European Film College
Encyclopedia
Ebeltoft
Ebeltoft is a town with a population of 7,559 on the central east coast of Denmark, located in Syddjurs municipality in Region Midtjylland on the Danish peninsula of Jutland....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Approximately 110 students from around the world 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 SchoolFolk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
(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:Directing: Karin Grand (Denmark),
Screenwriting: James Fernald (USA),
Editing: Allan Kartin (Denmark),
Production Management: Eva Madsen (Denmark),
Sound: Steen Bondrup (Denmark),
Documentary: Sophie Harper (Australia),
Cinematography: Petru Maier (Denmark).
Acting: Michael Morgan (UK).
The Principal is Mette Damgaard-Sørensen (Denmark).
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 crewFilm crew
Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew positions.A film crew is a group of people hired by a production company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. Crew are distinguished from cast, the Actors who appear in front of the camera or provide voices for...
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.
Student 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
DV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
, DVCAM, HDV
HDV
HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon and Sharp...
and Betacam SP as well as VHS and DVD and several legacy formats such as Video8, Hi8 and U-matic
U-matic
U-matic is an analog recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various Reel-to-Reel or open-reel formats of the...
. 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
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
TDM and an extensive sound effects library.
The college has two cinemas. The larger Store Bjoern ("Big Bear", named after Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film , established in Denmark in 1906 by Danish filmmaker Ole Olsen, is the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world. Olsen started his company in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby under the name "Ole Olsen's Film Factory" but soon changed it to the Nordisk Film Kompagni...
's logo) is fitted with Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
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.
Surroundings and Leisure
The European Film College is situated on a peninsula on the west coast of Denmark, on the outskirts of the town of EbeltoftEbeltoft
Ebeltoft is a town with a population of 7,559 on the central east coast of Denmark, located in Syddjurs municipality in Region Midtjylland on the Danish peninsula of Jutland....
. Popular attractions such as the modern Glass Museum and the Fregatte Jylland attract many tourists in the summer. The closest city Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, 45km to the south, is connected by an hourly bus service and a coach service to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
departs from Ebeltoft several times a day (travel time less than 3 hours).
On campus there is a playing field, basket
Basket
A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, which can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair, baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are...
and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
courts. Students can use the local fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific 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 ChristensenPernille Fischer ChristensenPernille Fischer Christensen is a Danish film director and the older sister of actor Stine Fischer Christensen. She started out in the movie business when she was 20 years old as an assistant to Tómas Gislason. During that time, Gislason was closely connected to Lars von Trier, and she got to...
- Christina Rosendahl
- Stefan Freund-Priacel
- Laurids Munch-Petersen
- Beate Bille
- Marie Scheldal
- Philip Kress
- Rasmus Heisterberg
- Peter Alsted
- Ward Madole Scott