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MillimeterConfessions of an Audio Tech, Part 1
Sep 23, 2009 12:00 PM, By Matt Jepson
How to land the gig.
One of the places MythBusters has taken Jepson is the Alaskan wilderness for the Alaska Week special.
There was ton of video work during the dot-com bubble days. Silicon Valley was hot. Between the breakthrough technology, twentysomethings making way too much money, the initial public offering (IPO) parties being covered by news, and the dot-coms hiring production houses and crews to make videos, it was crazy busy. Everyone wanted their products covered, and at the time there were not enough skilled people to cover it all—especially audio techs. Everyone wants to be a camera operator and no one thinks of being an audio tech. I love it. You get to hear everything that is being said when the red light is on and when it's off.
Because there were so few audio techs, I was an apprentice on a fast track. Even though I didn't have experience as an ENG audio tech, I had been recording music for years and I learned on the job. I quickly got to go from a PA to utility (glorified PA) to an A2 to an A1. No one was going to complain because they needed someone, anyone, with any understanding of gain structure to ride the levels correctly.
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Apprenticeship always trumps
In all my years as an audio tech, I have only been asked for a résumé once. Every job was word of mouth. You either do a good job and play well with others or you don't get the calls. That introduction to Cael Hazard of Magnetic Image Video was the most important moment for my career. Magnetic Image Video is Northern California's largest rental house. Everyone on its staff was super friendly to me, and they knew their gear inside and out. People would talk about the talented staff that went through there as attending "MI University." As a PA, I would go out on jobs and watch and ask questions of its staff. Hazard referred my services to other quality production houses such as Beyond Pix Studios and Total Video (now Total Media Group) and various independent producers. All combined, I started having a lot of work and was really enjoying it. The Bay Area has many talented and interesting people in video production, so it was always fun and educational.
If anyone asked me what college to get into for video production work, I would say, "Don't!" Work as a PA or intern at a quality production facility and get real-world experience. Don't get me wrong; college is a great for raging keggers, snogging, and the study of Kierkegaard. But if you want to learn how sound is done for a documentary, assist a professional audio tech who specializes in sound for documentary. If, on the other hand, you want to be the next Spielberg, I would definitely say go to USC, UCLA, or NYU. Great teachers, endowments, and contacts.
Next time: life on the MythBusters set.
Matt Jepson is a freelance audio tech based in the San Francisco Bay area who has worked on MythBusters since 2005.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.