FINDING YOUR TALENT

After lots and lots and lots of thinking I ended up going for the EFC mainly because I read that they offered courses in Production Design (Production Design basically means designing the whole film: deciding on the overall visual concept and style and making sure art departments, costumes, props etc, are all heading in the right direction).

Like everyone else I got completely sucked into the world of film - it's basically like living in a surreal dimension consisting of callsheets and shouting out timecodes. It sure was great.

The winter/early spring period was great. This is the time when the EFC is in Extra Curricular (student’s own 10 minute productions) Red Alert Mode and you can get your hands extremely dirty if you fancy. Even as a production designer it turned out.
I was lucky to be on several film projects working with directors that had a genuine interest in having a production designer in their crew. Great experience I must say. One thing is reading about things in a book or on the internet as you're doing right now. The thing is you don't really know what the job consists of and what it feels like until you try it for real. I believe this applies to the film business more than anything else, since no one really knows what all the different and very specific jobs in a film crew reeeeaaally cover, until they've experienced it in real life. Gaffer, propsmaster, Second AD? What do these people really do? Try it out! That to me is one of the greatest things about the EFC, to be able to throw yourself into a wide range of very different crew positions.

The experience from the different productions gave me an even stronger urge to head for a proper Production Design course. A surprising bonus about the college is that the EFC is five thousand kilometers away from the buzz and pulse of city life, but in fact its location is one of its biggest advantages. It means that all the great guest lecturers you'll listen to during your stay will gladly hang around after they have done their thing and take time off to talk to you.
This was also the case with Rasmus Thjellesen, who did the Production Design workshop in between his work as a well known production designer in Danish films. I had a very nice chat with him about the whole production design thing and I walked away with an even bigger desire for it. Later on I went to Copenhagen with some EFC friends for a Production Design seminar at the Danish Film School also hosted by Rasmus Thjellesen. With every course the field seemed increasingly promising and interesting.

The last couple of months of my stay at the EFC turned out to be the most hectic of all. Besides getting my final project script (Sugar Rush) picked and producing it myself, I decided to make a quick decision: The application deadline for the Danish Design School was coming up, and I signed up. The Danish Design School had always been the place of my dreams - a school offering courses in every aspect of design imaginable. However, like other great art and film schools it is very difficult to be accepted and the road to it is numerous tests and interviews. The EFC turned out to be the best place I can possibly think of for making my application. The teachers guided me along the way, the facilities were perfect and the other students were constantly giving input and feedback. Add to that the fact that all meals were of course served for me and I was basically in the ideal situation to focus on my application.

All of a sudden my Final Project, Sugar Rush, was finished and the application was done.

The EFC came to an end, and we were all kicked back to the old dimension with a rent to pay and meals to cook. This dreadful routine was interrupted on one very important day in the end of July though, when I received a huge, thick envelope from The Danish Design School congratulating me with my acceptance! I was absolutely ecstatic. I'm still ecstatic, but now I've been at the school for about a month. And I’m happy to confess that I totally love it, although I'm not really sure about the whole production design thing anymore. I think I might end up in graphic design instead. The great thing is, that I don't have to make that decision yet. Every road is still open, since the Design School is just as flexible as the EFC. It's not about making a decision that will define and limit you for the rest off your working life. On the contrary it’s about finding out what turns you on and what continues to be great fun no matter how much hard work you have to put into it.

Developing towards a career within any creative industry, such as film, design, art, theatre or music is a matter of forming your own unique profile. It is about finding out what really interests you. A folk high school like EFC is a great place to look deep into yourself and find that personal spark that lights your artistic fire so to speak. Be it film, design, playing the guitar or something else.

This takes me back to the main story and my concerns and thoughts about the transition from folk high school to further education. In my opinion it is essential to realize that being at a folk high school is eventually all about getting to know awesome people that you'll keep working and hanging out with after your stay has ended. I believe this is the most important experience and benefit from the EFC.