A Sound Technician creates the sounds, effects and acoustics that give films and TV shows the right atmosphere for each story
If you listen to a film or tv programme instead of watching it, you’ll notice how sounds communicate important elements of the story. Film and programme makers design these sounds to produce the right atmosphere, just like sets are designed to create the right environments.
A sound technician is involved in capturing this atmosphere. They work in a studio or on location. Before filming starts, they help to produce the right acoustics, based on the sound designer’s instructions, and during filming they need to capture actors’ voices clearly. You could be the technician who helps to capture beautiful atmospheres on films and tv programmes that increase people’s enjoyment of what they’re watching.
You could decide to work in a small TV studio and work up to a national one. Or you could specialise in one area of sound and use that skill to work as a freelancer, getting contracts on films and programmes made all over the world.
There is also a career path you can follow from trainee level to assistant sound, to first assistant sound, and then sound mixer. Another option is broadening out from sound and moving into studio management.
There’s no perfect career path or ideal way into your dream job.
But if you’re interested in education and training options that could be relevant to this role, you might want to consider:
Options available after GCSEs:
More options available after that:
Schools and colleges each have their own career guidance plan and can provide detailed information, advice, and guidance on options and next steps.
In this role you use lots of technical equipment to capture sounds clearly, including a boom (a microphone on a pole that can get close to the sound source) and microphone transmitters. Very large rigs of kit can be used to ensure the acoustics and sounds are just right, and to enable directors and sound teams to hear what actors are saying as films and programmes are being made.
