What do you guys do for a living? / Dockworker AMA

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Well, in a few years time I’ll be a qualified lawyer. Quite nifty but I refuse to deal with nebs legal problems when the world finds out this is all just a drug front
 
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Lewis!

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Well, in a few years time I’ll be a qualified lawyer. Quite nifty but I refuse to deal with nebs legal problems when the world finds out this is all just a drug front
hey thats pretty cool

obviously i'm never gonna get into law but something that's always fascinated me about the field is coles law, i take it you know what that shit is
 
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hey thats pretty cool

obviously i'm never gonna get into law but something that's always fascinated me about the field is coles law, i take it you know what that shit is

I think everyone can universally agree the world would be a better place without Coles law
 
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Lewis!

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I think everyone can universally agree the world would be a better place without Coles law
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Deleted member 4609

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I work as a Gaffer / Spark / Desk Op. for films, TV shows, music videos, commercials etc, just that general industry as a whole as a freelancer with my own company.

This in essence means that when I'm on set, I manage and set up everything lighting wise from lamps, spotlights, LEDs, blackouts etc and everything electrical too, managing power, loads, rings and mains, wrapping hundreds of feet of cable around a location just to have every other department including my own satisfied for electricity.

Some of this shit gets ridiculously heavy, some lamps are fucking gigantic and some stands and cables you need to feed these things even moreso. My average shift for a day-long shoot is typically waking up at 5am and getting home around 8pm, though there have been cases before where the Production has seen me wake at 4am and come home at 12am.

For folk looking for work, trying to be a runner on a shoot is a great way to get your foot in the door to an incredible industry that has hundreds of different avenues to go down, from rolling the camera to grips, hair and makeup, props, art, etc.

I've personally worked on some amazing shoots, with my name written in the credits for stuff on youtube that has over fifteen million views or next to some infamous products and brands like KFC, Samsung, BT, I've got to shake hands (we're all COVID tested every single day) with some incredibly talented people and of course celebrities. Seeing commercials that I've personally helped bring to life on TV when I'm lazing on the sofa, or seeing snapshots on billboards on the motorway that I've worked for, it's an amazing feeling.

Gone pretty far since the days of working in Starbucks x
 
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I work as a Gaffer / Spark / Desk Op. for films, TV shows, music videos, commercials etc, just that general industry as a whole as a freelancer with my own company.

This in essence means that when I'm on set, I manage and set up everything lighting wise from lamps, spotlights, LEDs, blackouts etc and everything electrical too, managing power, loads, rings and mains, wrapping hundreds of feet of cable around a location just to have every other department including my own satisfied for electricity.

Some of this shit gets ridiculously heavy, some lamps are fucking gigantic and some stands and cables you need to feed these things even moreso. My average shift for a day-long shoot is typically waking up at 5am and getting home around 8pm, though there have been cases before where the Production has seen me wake at 4am and come home at 12am.

For folk looking for work, trying to be a runner on a shoot is a great way to get your foot in the door to an incredible industry that has hundreds of different avenues to go down, from rolling the camera to grips, hair and makeup, props, art, etc.

I've personally worked on some amazing shoots, with my name written in the credits for stuff on youtube that has over fifteen million views or next to some infamous products and brands like KFC, Samsung, BT, I've got to shake hands (we're all COVID tested every single day) with some incredibly talented people and of course celebrities. Seeing commercials that I've personally helped bring to life on TV when I'm lazing on the sofa, or seeing snapshots on billboards on the motorway that I've worked for, it's an amazing feeling.

Have u met any famous people?
 
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Deleted member 4609

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Have u met any famous people?
I certainly have, a lot of Celebrities that I've worked with are genuinely lovely people, even moreso away from the camera, though there has certainly been one or two with that very sterotypical starstruck personality that believe everything has to be perfect for them and that they're deserving to click their fingers at you or talk down to you x
 
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Crabcus

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I am currently finishing up a 5 year engineering degree, but right now I intern at a large consumer electronics company in the U.S and am involved mostly with product & process design for existing and future products (existing products on the order of 1 million+ units/year). It is an enjoyable and very rewarding experience overall.
 
