Getting a job as a lighting operator?

[Guest lightscan]

Hello does anybody know how I would go about getting a job as a lighting operator in a theatre or at concerts? Do I need any special qualifications? How would I do it?

[jhaynes199]

Two ways of going about this. Either you go on a theatre course at college or university where you will learn the basic theory of lighting design / control and technical theatre in general. This may provide you with contacts and will give you a groundwork to progress in the industry. Other option is to start small and work your way up, gradually building up your experience. I've always thought the latter option is the best... yes theate courses are good but you will learn so much more in the real world rather than learning in a classroom.

 

I would be inclined to send your CV off to local theatres and see how you get on. From reading your profile I'm not sure how much experience you've had already but you should be able to get some work as a desk op / followspot op at a local venue. Sadly most West End or large scale shows will require a decent amount of experience. Full time staff are expected to have at least two years experience.

 

If you are interested in taking up lighting as a career, have you thought about software programming for lighting console manufacturers like Avolites seeing as you are studying computer programming it might be worthwhile looking into.

 

Good luck!

[niclights]

I agree with latter option too. Hang around - show your interest & be persistent. Help out for free and learn. If or when you are old enough do crew work. I'm sure that's how the majority here got involved - courses didn't exist a few years ago!

[StevieR]

And don't forget to get in touch with all the local Am-Drams. That's how I got started many moons ago. You may just start as an extra set of hands during get-in and get-outs but you may then be asked to operate a spot and then move onto the desk. By the time you've worked on 10 or so shows your knowledge will have increased dramatically and eventually you may be asked by a group to design their next show! Whay-hay!

 

HTH

 

Steve

[Jivemaster]

Prob the biggest qualifier is Keenness and enthusiasm. You demonstrate this at and before interview by attitude and prior work. You will need to do an alternative CV with your lighting exploits well, and accurately presented. Get some student theatre exerience then get some am-dram and some roadie-ing for lighting companies.

[Remy]

Guess I ought to stick up for education a lil!

I started, like everyone's suggested helping out in my local theatre - without a doubt the most important decision I ever made in my life. You learn how, what and where, but more importantly, get a few contacts, and god knows you need them!

I'm now at Guildhall studying tech theatre, and it's not classroom based at all. Effectively, I'm just spending three years in a producing house in variety of roles, from LX Op to carpenter. I get to learn a huge variety of desks, use new equipment I'd never of heard of had I stayed at home and be a student too!

Not getting at anyone who posted before, but just had to say that it's not classroom based at all, and of course you get out there as a cassie too.

Best of Luck!

[paulears]

the trouble is, no matter where you go, there will be some people amazingly keen, a bit like sponges trying to soak up everything - and then the rest, who spend 6 weeks on a followspot without even knowing what it was, or even the make!

 

education or not - it is the 'type' of person, not letters after their name that matter.

[tanko]

Hi All

 

Having gone through the higher education system and come out the other side of it, I would have to agree with paul,

 

I've now been out in the industy a year, and have been constanly employed since graduating in a varity of roles, including cheif LX on an outdoor tour, and assistant LD/prgrammer on a UK theatre tour, and now I am very settled into a job in the sales office at a rental company. However I maintain if I hadn't worked alongside my degree, to further my knowlegde, then I wouldn't have the job I have now, or indeed have been able to do the programming and operating jobs I have done in the last year or so.

 

The theatre courses are at the end of the day, what you make of them, but its very important to back them up with knowledge gained away from the system, nothing like a combination of a good degree, with the practical industry experience to back it up.

 

ta

tank

[drjad]

Absolutely, no subsitute for experience. Though I wouldn't deny the value of higher education in all sorts of beneficial ways, too.

 

However, there is no experience which one cannot learn from.

 

DRJAD

[Tomo]

The route I took was to do a degree in Engineering (actually Mechatronics, but I think any engineering course would have given me the same advantages), and do a lot of amateur and occasionally paid work in my spare time.

 

I believe that to be the best route, as you are completely reliant on yourself to make your career work, rather than risking being dragging down by others on a technical theatre course who took it because they thought it was a "soft option".

 

Good university-level technical theatre courses are definately not soft options, but some people think they are.

Pointing lights? Plugging in speakers? How hard can that be?

Answer - Sure, it's easy. Easy to get very, very wrong!

 

Unfortunately this means that such courses often get a significant number of applicants who don't have any passion for theatre.

 

Thankfully, most universities are well aware of this and filter the majority of the numpties out - but a few get through.

 

As long as you are on a course where you know that the muppets won't affect your studies and coursework, and you realise that you won't spend all your time in a theatre, you can learn a great deal from a technical theatre course.

 

Though there is one thing you must bear in mind:

 

No university course will EVER get you a job, no matter what your results were.

What gets you work is yourself - your personality, your contacts, how you seem at interview.

The course was to prove to employers that yes, you can think, so the HR dept can tick the box. After the box is ticked, you're on your own.

 

This is especially important in theatre, because the hours are long and unsociable - if you are a nasty person at 2am, then you'll get a bad reputation pretty fast.

This industry is tiny - a bad reputation will damage job prospects throughout the country rather quickly, and take you a long time to rebuild!

 

One more thing - nobody is in technical theatre for the money!

We're here for the joy of it, and I for one wouldn't want to do anything else!

 

Good luck!

[tanko]

Though there is one thing you must bear in mind:

 

No university course will EVER get you a job, no matter what your results were.

 

Good luck!

 

Whilst it won't just get you the job (any job, not just theatre) I think a degree shows more than the ability to think mate, it shows commitment to 3 years of a high level of education, it shows a willingness to develop yourself further, and also (if you get a decent result) a degree of self control due to the amount of self learning and research involved.

 

Also if you pick the right course for you, it will actually teach you something!! I didn't know anything about CAD, intelligent lighting Programming or moving lights before coming to uni, but although my course didn't 'teach' them too me, they gave me the basics to then go on and develop those area's of my trade, which I think goes for any other course, a Teaching course for example, can show you what to teach, and what parts of the curriculum are the areas you need to look at, then you go on from there and develop your own style of teaching and classroom management.

 

I personally believe (like I said in a previous post on this thread) that whilst it solely won't get you a job, a combination of a solid degree. good personality and practical experience to back it all up will go a long way to securing you a job!

 

ta

Tank