Do you need a degree to get the best theatre jobs?

[gareth]

I intend on deferring my place at Rose Bruford for a year, to try and get work in local theatres and get some hands on experience behind me. If the gap year works out really well, I start earning some decent money and can see a future through working casually, then I will definitely blow uni out of the window.

For what it's worth, Lucy, I personally think you're doing the right thing there.

 

You say uni isn't neccessary, but if you were interviewing me for a job and all I had were some crappy A levels and a BTEC in Technical theatre, would you seriously employ me?

If it were me who was interviewing someone for a job (unlikely, being freelance!!), the qualifications that you had would be very much secondary to what you could actually do, and the way you came across attitude-wise (e.g. know-it-all gobshite or willing worker who's keen to learn). For my money, some of the best job interviews for lower-ranked members of tech staff are the ones where you actually have to demonstrate that you have a grasp of the basic skills. I remember going for an interview at Derby Playhouse many years ago, as part of which all candidates were required to wire a 15A socket, solder up a 3-pin XLR, put names to a few of the more common Lee colour numbers, etc. As another exmaple, I've been told that part of the interview process at the National involves having candidates fold a tallescope down, then flip it up again, with a view to checking that they show the necessary awareness of the procedures required and the environment that they're in. A few simple tasks like that completed successfully, along with a face-to-face chat in an informal setting, give a far better indication of an applicant's suitability for a role in a working electrics department (or whatever) than a paper qualification ever could.

[Stu]

As Stu said, I don't want to have to spend 3 years at uni if I don't need to. And I intend on deferring my place at Rose Bruford for a year, to try and get work in local theatres and get some hands on experience behind me.

All I can say Lucy is, get in touch. I may able to help.

 

Stu

[Paul J Need]

If it were me who was interviewing someone for a job (unlikely, being freelance!!), the qualifications that you had would be very much secondary to what you could actually do, and the way you came across attitude-wise (e.g. know-it-all gobshite or willing worker who's keen to learn).

Will Gareth here...........

 

As an employer, I get sent CV in the post or by e-mail all the time and frankly........ It would not matter is someone had a Phd in stage management, it is attitude, commmon sense and a willingness to do the wrk which is more important.

 

We all know how some extremely bright people academically have absolutely no common sense or practical skills whatsoever ! :D

[jasonrsmith]

Hiya all!

 

I am currently 16 and looking to go into stage lightin as a career. I am wanting to know which route to take and I am a bit confused at what to do!

 

Since I was 13 I have run the lighting for the my school productions and have really enjoyed being behind the scenes doing this, hence why I would like to go into a career in stage lighting.

 

Could someone please give me some guidence as what to do - sixth form, then uni? college (I cant seem to find a college that does stage tech) ?

 

Can anyone help me???

[Jivemaster]

In the entertainment industry the most important qualification is a good command of the English language. Many of the technicians will apply for jobs weekly on a feelance basis only a few will have long term employment so job applications and CVs must work first time.

 

 

Forget the words, the style of your writing must attract people to want to read to the end! Otherwise your letter and CV will be recycled unread.

 

Search for, and read "Bryson's Blog" on this forum. Try to write one interesting page about your job (or school) to that standard of English and interest! -It's really hard, BUT that is the standard of English needed to get and keep work.

Remember that entertainment (especially theatre) people are surrounded by the wordcraft of the best writers in the form of drama script of all ages and styles.

[Simon Lewis]

Jason,

 

A quick look through the posts in this section will throw up two main schools of thought:

 

One says practical hands on skills and experience from the 'University of Life', together with the right attitude and a good personality are all you need. Furthermore, most employers couldn't care less about a qualification - they want someone who can do the job.

 

The other says going to college or university lets you study your chosen subject in depth, allows you to gain specialist knowledge that's unlikely to be learnt elsewhere, and helps to develop 'soft skills' and higher level academic skills. Furthermore, having a degree will open other doors that may well be closed to those who haven't been through higher education.

 

Unsurprisingly, many people will stick up for the route they took, so getting rational, unbiased advice is sometimes difficult. However, there are obvious merits in both approaches, and there is a lot to be said for higher education in general - irrespective of whether essentially 'hands on skills' are best learnt in that way.

 

If you are trying to find places to study at, try the course search facility at UCAS. Looking for 'technical theatre', 'sound' or 'lighting' should bring up a wealth of courses.

 

 

Simon

[Lumiere]

To be fair there is no specialist degree in Lighting anyway.

Before a designer can really get to grips with his art there are many things he should endevour to

ascertain before drawing up a plan.

Many very good Lx designers I've had the pleasure in working with over the years can get it

very wrong indeed!

1) What does the Director mean when he says he wants it RED? that you should light the scene in 106? No he means he wants to see the colour of fire in their faces, on their clothes, in the reflections

of their shadows on the wall...

2) Do an ELEVATION. Again many designers don't bother to work out the beam angle from the throw and can end up pissing off the crew by asking for more circuits on bar 1 than are available because you've already calculated how Not to cross phase on the bar.

3) A little bit of knowledge with respect to what your crew have to do can go a tremendous way in

placing you at their mercy. Some guys can't even turn on a desk but they can make a couple of lights on a set look stunning.

 

I think what I was trying to say is learn the basics, especially with electricity. A certain someone on this forum managed to blow a switchfuse to kingdom come because the instruction he gave someone in wiring an adaptor was inherently flawed.

I wanted to light since I was at primary school, so learnt every beam angle of every strand light

and then went to college (ABTT) who attached me to three theatres during the three terms.

The college taught me how to wire up and calculate (including pyro) whilst the attachments to theatre taught me how to light like the designers of the day. Ok those designers were first class so

that's the lucky bit, everything else was hard work........

[paulears]

Hi Lumiere - you've not been around for a while, so maybe you were catching up on old topics - the OP was 20 when this topic started, doing his National Diploma. He's nearly 27 now and I doubt he'll read this reply. We don't usually re-open ancient posts like this, but your comments, of course are still valid - apart from the bit about Degrees in Lighting. If you wish to have a lighting based degree, there's no big problem anymore - the Lighting Design BA (Hons) at Rose Bruford being one that gets talked about on here quite often. This topic is the latest incarnation of the subject, so I'll close this one as we've had quite a few since 2004!

Paul mods