Not Exactly What I Had Envisioned

In my last blog, I made a nod towards my work placement being not exactly what I had envisioned. Well, now I’m going to tell you why. In all honesty, my experience at Big Telly Theatre Company has been somewhat underwhelming. However, that’s not to say that my experience has not been enlightening.

Did I set my expectations too high? I guess I expected an ample opportunity to lend my skills as a music and sound design student to the production team at Big Telly. For the most part, however, I feel that my skills have been left somewhat redundant during my time here. However, I have gained other experiences outside of my traditional skillset on the bright side.

To describe my overall experience thus far, I will be referring to Borton’s Reflective Model (Jasper, 2013).

Experience

It was coming towards the end of January and finally, I was given a date to begin my placement. I was to begin on the 24th of January in Belfast City Centre. Thankfully I didn’t have to make the pilgrimage to Portrush where Big Telly is based. So I was informed by the development manager that I would be joining the team in rehearsals for their show due to take place the next week in Carrickfergus community centre. I was pretty chuffed albeit somewhat naive. ”Finally, I can use my skills in a workplace setting” was my mentality. I didn’t care if I was to do it for free (I just wanted experience).

So naturally, I was a little bit nervous as I walked to Royal Avenue for my first day at Big Telly. Did I ever mention that I’m a nervous and somewhat awkward guy? As I got to the door of the disused former bra shop (Yes you heard that right) in which the rehearsals were taking place I was convinced I got the address wrong. It turned out that this disused building was the location of their previous Christmas production. I knocked on the door before sheepishly pushing it open to a group of people laughing and chatting amongst each other. A momentary hush enveloped the room as I entered and made eye contact. ”Internship?”, I said, as if I was delivering a pizza.

The room exploded with laughter while I battled a reddener for a moment or two. This was my introduction to Big Telly. It was a decent ice breaker nonetheless and everyone was very welcoming.

Don’t be afraid of stating your intentions for a work placement, such as indicating any specific skills you would like to learn. This shows that you are a focused and dedicated young designer.

(Barton, 2020)

After all the formalities and introducing myself, I spoke to the project manager and was assured that there would be audio opportunities to work on in the coming days. For the moment, however, I wasn’t really assigned any role. Instead, I sat with the actors as they brainstormed script ideas for their next performance. ”This really goes beyond my skills as a sound designer”, I said to myself (quietly). What have I gotten myself into? I definitely felt like a lost lamb that day. Time passed and eventually, I started helping to gather equipment from the previous set with the audio and lights technician. It was rather mundane but relevant nonetheless.

Reflection

At the same time though I began to feel that there was a general mood of apathy towards me. I felt awkward. I could have left unannounced and nobody would have noticed. I am an intern after all. I really had to go out of my way at times to find work for myself. So from the Monday to the Friday the majority of my 8 hour shifts involved me dismantling the previous set and storing equipment. Shadowing other people’s work also became the norm. I even got to learn how to operate lighting at one point and was taught on the similarities with musical programming. 40 out of my 100 hours went by in a heartbeat.

The week that followed took place on the set of the proposed play in Carrickfergus community centre. For 5 mornings I drove from Belfast. It was very much a similar experience of trying to help in any way possible even if I wasn’t needed.

At one point I was even involved in the somewhat dated marketing strategy of handing out flyers for the event in key parts of the town.

For the next few weeks that followed my various tasks continued to be very much sporadic and without much structure.

I guess in hindsight I was just underwhelmed at the fact that I wasn’t given the opportunity to lend my creative ability to the team at Big Telly.

Learning

I believe that I should be more open minded to job roles which are outside my skills as a music and sound design student. I am not going to lie. My general feeling at the time of working at Big Telly was one of unfulfilment. At times I felt like I was on community service. (Or what I imagine community service would be like). However the more I write this blog the more I realise that I have in fact learned a decent deal throughout my placement. While I may not have been able to showcase my creative sound design capabilities I still learned a great deal in other fields. Lighting, tech, marketing, sourcing historical images online, deconstruction. These were fields in which I never imagined working in. However, as I come to the realization that I have now gained experience in these fields I now feel somewhat satisfied.

References:

Barton, G., 2020. Don’t get a job… make a job. London: Laurence King PublishingLtd, p.17.

Jasper, M., 2013. Beginning Reflective Practice. 2nd ed. [ebook] Hampshire: Cengage Learning, p.102. Available at: <https://r3.vlereader.com/Reader?ean=9781408098851> [Accessed 20 March 2022].