3guk Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Guys, I have just been told that I need to find a company to work for for a week. Not excatly sure of the dates at the moment but I would like to work for a sound and lighting company. I would like to really try either installs or a hire company. Basically anything to do with sound or lighting or both !! I have worked in a school theatre for the best part of 5 years and have a fairly wide range of knowledgeable topics. Where would you guys reccomend I start looking ?! Cause I dont have a clue !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightbulb789 Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 When I took my Work experience placement, You say where you would like to work in your case 'Sound and Lighting Companys' and they should find details of local companys who would take you for a week. If not go around to your local or closest Sound and Lighting Companys and ask them if they can take you for work experience. Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3guk Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 My school gives us a list of places we can work , all teh booring ones :) But there is nothing sound and lighting related and hence they said we have to find our own !! would working for a hire company be good experiance or would it just be paperwork and phonecalls ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomLyall Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Depends where you go really, I enjoyed my work experience loads, and got a weekend job out of it. I spent most of the week in the moving lights department, cleaning macs. There's also a huge amount of cable counting to be done... I missed a tech with the chemical brothers by a week though. ;) Ah well, mustn't grumble :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3guk Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 May I ask which company you worked for please ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 would working for a hire company be good experiance or would it just be paperwork and phonecalls ? Paperwork and phonecalls are work - that's why it called Work Experience. In fact, you have to slog away at it for ages before they even let you do paperwork and phonecalls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomLyall Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 School gave me a placement in an office. So naturally I politely refused. ;) Instead I went to (and subsequently work for) Hawthorn Theatrical Ltd. Schools have a fairly mundane list of offices just because they wouldn't mind an extra body to file some paperwork or make tea. This is also a good time to realise that if you do have a good idea of what career your heading for, and you do want to be sucessful, you will have to put in the effort. Have you tried contacting your local hire company? Try Stagelink for a huge list of hire companies. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljstevens Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 hi mate try Wigwam Acoustics, Kelco,Mac sound, Concert sound and there is HSL who are based in Blackburn if you wanna travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tour monkey Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 I started in the industry doing work experience at my local theatre. Then did a bit of voluntary stuff after that, and then ended up working for them full-time, over time I built up contacts and almost 4 years on I'm a freelancer. I found that the best way to avoid making tea, cleaning/counting cables... Is to show a real interest in the tech stuff, ask loads of questions and you'll be surprised how much more willing people are to show you how to do things... and of course your other option is to make the tea REALY badly, then nobody will ask you to do it again ;) I'm pretty sure most technician's will agree, we could talk shop for hours on end, so don't be afraid to ask questions! I was also taught its a good idea to specialise in one area, other might not think so, but I suggest you try and find a company/theatre thats involved with both sound and lights... this way you'll maybe get a better idea of what you realy want to do! I know this is slightly off topic but I hope it might be of some use to you! Good Luck! Munky :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Its a known fact that schools have a fairly mundane list of offices just because they wouldn't mind an extra body to file some paperwork or make tea. As someone who has, in a previous few lives, given loads of work placements I'm going to disagree with that statement. 1. HSE law places an extra responsibility on employers where under-18s are involved. For a small company the extra work involved often means that they cannot give people the more 'exciting' jobs. 2. Having anyone in on work experience is always non-productive. The amount of work the company gets done goes down even with the extra pair of hands because of all the supervision. But companies still do it. 3. Paperwork is still work. Most of this country's wealth is now based on the services industries which involve huge amount of 'paperwork'. Many people have a very rewarding career with 'paperwork'. 4. If you can't be trusted to do mundane jobs properly why would an employer risk you with anything more 'hi-tech'? And back to the original question... The BPA yearbook lists 11 venues in Manchester alone, there are another 5 with Manchester postcodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Brennan Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 hi mate try Wigwam Acoustics, Kelco,Mac sound, Concert sound and there is HSL who are based in Blackburn if you wanna travel.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> In addition to these try: Northern Stage Services, Philip Edwards Lighting. Why a hire company and not a theatre, places like Royal Northern College of Music, Tameside Hippodrome run works experiance, a few of my friends did their placement there. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 I don't know exactly what you want but you may find a more venue based placement more fun. That way you will actually get to work on a show (as long as the theatre is not dark!). You have got the Opera House, the Carling Apollo and the Palace Theatre to name a few let alone all the smaller theatres! Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3guk Posted March 1, 2005 Author Share Posted March 1, 2005 Well I have worked in theatre !! Didnt think they would take me on during a show due to the extra work that they have to put in ?? Surely a big venue wouldnt offer a job placement during a show as said person could mess it up ! ! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Supprisingly they do!! The Clear Channel venue near me (bristol hipp.) deffiently does because when I was doing a show in there they had a work experiance guy in. OK You won't be doing any big jobs and you won't beable to do if they have got a massive show in but otherwise it should be OK! Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeggie Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 seconded - if it is a fairly 'simple' show with a decent length run - i.e. panto, they will usually give a placement. bods can be useful for tea making, coiling cables, gel sorting, stuff like that. its not that much extra work tbh as once they have shown you about the place, and they have ascertained that you will not get yourself killed in a hurry, you can be put to doing things while they are free to get on with more complex tasks. also, chances are that they wont offer a placement to anyone that will obviously be a pain. [just some thoughts]all the bestandrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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