Chris Dingley1 Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 This maybe a stupid question but how much actual electric work does the electric dept need to know. I.E. rewiring sockets and stuff along that line. If none would having that experiece help at all in getting more work, ause I can get a free electrical program through my school till I am 21. and if it will help me later on in life I will utalize this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted January 18, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 18, 2007 This maybe a stupid question but how much actual electric work does the electric dept need to know. As much as the sound department needs to know about sound and the camera department needs to know about cameras. You can't really know too much but you can certainly not know enough, so that should give you an idea of which direction to lean in... Learn as much about electricity as you can. Yes, regular electrics will have to do things like rewire lamps, trace a bad connection, etc. You know, any career that you plan on doing, well, you shouldn't even have to ask whether there are things you don't have to learn. Hopefully you love the subject so much that you can't be stopped from learning everything there is. It's like when people ask me what cinematography books to read -- I've read almost all of them, some several times over cover to cover. I mean, if someone said they wanted to be a Civil War historian and then wanted to know if they could get by with reading only two or three key books on the subject, I'd question just how much they loved their chosen field. A true historian would read everything in his area of expertise and when he ran out of things to read, he'd probably start writing books that he thought hadn't been written yet. Follow your passions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 This is a great book to buy. Its the lighting techs handbook aka Harry Box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Frank Barrera Posted January 18, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 18, 2007 When i finished film school I knew that I wanted to eventually become a full time shooter but I also had to #1 learn a lot about lighting and filmmaking in general and #2 pay the bills. I natuarlly was attracted to the lighting dept. So it was grip or electric and to be honest I knew nothing about elctricity except that it scared the hell out of me. So I chose to become an electrician. The best way to learn, besides learning everything in Harry Box's book is to get on some low budget features as a third. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Hartman Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 I agree with above suggestions as well, the Set Technicians book is a good one. Read everything else that you can find. The Uva's Basic Grip book is another resource. A few courses in electrical work would also help out greatly. The number of "Electrics" that you meet who don't know the "hows and whys of load balancing", would surprise you. I worked with one Electric that had never put on an Edison plug. Being able to diagnose a problem and perform a repair comes with repetition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Workman Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 If your question is about prioritizing what you are learning, (i.e. film lighting, camera movement) then it is still worth learning. My school didn't have a film production or an electrician curriculum. BUT we had a very nice Theater and Production department. I worked as a theater electrican hanging source4's and that kind of work. I learned how to rip apart stage adapters and how to build rigs with cheesboroughs and the like. Its amazing how much cross over there is. IATSE was probably theater first. I agree with Mr. Mullen that you should take everything. Some semesters I overloaded by 2 or 3 classes just to fit them in. I didn't pass them all but I got what I wanted from them. Consider yourself lucky that you have that program. Cheers, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Dingley1 Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 It's not through college its through a wilson tech program. If your question is about prioritizing what you are learning, (i.e. film lighting, camera movement) then it is still worth learning. My school didn't have a film production or an electrician curriculum. BUT we had a very nice Theater and Production department. I worked as a theater electrican hanging source4's and that kind of work. I learned how to rip apart stage adapters and how to build rigs with cheesboroughs and the like. Its amazing how much cross over there is. IATSE was probably theater first. I agree with Mr. Mullen that you should take everything. Some semesters I overloaded by 2 or 3 classes just to fit them in. I didn't pass them all but I got what I wanted from them. Consider yourself lucky that you have that program. Cheers, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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