I want to pursue professional acting, but it's a financial risk! Any advice?

paddyrg

Film & TV, directing, acting, all highly subscribed but all very accessible without 'film school' or 'drama school'.

If you think you want to be a director, be a director. Make films. Get your phone camera and make films. Really. Making films and putting them on youtube is so accessible compared with 20 yrs ago when the only home video was VHS and cost a mint. Write a story, find a story, get friends to act, but *do it*. Doing it will lead to questions, those questions can be answered by watching other films -

Watch movies and work out how they work, how they tick, what the beats are, what colours are used when, how each line is used. What's the music? What else is in the shot? What are the camera positions? Where is each person in the frame and why? All of these things were a decision made by somebody - did they make the right decision? How could you tell the same story with more effect? Cheaper? You need to do this for every scene of every film and understand what's going on.

If you need to, you can do 2-day director's crash courses via Raindance or similar - they will get you started if you're finding it tricky. But beware of doing every course under the sun if you're not picking up a camera in between!

Rest of film & TV - well there are plenty of roles. You generally start as a runner, unpaid or if you're lucky minimum wage. You do the hideous hours (12h days is normal), work tired, realise how much it draaaagggggssss, away from home for weeks at a time. It's not for everyone, but starting as a runner will let you see the other departments and you might find you enjoy camera dept/lighting/sound/production/catering/makeup/costume/effects/locations/etc and gravitate towards that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIyg2a72uV4
This is a slight exaggeration, but it's only funny because it's near the truth.

tomtontom

kingslayer wrote: »

I actually completed the skills health check, but the jobs suggested to me were "medical technology, nursing and social services" which i wasn't expecting.

What do you think radiography is, if not the above?

kingslayer

Sncjw wrote: »

why wernt you expecting that when you stated above you like science and health studies. if your interested in radiology why not apply for radiography assistant as band 2 you only need gcse. you dont nescarlly need nhs experience to do the job. it is useful to have care experience. if you look at person spec they usally put health care or care experience as desrible

I just expected more job recommendations than just those 3. Medical technology I never thought of as a career, the same with nursing. I know i would not be able to work in nursing as I don't have a strong enough stomach for it. Social care was another area that I hadn't even considered.

I suppose medical technology would be interesting, especially as you'd be designing equipment, i presume. The only other thing that somewhat would interest me that has similarity to technology, is medical engineering, but that would require me to be really mathematically minded, which I'm not.

I suppose radiography assistant would be an idea, but I'm resitting my GCSE's in September, as I only have my GCSE equivalents at the moment. Health care assistant was another job i though about.

bristol_pilot

Sorry but if you find yourself having to re-sit GCSEs (especially in Maths and English) you can forget anything science-based.

BillJones

kingslayer wrote: »

I suppose medical technology would be interesting, especially as you'd be designing equipment, i presume.

I'll admit that this is speculation, but I doubt it. I'd assume that that's more a job for scientists and engineers. Installing, perhaps, selling, or maintaining, but it's unlikely that you'd be designing it.

kingslayer

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Sorry but if you find yourself having to re-sit GCSEs (especially in Maths and English) you can forget anything science-based.

Why do you say this? I've read that lots of mature students have gone back to education with limited high school qualifications. It is only this year that i have heard that colleges will require older students who are planning to attend an access course, to have GCSE grade C or above in Maths and English.

I have my equivalents of GCSE grace C in Maths and English, but apparently these will no longer be accepted to study an access course. I understand that i would require a good grade at GCSE level to cope with the work on a science course, so this is why I am going to resit my GCSE exams.

kingslayer

tomtontom wrote: »

What do you think radiography is, if not the above?

I'll be honest, i haven't looked into it thoroughly enough. I have had my mind in the direction of performing arts/media for a while, but my main worry is that there is a lack of financial stability with those career routes.

I am nearly 26 and the most frustrating thing is not knowing what to do with my life. I want more out of life than a dead end job that will lead me nowhere, but I will be the first to admit that I have struggled in the past with academic study. I worry, though, that without some kind of higher education I will find it difficult to obtain a decent paying job.

I have always been quite an artistically minded person, but i guess i just never had enough confidence to really pursue careers in the arts. I also have to think logically about it financially too, because you can pursue your passions all you want, but a lot of the times they don't turn out to be financially rewarding.

If I could just pursue something i had an interest in as well as live a stable life financially and not worry about struggling to pay bills, i would be fulfilled. The frustration of not knowing where my future is going contributes towards my stress & anxiety levels. It is difficult (well, for me anyway) to have a solid direction in life and follow that.

Bantex_2

kingslayer wrote: »

I'll be honest, i haven't looked into it thoroughly enough. I have had my mind in the direction of performing arts/media for a while, but my main worry is that there is a lack of financial stability with those career routes.

I am nearly 26 and the most frustrating thing is not knowing what to do with my life. I want more out of life than a dead end job that will lead me nowhere, but I will be the first to admit that I have struggled in the past with academic study. I worry, though, that without some kind of higher education I will find it difficult to obtain a decent paying job.

I have always been quite an artistically minded person, but i guess i just never had enough confidence to really pursue careers in the arts. I also have to think logically about it financially too, because you can pursue your passions all you want, but a lot of the times they don't turn out to be financially rewarding.

If I could just pursue something i had an interest in as well as live a stable life financially and not worry about struggling to pay bills, i would be fulfilled. The frustration of not knowing where my future is going contributes towards my stress & anxiety levels. It is difficult (well, for me anyway) to have a solid direction in life and follow that.

To be honest, you are no different to 75% of the people out there. Underpaid, insecure and no idea what can be done about it.

BillJones

kingslayer wrote: »

Why do you say this? I've read that lots of mature students have gone back to education with limited high school qualifications.

While this is true, many science-based jobs require a genuine aptitude in the subject. Going back and filling in the gaps is no bad thing, but were you genuinely good at science at school?

I think that I was born a physicist, and although people can learn what I learned to get my A-levels, without the natural aptitude, they would never be able to take it to the higher levels that I needed to to work in the subject (degree, masters and doctorate).

Some people can no more learn to do what I did in science than I can learn to do what a professional footballer does on the pitch.

kingslayer

Bantex wrote: »

To be honest, you are no different to 75% of the people out there. Underpaid, insecure and no idea what can be done about it.

To be honest, it's gotten to the point where I'm envying 16 year old college students for goodness sake. I wish i was back in their position and as young as that again. It's crazy, i'm not old, i'm still in my mid 20's, but i feel envious of college/school kids.

I'm 2 months away from being on the wrong side of 25, and the reality of my future is really starting to set in, hard! :eek::wall: