Letter of Intention

Hello

My name is Mads Thøgersen, I am 19 years old and I was born and raised here in Denmark. I am applying to the Computer Graphic Arts program 2016. This is my first time applying.

I guess it's about 3 years ago I started to get sucked into this creative world, I was always drawing Pokémon as a child, but it was after elementary school that I began to think about the bigger picture. What I wanted to do and what I wanted to achieve.

I dropped out of High School in my first year, why did I do this? Well I had figured out exactly what I wanted to do with my life; and I didn't see High school helping me get there... Even though my parents were concerned about my decision, I trusted my gut and knew it would all work out okay, and so far it has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I went to 3D College Denmark where I lerned so much about myself, it was really intensive and hard, but in the 1 year I was there I had the best time of my life. At the time I was studying 3D, one of my teachers came to me and recommended that I should attend this workshop in Randers. Now I had no idea that this little 3 hour workshop would change my life, but looking back it was very clear. Esben Lash Rasmussen hosted the workshop. I was 17 at the time I met Esben, and he really went out his way to help me out. He told be about The Animation Workshop, how important it was to sleep and keep yourself healthy while studying, and that you shouldn't be a dick. Ever since that day we have kept in contact, and he is always happy to give feedback on my work.
I decided that I wanted to be like that for somebody else, and I began to feel the beauty of teaching what I knew to other people. (It really brings me a happy feeling)

I was recommended "The Drawing Academy" from more and more people, and I began to do my research. There was something in me, telling me that this was the right thing to do. So I decided once again to drop out, and use every single coin I had to attend The Drawing Academy, fall 2015.

I wanted to be trained under Artem, so I chose him as my teacher. These 4 intensive months has been an amazing experience. Not only did I learn the fundamentals of drawing, but the class had such a great energy and attitude. I was just really excited to wake up every single morning and go to class (YAY!)

Ever since the first day in Viborg, I was making sure to go around and introduce myself to people every time the opportunity came. I attended all the social parties that The Animation Workshop was hosting (they are great!), and I was making sure that everybody knew who I was, or atleast knew my face (and hair), I think it worked out okay. It's great to take a walk outside, and no matter where you go there is always someone to say regards.

I'm not that concerned about it anymore, but it was really important to me starting out in this creative environment.

I was applying for a spot at The Open Workshop, so when TDA came to an end I was happy that they accepted me in. Having this magical keycard that gave me access to TAW is amazing! TAW Talks, being invited to TAW Parties, having the opportunity to crash into the CGA classes and get feedback has been gold for me. (two guys was very helpful, Bernar Aganchyan and Kristian Kildsgaard Bonne Jensen)

To be honest, there is a lot of things I want to do in my life. And I genially believe that if I work hard enough, it will happen at one time or another. I get really passionate and excited (REALLY excited) when I'm working in a team with hard working people who have alot of passion for thier craft, it's my favorite place to be. I love to have alot of control, and be the leader, the decision maker, the one people count on. I kind of got the taste of it when I was at 3D College Denmark where we had different projects going on from a live action "trailer" to animated shorts. That to me is one of the things I would LOVE to do, directing movies and telling stories, so that hopefully one day another kid would be inspired and do the same. That's what wakes me up every sigle morning without an alarm clock ringing in my face.

My favorite movie must be Whiplash, I think I've seen that movie 30-40 times now (no kidding), and I never get bored of it. It was just everything in my head and life compressed into a movie, I could really relate, and I think that's why I like it so much. Now I also love to watch documentaries and biography movies, Indie Game: The Movie would have to be one of my favorites. I shouldn't forget to mention "Jobs" (2013), I'm really inspired by Steve Jobs, there might be a lot of things that the movie is missing, but I still adore this movie. And then we have Hayao Miyazaki, what can I say, I get sucked into his world and become really happy when watching his movies.

I have a hard time thinking about what I dislike in terms of a movie, but I guess that it would probably be "the Nightmare before Christmas", now this has nothing to do with the story, but I just find the visuals very odd (and a bit creepy heh) I'm also not that into big action movies, Mad Max for example, even though the movie was really good and beautiful, I would just much rather see Slumdog Millionaire or Interstellar.

When it comes to software knowledge, I would say that I got a pretty good grasp of Photoshop, 3DS Max and Zbrush, and I know the basics of After Effects, Premier and Nuke. I'm using VRay and Corona Renderer when I'm rendering 3D, but I do use Keyshot from time to time. I have also been playing around with Marvelous Designer and Fusion.

I'm planning to finance myself and the education with SU and if necessary SU-Loan.

Thanks for taking your time reading my letter of intention and looking through my portfolio, here is a link to the portfolio: http://madst2016.blogspot.dk/

Best Regards
- Mads Thøgersen