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maxi

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I work as a Gaffer / Spark / Desk Op. for films, TV shows, music videos, commercials etc, just that general industry as a whole as a freelancer with my own company.

This in essence means that when I'm on set, I manage and set up everything lighting wise from lamps, spotlights, LEDs, blackouts etc and everything electrical too, managing power, loads, rings and mains, wrapping hundreds of feet of cable around a location just to have every other department including my own satisfied for electricity.

Some of this shit gets ridiculously heavy, some lamps are fucking gigantic and some stands and cables you need to feed these things even moreso. My average shift for a day-long shoot is typically waking up at 5am and getting home around 8pm, though there have been cases before where the Production has seen me wake at 4am and come home at 12am.

For folk looking for work, trying to be a runner on a shoot is a great way to get your foot in the door to an incredible industry that has hundreds of different avenues to go down, from rolling the camera to grips, hair and makeup, props, art, etc.

I've personally worked on some amazing shoots, with my name written in the credits for stuff on youtube that has over fifteen million views or next to some infamous products and brands like KFC, Samsung, BT, I've got to shake hands (we're all COVID tested every single day) with some incredibly talented people and of course celebrities. Seeing commercials that I've personally helped bring to life on TV when I'm lazing on the sofa, or seeing snapshots on billboards on the motorway that I've worked for, it's an amazing feeling.

Gone pretty far since the days of working in Starbucks x
have you worked on any big shows/movies as of late?

what got you into the field originally? it's quite a niche market and i dont imagine many people have it as their original plan to start in education if you get what i mean
 

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have you worked on any big shows/movies as of late?
I’ve worked on a big feature film that’ll be coming out sometime in the next year which took six weeks to shoot, as for TV shows I’ve done a couple that are available on YouTube, one featured on ITV I believe for a while. A lot of commercials have also aired on TV before and after some very big infamous shows, that and I know I’ve done some work for the upcoming Olympic Games :x

I don’t like specifically pointing out what I’ve done if my full name is in the credits cause that attaches me, my company and by extension my family to folk who could probably fuck around for a laugh and try to harm my career or be an obstacle in the future if they wanna do a little trolling.

Internet is scary xx

what got you into the field originally? it's quite a niche market and i dont imagine many people have it as their original plan to start in education if you get what i mean
I was originally brought into the industry by working at a yard / warehouse that loaded and unloaded lighting and electrical equipment onto vans for use on film sets, by having to test all of that gear every day before it was sent out I got quite familiar with how it all worked and was eventually allowed to follow the van along to the shoot it was going to and helped set all the stuff up on site.

From there, I got friendly with a few cameramen and women, some producers and talent, who’ve offered me a tonne of work over the last year to travel around the UK and assist them as the spark or gaffer.
 
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maxi

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I’ve worked on a big feature film that’ll be coming out sometime in the next year which took six weeks to shoot, as for TV shows I’ve done a couple that are available on YouTube, one featured on ITV I believe for a while.

I don’t like specifically pointing out what I’ve done if my full name is in the credits cause that attaches me, my company and by extension my family to folk who could probably fuck around for a laugh and try to harm my career or be an obstacle in the future if they wanna do a little trolling.

Internet is scary xx


I was originally brought into the industry by working at a yard / warehouse that loaded and unloaded lighting and electrical equipment onto vans for use on film sets, by having to test all of that gear every day before it was sent out I got quite familiar with how it all worked and was eventually allowed to follow the van along to the shoot it was going to and helped set all the stuff up on site.

From there, I got friendly with a few cameramen and women, some producers and talent, who’ve offered me a tonne of work over the last year to travel around the UK and assist them as the spark or gaffer.
whats a "spark" or "gaffer"/whats the differnece?

isnt "gaffer" what they call the inspector in line of duty or is it implying that you're the boss
 

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whats a "spark" or "gaffer"/whats the differnece?

isnt "gaffer" what they call the inspector in line of duty or is it implying that you're the boss
The Gaffer is essentially the head of the Lighting and Electrical department on any given shoot, they manage everything and anything that relates to their field on set. They’re often working right alongside the camera department, obviously, since their work trying to set a scene and mould it into something that fits their vision work hand in hand as the lighting is honestly more important to get right than any prop.

