrounds.

·         Digital effects (commonly shortened to digital FX or FX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated with or from photographic assets. Digital effects often involve the integration of still photography and computer generated imagery (CGI) in order to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on camera. FX is usually associated with the still photography world in contrast to visual effects which is associated with motion film production.

At Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, a program of study called Visual Effects for Film and Television (VFT) is offered, as follows:

Program Code: VFT	Campus: Seneca@York
Duration: 2 Semesters (8 Months)	Start Dates: Fall, Winter Start dates are subject to change
Credential Awarded: Ontario College Graduate Certificate

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Program Description

In the VFT program, you’ll be introduced to the various techniques used to create visual effects for film and television. Your studies will focus on the software tools used to create visual effects and issues involved in combining these effects with live action footage. The result of your final project will be a professional portfolio which may be used to apply for employment. Software taught in this course includes The Foundry's Nuke compositing program and Autodesk's Maya 3D package. Programs are normally offered twice per year.

Admission Requirements:

Program Eligibility:

·         The Visual Effects program is ideal for students graduating from fine art, 2D/3D animation, photography, film/video, architecture, sculpture or graphic design programs.

Applicant Selection:

·         Applicants will be required to demonstrate proficient computer skills and submit a visual arts-based portfolio.  In the event of oversubscription, additional selection criteria may be used.

Desirable:

·         One or more of the following: visual arts background; classical animation; fine art; graphic design; architectural/engineering or computer graphics including experience with Windows operating systems.

·         Additional experience with Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, or any 3D program a definite asset.

The Importance of Learning Skills:

Student success in college requires well developed learning skills (such as being able to work independently, participate in a team, be well-organized, develop good work habits, and show initiative). These skills are as important as prior academic achievement. While it is expected that applicants would have developed these skills through previous education and life experiences, Seneca offers support to assist students with further development of these important skills.

Your Career

The entertainment industry needs qualified professionals to create visual effects. Earn a graduate certificate in Visual Effects for Film and Television in just two semesters and you could be in demand as a digital effects artist, effects director or supervisor, digital compositor or lighting artist.

Diploma to Degree... and Beyond

Through transfer agreements and institution partnerships, graduates of this Seneca College program may be eligible for credit at the following post-secondary institution(s):  York University

Curriculum

·         Industry overview and production techniques.

·         Masking, keying-matte creation, motion tracking, image stabilization.

·         3D visual effects such as particle systems, motion graphics, texture    

·         mapping.

·         Digital painting & retouching.

·         2D/3D integration.

·         Color correction & film/video grain management.

·         Green screen filming techniques.

·         3D Modeling, Texturing, Rendering and Lighting.

·         3D Tracking.

Each class will consist of effects principles, hands-on demonstrations, exercises and projects. The student's final demo reel is included in this program.

Semester 1	Subject Name	Hrs/Wk
MAY102	Intro to Maya	3
VFT101	Principles of Animation	2
VFT700	Motion Graphics	2
VFT701	2D and 3D Compositing	4
VFT702	Effects Design and Storyboarding	4
VFT703	Technical Protocols	2
VFT704	Film Principles and Cinematography	2
Semester 2	Subject Name	Hrs/Wk
MAY202	Intro to Maya II	7
VFT800	Motion Graphics	2
VFT801	2D and 3D Compositing II	6
VFT802	Effects Design Project Development	3
VFT804	Special Effects and Storyboarding	2

Contact Us

For more information, please visit our website http://sca.senecac.on.ca. For general inquiries and to arrange a tour, please call (416) 491-5050 Ext. 33850. Email: aac@senecacollege.ca
Program Coordinator:	Joe Raasch Telephone: (416) 491-5050 Ext. 33857 Email: Joe.Raasch@senecacollege.ca
Admissions Advisors:
Domestic Admissions Advisor:	Sharon Wong Telephone: (416) 491-5050 Ext. 22807 Email: Sharon.Wong@senecacollege.ca
International Admissions Advisor:	Gina Lombardi Telephone: (416) 491-5050 Ext. 22405 Email: Gina.Lombardi@senecacollege.ca
Registration & Records Advisor:	Sharina Khan Telephone: (416) 491-5050 Ext. 33008 Email: Sharina.Khan@senecacollege.ca
Program Interim Chair:	Phillip Woolf Telephone: (416) 491-5050 Ext. 33422 Email: Phillip.Woolf@senecacollege.ca

Program list by career - Computers

Click on the Seneca program name below to see the program`s admission requirements, description, and curriculum.

