European Film College

The European Film College is a school that offers an eight-month foundation course in practical filmmaking covering the fields of script-writing, cinematography, sound, acting, directing, editing, documentary and production management. The School is based in Ebeltoft, Denmark. Approximately 110 students graduate from the course every year.

Background

Since the college opened in 1993 it has trained over 1500 young people in the art and craft of making film and television. The institution is based on the Danish tradition of the Folk High School (folkehøjskole), adult education institutions that do not grant academic degrees but aim to give students a common foundation in a particular field of study.

Teachers

The faculty is made up of professionals from the international film and TV business and includes amongst others director Mikael Hylin (Sweden), production manager Donna Higgins (Ireland) and cinematographer Petru Maier (Romania). The current principal is former TV journalist and film reviewer Søren Høy.

Film course

English is the working language both in courses and everyday life. The curriculum combines classroom instruction in the different areas of film making as well as 4 major projects and several smaller exercises where students are assigned to crews to make film productions. Throughout the 8 month period students rotate the key roles in a film crew in order to gain an overview of all areas of film production. Exercises and projects are screened and evaluated in the presence of all students and teachers.

tudent life

The students live on campus and the course fee includes tuition, food, accommodation and leisure activities. 50% of the students are Danish and the rest come from all over the world, in recent years from at least 25 different countries. The majority of the students are aged between 19 and 25. The European Film College requires no prior qualifications for admission but selects applicants based on a combination of experience, motivation and background. The aim is to create a global learning atmosphere with an equal balance of male and female students.

Equipment

The college has a fully-equipped 300 sq m. film and television studio where students learn how to use the professional lighting rig, operate studio cameras and sound mixers and also gain practical experience in set design and construction. Next to the studio is a three-camera CCU unit control room for live multi-camera production.

Picture editing facilities consist of 12 Avid Xpress Pro work stations equipped with dual 21" RGB monitors and 14" broadcast-quality monitors and DVCAM VTRs. Two transfer bays can handle Mini-DV, DV, DVCAM, HDV and Betacam SP as well as VHS and DVD and several legacy formats such as Video8, Hi8 and U-matic. Productions are output to DVD on three mastering facilities. In addition to the audio capabilities of the edit suites two digital sound editing studios are equipped with professional standard Pro Tools TDM and an extensive sound effects library.

The college has two cinemas. The larger Store Bjoern ("Big Bear", named after Nordisk Film's logo) is fitted with Dolby Digital Surround sound, first-class film and DVD projection and luxury seating for 220 viewers. The Lille Bjoern (“Little Bear”) cinema is similarly well-equipped and can accommodate an audience of 50.

urroundings and Leisure

The European Film College is situated on a peninsula on the west coast of Denmark [Denmark] , on the outskirts of the town of Ebeltoft. Popular attractions such as the modern Glass Museum and the Fregatte Jylland attract many tourists in the summer. The closest city Aarhus, 45km to the south, is connected by an hourly bus service and a coach service to Copenhagen departs from Ebeltoft several times a day (travel time less than 3 hours).

On campus there is a big playing field, basket and volleyball courts. Students may attend weekly yoga-classes for free and can use the local fitness centre and indoor swimming pool at reduced rates.

Notable Alumni graduated from The European Film College

*Joachim Trier
*Nikolaj Arcel
*Hans Christian Kock
*Laura Bro
*Martin Schade
*Nikolaj Tarp
*Pernille Fischer Christensen
*Christina Rosendahl
*Laurids Munch-Petersen
*Beate Bille
*Marie Scheldal
*Philip Kress
*Rasmus Heisterberg

References

External links

* [http://www.europeanfilmcollege.com/ Website of the European Film College]
* [http://www.folkehojskoler.dk/the-danish-folk-high-school Danish Folk High School]
* [http://www.imdb.com/company/co0165150/ European Film College on IMDb]
* [http://cfje.dk/cfje/links.nsf/Institutionsbeskrivelser/InstID/DE002217?OpenDocument&ExpandSection=-2 Den Europæiske Filmhøjskole] (Danish)