A Spark works for the gaffer as a pair of hands, setting up the equipment, humping and dumping the heavy kit around where the Gaffer has designated it to go and to be there on standby whenever adjustments or changes need to be made. The Gaffer is just a spark but the spark in charge, so to speak x
 
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jamEs

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I am currently finishing up a 5 year engineering degree, but right now I intern at a large consumer electronics company in the U.S and am involved mostly with product & process design for existing and future products (existing products on the order of 1 million+ units/year). It is an enjoyable and very rewarding experience overall.
Are you also in electrical engineering? I'm currently halfway through my degree. About to start an internship at an electronics company in the aerospace industry.
 

Crabcus

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Are you also in electrical engineering? I'm currently halfway through my degree. About to start an internship at an electronics company in the aerospace industry.

No, mechanical engineering.
 

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I worked in a supermarket when I was 16 up until I was 18 and got bored so I applied to be a cabin crew to fly around the world and travel for free. I said I'd only do it for a few months but here I am three years later.

It's quite an easy job for what it is, you sit in the briefing which you've heard a million times before, head to the plane and make sure the safety stuff works and there's no security threats. Quite a weird feeling being on the plane with zero passengers on when I first started; especially on the long haul planes. You get everyone onboard, do a fancy dance with a lifejacket on and make sure everyone's strapped in. Throw some food out, make sure nobody dies, land in a foreign country and go sightseeing. Repeat on the way home.

It really is good though. Sightseeing in places I never thought I'd see, going to countries I could never afford to go to, all whilst getting paid for it. My favourite destinations are in the Far East, so China, Japan, Singapore and Korea. It also hopefully will make visiting my partner a lot easier now she's back home and we're allowed outside there. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the US just because I can never sleep there and it messes my pattern up when I get back. Canada I can excuse though because Vancouver always took my breath away when we still flew there.

Time off is great too. Rather than doing a set 8 hours 5 days a week with weekends off, I could literally do a 3 day flight (where in total 12 hours is actually working, the rest of the time is downroute) and have 3 days off after and 2 days off before to make sure I'm fully rested. Minimum of 9 days off per month. We also get 30 days holiday each year, increasing 1 day per year you're in the company up to 40 days. It made seeing friends and family a bit awkward though because they would all be at work whilst I was on a day off on Wednesday. Not complaining though because everywhere would be empty so shopping and driving around and the gym were perfect.

All in all, pre-covid it is probably one of the best jobs you can have as a young person that wants to travel. You save a ton of money not having to faff around with visas and flights, and if you do decide to fly somewhere whilst on your leave days, you get a discount on flights with my company and all of their partner airlines too. All of my mates are at uni racking up student debt and don't have a job lined up for when they leave, but I'm out here making a tidy sum each year for not that much effort.

Did you have to take a specialised college degree for it?

I always wanted to apply for one, a college near me back in the U.K had hostess courses, and one of my friends was studying on it, though it was ridiculously stressful for her.
 
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Did you have to take a specialised college degree for it?

I always wanted to apply for one, a college near me back in the U.K had hostess courses, and one of my friends was studying on it, though it was ridiculously stressful for her.
Not at all. My A-Levels were Italian, Politics and Photography. I didn't go to uni. I even did the interview for the job during my exams. I literally just did them because they seemed fun and I liked the teachers for Italian and Politics. There's many people that did Travel and Tourism at college or university but there's not really much benefit to doing it.

End of the day, it sounds cheesy but they're mainly looking for someone with a real drive to deliver a premium onboard experience with a passion for customer service and is able to work well in a constantly changing environment and team. You'll always be flying with different people, occasionally coming across someone you flew with before but most the time you'll have to adapt to different characters each time. I know that at my airline they value someone with these values, as well as their own personality and even some shortcomings.

At the end of the day, what keeps people coming back to an airline is the experience with the crew onboard. We are taught to deliver a product and deliver it well. People want a memorable experience and to have those magic moments onboard that really stick in their heads. It's why we usually have people with their own personalities because it's what makes thing interesting. If you look at the Middle Eastern carriers like Emirates or Qatar, the crew are often described as being really robotic and give clear cut answers and service. People don't enjoy that.
 
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