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Careers advice needed.


samsound

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Any suggestions would be great, just wondering what would be the best thing to do when I leave school etc.

 

I am 14 currently living in Scarborough, I have been doing technical theater for about 3 years at school and local theaters, at first I was very interested in lighting but then my obsession started with sound, I study products, read books and do loads of shows, pretty much ever week, doing variety shows, plays, musicals and dance shows, on sound lighting and even stage management, I got the chance to work at 3 local professional theaters, operating sound and lighting, doing get ins etc.

 

I really want to be a sound engineer for theaters such as musicals and touring productions, then maybe go on to running a production company, and then directing and so on as I like to do a bit on the acting side. I am currently wondering what to do when I leave school, either college, or work, but I would like to study sound engineering as my main, but im not that sure where to study apart from York college but that just basically focuses on technical theater. was just wondering if there were any other better colleges out there near Scarborough or in the Yorkshire region. I was just wondering what other people have done or what would suggest........

 

I would be very great full and it would help allot...

 

Cheers

 

Sam

 

 

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It's great you seem to know what you want to do. This question gets asked quite often, and the usual advice is pretty consistent.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by:

but that just basically focuses on technical theater

Don't you want to do this? If you don't fancy the lighting and stage management side, then the same college may well have a music production course? Realistically, until you get to uni in 4 years time, you're not really going to get anything very deep or terribly technical - college at 14-16 is usually pretty broad.

 

The best advice at your age is to join an amateur society. School stuff under 16 is usually discounted as experience - even though it may be useful grounding. Don't forget to be very careful when claiming work experience, as under 16s cannot work in a theatre unless as part of a production covered by a Children's licence. Lots of people do manage a bit of experience in the smaller theatres but this has to be considered unofficial, as nobody would be silly enough to admit to giving work illegally.

 

You're in limbo land, but there's plenty of time to do some amateur stuff and gets some skills before college, and then, by then you may have a better idea of what you want to specialise in. Next year in your final year is the time to look at the colleges within travelling distance and decide if they do what you like. Then in another two years you can look at unis, or just get a job. I don't think you need to rush that far yet - get some more experience and find out what areas interest you. Only this week I came across an old friend I'd lost track of - and he was doing lights, not sound? I asked and he had a swap - and was quite annoyed he didn't switch ealier - he was never interested in lights until he was looking for more work and some light work appeared and sound didn't!

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I mean it just covers every thing in theater like, sound lighting, management, rigging, pyros and so on....

 

well I work as a volunteer at the ymca theater in scarborough and thats where ive got most of my experience, yes I suppose your right think I should keep an open mind and see what comes up, ill give it a year and then see, ill try lighting a bit more and study other parts of theater that im not sure on. do they do courses in technical theater in drama schools at my age and is there any that you know of in my area (the Yorkshire region)?

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

SAM

 

 

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Sam, don't take this the wrong way but by the time you have done GCSE the world will have turned and things will have changed hugely. Stick to school for the moment and try not to live in tomorrow. You have the world in front of you and much more will be revealed given time.

 

I do know that once you choose technical theatre the luvvies don't like to let you into their side of the business that easily. Not many directors began life as lampies or humheads. Funnily enough up till very recently even most top-flight theatre LD's came through set design, fine arts and the like rather than lighting courses. Still do, check out the profiles of the ALD winners and note that they seem to be the same people over many years.

 

Read the search results for "which college", "how do I get into..." etc. and keep doing what you enjoy. Good luck.

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I'm very much with Kerry. At 14 it all seems like a perfect world but by the time you're actually old enough to join it (18 really to join any proper company), things in your life will have changed dramatically and it may not even by an option at all.

 

Further Education wise, I would be tempted to avoid a college course in something as specific as theatre whatever, I'd actually feel more inclined to chase A Levels in Physics (in technical theatre, understanding physics is a must ANYWAY) and some other subjects of your choice. This will allow you greater freedom if you are detracted from theatre.

 

A lot of young people make the mistake of over-specialising early on, and then upon finding that, for whatever reason they can't get into theatre, they further find that other directions in life have become more limited to being no more qualified than anybody else, due to the over-specialised qualifications.

