T3 India – August 2019

Horizon

38 T3 Tomorrow ’s Technology TodayAUGUST 2019 WWW.T 3 INDIA.COM

or 20 years,JensKronvold
Frederiksenhasbeen the
residentJedi Master in
charge ofLego StarWars.
Ascreativedirector,he’soverseenits
transformationfroma coolconcept
intoajuggernautofcreativityand
desire.Speakingtohim,it’sclear
hehasa deeploveforthebrandhe
shepherds. Hetalks abouthis work
withapersonalconnectionand
affectionthat’snosurprise,givenhow
muchofhislife he’sbeendoingthis.
Thefirstthingweask,obviously,
is whichoftheshipsovertheyears
hasbecomehisfavourite.Jenswalks
usovertoa pairofMillenniumFalcons

• thetwoversionsoftheexpensive
  UltimateCollectorSeriesmodelsthat
  havebeenreleasedoverthe years.
  Thefirstversionwasdesignedby
  him.It startedlife asa bitoffunafter
  people onlinehadcomplainedthat
  alltheFalconsmadeuptothatpoint
  couldn’tfitfourminifiguresin the
  cockpit, likein themovies,soJens
  startedexperimentingwithwhata
  modelofthatscalewouldlooklike.
  Whenotherssawit, hewas
  encouragedtogowildandmake
  thebestFalconhecould,nomatter
  thesizeorhowmanypieces.Forhim,
  it wasa kindoffreedomthatonly
  reallycamearoundonce.Sincethen,
  anew versionofthe Ultimate

Collector Series Millennium Falconhas

beenreleased,butit’sthatveryfirst

onethatclearlyholdsthefondest

memoriesfor him.HereT 33 speaksto

JensaboutallthingsLegoStarWars,

fromthemoreobscure TIEfighters to

fanfavourites...

DOYOUHAVEOTHERFAVOURITE

SHIPSINTHISROOM?

“There’sanothermodelI wouldalso

reallyliketomention.It’sveryspecial

to me.It’sthe DeathStar.We’vehad

twoversionsofthatproduct.I can’t

remember when it was launchedthe

firsttime,butit’sbeenavailablefor

manyyearsnow.AndwhatI reallylike

about that set is that itcontainsallthe

scenes– allthemajorscenes– from

theDeathStars in themovies. Sokids

arereallyabletoplayoutthescenes.

“Weknowchildrenbuildit. I think

it’smarked14+,butveryoftenit’s

somethingthat’sona kid’swishlist.

Thefamilyputit together,whichis

somethingI reallylike,specifically,

aboutthatproduct.”

WHENYOU’REMAKINGSOMETHING

LIKETHEDEATHSTAR,HOWDO

YOUDECIDEWHATYOU’REGOING

TOFITINTOTHEDIFFERENT

SCENES?

“That wasalongprocess.The two

designersthatmadethefirstversion

spentmany, manyhourswatchingthe

movies,andthenwedecided

togetherwhichoneswerethemost

important.Wealsoinvolvedchildren

alongthe way. In a caselike that,

we’relookingatwhetherthekidscan

handlethefunctions.Dothey

understandthem?Dotheymake

senseforthechildren?Aretheyfun?

Thingslike that are super-important

forus.”

WHAT’STHEPROCESSOF STARTING

WORKON SETSBASEDON A NEW

FILMTHATYOU DON’TKNOW

ANYTHINGABOUTYET?

“Thebigchallengeis thatwe’re

startingmorethanayearbeforeit

willendupona shelfin stores.They’re

filmingatthesametimeaswe’re

decidingandmakingthe products.

Normally, thefirstthingthathappens

is we’llbetakenthrough– veryoften

bythedirector– thefullstoryofthe

movie,sowecangeta pictureof

whataretheimportantthings in the

movie.Sothenwegetthereference

material. Andbasedon that –or the

F

T 333 interviewstheman

whow runsu oneofthe

coolest brands in history

“Whentheystart

filmingweareinvited

tovisittheset

g

often.

So we’ll seethe sets

andthe costumes”

B

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