What Students Have Said About ELFS

Freyja, Artist

Freyja Dean, student on Making the Short Film“I’ve wanted to learn about making films for a long time and wanted to try to make my own. Starting from knowing practically nothing I joined ELFS Japan’s Making the Short Film course. It was fascinating, really good fun and even better, within a week I feel like I have enough knowledge of the basics to start confidently making my own projects.

“The class had a warm and encouraging atmosphere where I felt comfortable to ask questions, work as a team and really engage with this fascinating subject. I learnt a lot and would highly recommend this course to people interested in film, making films or anyone who wants to have fun gaining knowledge and working with great people.”


Tsugumi, Advertising

Tsugumi - Making the Short Film

“Thanks for your amazing class! I did really enjoy it.

“I learned so many things from this class. We rarely have this chance to have directing experience so through this class, I came to understand how hard it is for the director to communicate and think about camera/actors/lightning/sound…

“Also, I liked meeting people with the same interests as me – I think this was the most valuable thing. I entered this class as I love photography, but at the same time it links to my job in advertising. Thanks to this workshop, I now know some of what commercials directors have to do and how they do it, which means a lot to me.”


Anita

Anita with boom pole

“I couldn’t have gotten more out of a week. The structure of the workshop from analysing famous movie scenes to applying what we’ve learnt was super well done. It gave me great insights in what a director can do with a script.

“The hands-on exercises in the course especially helped me to become less anxious about directing and working with a crew of people. And finally, I met like-minded people and got inspired to make my own short film.

Thanks ELFS for the amazing experience!”


James

“Rory is an engaging teacher. Passionate, knowledgeable, clear, and a sense of humour to boot. He knew what he was talking about, and the atmosphere was fun and relaxed.

“The practical approach is great. The two-line script exercise made me nervous at first (“Oh God, what the hell are we doing…”) but was a great way to warm up and worked well as a social icebreaker too.

“The lessons felt well researched and well prepared. Rory stressed that each director should have a vision, change what they want, get the result they need, etc. The freedom to mess up was really encouraging. Hs feedback was probably the most useful and engaging part of the whole course. Focused, thoughtful, critical but sensitive. Concrete and clear. Well considered and argued — and generated quickly! I’m not just talking about the feedback for my scene — it was fascinating and instructive to hear the responses to everyone’s stuff.

“Overall, I was very pleased with the course and happy with what we got for the money. I’d recommend it to others for sure. I wish you guys lots of success with it!”


Morayo

Morayo going for a closeup“Thanks again for everything, the course was brilliant! I think its amazing that it was so practical and we got to try all the different roles. It’s totally encouraged me and given me the confidence to make a short film while I’m here!

 


Dermot

“Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed and learned from [Making the Short Film]. Your teaching style make it all come alive and has given me the confidence to get going on trying to add video to my photographic services.”