 

When I was your age I was dead set that I was going to join the army as soon as I was 18. I didn't. I discovered the world, the other things it had to offer, and found out there were things that really I was more interested in. I know you'll say "BUT I LOVE THEATRE and I HAVE SO MUCH EXPERIENCE" , well believe me I was in cadets from 13, I did every Tuesday and Thursday, every weekend training on offer, 2 camps a year, and when I wasn't at cadets I was either sorting my kit out for cadets, or out walking / running on the moors with my map and compass. I was dead set that I would join the army at 18 and be really really good, but I never did because this came up instead. And to be honest, in my cadet unit there must've been 40 of us, of which at least 20 of us were all dead set that the Army was our calling in life. I think 2 or 3 have joined. Some took apprenticeships, others found interesting trades, some people had kids and couldn't give the time, some took up drugs, some just became bums, but very few actually did it... you will be surprised but in the 5 years from 16-21 you probably change more as a person than you do from 0-16; and from whatever you think is your 'calling' now, you may go somewhere completely different, either by choice or force (force being... injury, family, finance, whatever).

 

All I'm saying is, enjoy what you do, but keep the options open. It's VERY early days yet. I know people who didn't even discover stage work until they were 25 but were on tours by the time they were 27. You have to wait a long time before it's too late, but it's very easy to be too early.

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I can't discuss schools in the Scarborough area but one suggestion I would make is that, while finishing school, make sure you get a good grounding in physics and maths. Being a sound engineer isn't just about twiddling knobs and listening to music--to be involved in any sort of system design and planning, you'll really need the maths skills. Anything to do with "dB" is a logarithmic function--and there are tons of formulas that you will actually have to use that involve algebra.

 

Even if you don't want to be a musician yourself, a grounding in music theory will help a sound career--even just the ability to sight read music can be a lifesaver.

 

Drama? Don't forget that as a sound designer you will have to go to meetings with the director and speak the same language when analysing what to do with a script. Some academic knowledge of drama can make the difference between "designer" and "box pusher".

 

So, for now get the groundings that will help you wherever your career takes you. There'll be plenty of time for specialising as your education and experience goes on.

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You have a long time before yo must take the real decisions about career! HOWEVER to facilitate some of those choices, try to take a mix of arts and sciences, and even learn another language! you must leave school with Maths and English. Science(s) and CDT help too, but music will help you in theatre and musicals and sound, while an art based subject will assist with the "looks" side of theatre and lighting. If you take a language then you learn how the cadences work in that language and also apply that to English.
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Another skill to consider is the IT side. A lot more equipment today is networked and controlled and monitored through the use of IP networking, and sound is increasingly being handled in digital signal paths, so having good IT/Networking skills will go a long way.

 

I'm also another advocate of getting a good solid grounding in Physics and Maths - these will allow you to understand the unchanging principles behind sound waves and be able to combine solid physical principles with experience of equipment in a real world situation later in your career. Being able to communicate clearly (both in written and verbal forms), in this industry is also important - so stick with the English. Even the ability to create a clear, concise and grammatically correct CV will stand you in good stead in later life.

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You have to wait a long time before it's too late, but it's very easy to be too early.

 

This is such good sense it should be engraved on every school careers office door.

 

The only thing I would add to all the above excellent advice is to get as many skills as you can from wherever you can. Join clubs and things like choirs and if you play an instrument keep it up and join as many ensembles as you can. You'd be surprised just how valuable being able to read music and follow a score has been over the years plus the fact that I can use a soldering iron and follow a simple circuit diagram. There are loads more like how to move a piano, and adjusting a panic bolt... I could go on. None of these was ever very deeply developed but in many cases superficiality was all that was required to make me useful or get me out of trouble.

 

Oh yes and I have to say that very few of the wrinkles and dodges that have been so helpful backstage over the past 41 years came from school.....

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Join clubs and things like choirs and if you play an instrument keep it up and join as many ensembles as you can. You'd be surprised just how valuable being able to read music and follow a score has been over the years.

 

This is very, very true. If you don't already read music, spend some time learning how. You don't need to be able to conduct a symphony orchestra, but being able to follow a piano score for a musical is a skill which will serve you very, very well. I learnt to read music very early in life (my mum is a music teacher!) and it has got me jobs - including my current one! You say you want to work on musicals - well, as a stage manager I always, always preferred to have lighting and sound operators who understood music.

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Dont do it,get a nice 9-5 5 day a week job that lets you have a social life and get to sleep in your own bed next to your atractive partner ,not the back of the van next to a snoring drummer whilst hurtling up the M6 to the next gig.Your body will never be the same,youll find things ache that you didnt know even existed.Your diet will consits of limp sarnies left over back stage and cold pasties from the garage at 4AM and youll end up a coffee addict.Would I do it if I knew all this before I started many moons ago?

Too bloody right I would

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