·         3D Animation

·         Animation

·         Bachelor of Technology - Software Development Degree - (Co-op)

·         Bioinformatics

·         Computer Engineering Technology - (Optional Co-op)

·         Computer Networking and Technical Support

·         Computer Programmer

·         Computer Programming and Analysis - (Optional Co-op)

·         Computer Systems Technology - (Optional Co-op)

·         Database Application Developer - (Optional Co-op)

·         Digital Media Arts

·         Electronics Engineering Technician - Broadband Cable

·         Electronics Engineering Technician - Communications

·         Electronics Engineering Technician - Computers
     Electronics Engineering Technology - Communications - (Optional Co-op)

·         Electronics Engineering Technology - Control Systems - (Optional Co-op)

·         Game Art and Animation

·         Independent Illustration

·         Informatics and Security Degree - (Co-op)

·         Mechanical Techniques - CNC Programming

·         Project Management - Information Technology - (optional co-op)

·         Visual Effects for Film and Television

Notes from the Author of “My Short Stories (Book One and Book Two):

I myself went through a rigorous and very thorough course of study at Seneca College (Don Mills Campus) just before this same campus later moved to Seneca@York on the York University Campus.  I was enrolled during the early-to-mid 1990s and it was the best career decision I have ever made.  I took Computer Programming and Analysis, a 3-year advanced diploma program.  With a lot of hard work, dedication and focus, I graduated in 1996 with a 78% average (3.3 GPA), which is considered “honours”.  I have never regretted completing this program of study.  Graduating with honours was just the proverbial “icing on the cake”.  What I really wanted to do afterward was to combine this new diploma with my existing Ontario Teachers Certificate and work as a Computer Science Teacher in a public high school.

My career has moved onward and upward as a result.  Firstly, I was chosen to work for Seneca College at Don Mills Campus for one year as a graduate “Coop” student, gaining invaluable experience teaching and tutoring college students in the first and second semester of my own program.  Secondly, I then obtained a full-time job as a Computer Programmer / Analyst at RBC Financial Group (Systems &Technology department) and stayed for more than 2 years.  I left there eventually as a Technical Systems Analyst, along with some 3,000 other technical staff, permanently laid off in the late 1990s, and took a very healthy severance package with me. 

Just three weeks later, I got a job as an LTO (Long Term Occasional) teacher at Winston Churchill C.I. teaching the Turing Programming Language and Web Page Design to Grades 11 and 12.  This was the beginning of my now-12-year-long full-time teaching career.  It began officially in September 2000 at Don Mills C.I. where I stayed for 3 years teaching a variety of computer-related courses, some of which I had never thought I would be teaching.  But, since I am always ready for a challenge, I found myself teaching not only Turing, but Java (a brand new language for me) and Computer Engineering (a brand new technical course for me).

In September 2003, I was then declared surplus (a normal staffing procedure done at schools each year) and was re-assigned that fall to Albert Campbell C.I.  By this time, I was a full-time, contract teacher – a feat I had once thought was impossible for me to achieve – and I’ve been at Campbell ever since.  We are now approaching the year 2013.  Who knows what the New Year will bring?

At the time of this publication online (June 2014), I have now been a full-time teacher at Albert Campbell C.I. for 11 years (at the end of this school year).  I can truthfully and gratefully thank being a graduate of Seneca College's Computer Programming and Analysis 3-year diploma program for changing my life completely for the better.  Thank you, Seneca!

copyright 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.