There’s so much going on at the Centauri Arts Academy right now that we thought we’d share whats happening in our classes!
Creative Writing Class (Toronto and On-Line):
This semester, both our virtual and Saturday in-person writing groups are asking the question: Why Do We Write? Each week, we take a different reason, and we explore it in prompts as we learn more about ourselves and our writing. We write to escape reality, for example – and this might be why we love fantasy! We write to tell stories about our lives, to explore a love of words, to make sense of difficult things, to entertain ourselves, and so on. As the semester progresses, we are starting to shape our writing into finished pieces… and students will be invited to submit their work to an online magazine that will be published in the New Year.
Our Acting Classes (Bloor West Village, Toronto):
Our actors have a new and exciting challenge this semester – each group is rehearsing and staging a short play written especially for them! Students suggested the type of characters they wanted to play, and what they hoped their play might be about, and Julie Hartley – the writing instructor and co-director of Centauri Arts – has written a play for each of the groups. The Junior Actors wanted a mystery, and they asked to play teenagers facing a challenge to do with bullying. The Senior Actors wanted a play set in a stately home in England, with interactions between a butler, three sisters returning home, and the writer who creates a play about them all! Both groups will perform their finished pieces in January.
Fine Art Class (Bloor West Village, Toronto):
In our in-studio fine art class, we have been creating our own portfolios full of amazing original art. Artists have created illustrations of characters, watercolour paintings, clay sculptures exploring negative space and portraits embellished with pastels. Over the next few weeks, we’ll tackle acrylic landscapes, mixed media designs and abstract creations. By January, every participant will have a portfolio full of original artwork they can be proud of.
Digital Art Class (Toronto and On-Line):
Our group began by tackling simple design challenges, but artists have now reached the point where they are designing and creating their very own characters for video games. As they create character sheets, they demonstrate their understanding of meticulous detail. Building sprite sheets, they learn to capture the precise movements of their characters. Once this step is complete, artists will be able to create fun web comics and bring their creations to life through amazing and elaborate animations. Some of our digital artists are also designing the book cover – and other illustrations – for the online magazine which the creative writing class will launch in January.
This program is offered virtually AND in our studio, for Semester 2!
Film Classes (Bloor West Village, Toronto):
Our 5pm class is currently working on an anthology movie all centered around a mysterious toy. Our team has been having fun working on a variety of film styles from mafia crime drama to classic horror. We recently did a workshop on documentary filmmaking and got a chance to practice how to shoot an interview.
Our 7pm group has been developing a murder mystery character drama. With many team members looking forward to acting in our film, we have had the opportunity to really develop our characters to the point where their voices are jumping off the page and onto the screen. Since our film includes a long section of voiceover, we learned how to setup a VO session and direct actors to express using only speech. Afterwards we would take it into our editing software and slice up the many takes into the beat version of the line possible.
News About Semester 2
Our second 15-week semester begins on Saturday 27 January and culminates in late May with performances, presentations and the launch of our annual anthology. Enrollment is now open
