Trainees

GBCT CAMERA TRAINEES

The GBCT Camera Trainee Scheme is aimed at future technicians who want to work predominantly on fiction productions. The Guild has been running its Trainee Scheme for several years now. However, to ensure relevance and to meet industry needs, the GBCT Board has from 2009 worked on the development of a more inclusive Trainee Scheme that involves a great number of Guild members to teach and further support trainees – as well as to ensure that the skills gained meet the highest GBCT standards.

Depending on how buoyant the industry is, it usually takes about eighteen months to two years for trainees to get sufficient experience of working on a variety of productions – either feature film, television drama or commercials – before making a decision as to how, why and where they should go on to develop their careers. Most trainees move on to becoming 2nd AC’s/Clapper Loaders; others channel their energies into being DITs (digital imaging technicians), video assist operators or take electrical qualifications and move across to being electricians. Some trainees have been known to move into the documentary or factual entertainment side of the industry as Camera Assistants. And a few have gone on to be trainees for a further period of time in order to specialise in either shooting underwater or aerial camera work.

The selection process for GBCT camera trainees is rigorous and competitive. What follows is an outline of that process and what happens from stage to stage:

• The Board agrees to schedule a new trainee scheme. Details are then put onto the Guild’s website, FaceBook, Twitter or Blog and also sent to several different organisations to spread the word. A deadline is given for applications to be received in the Guild office. Applications can be sent via email (admin@gbct.org) or by post to the GBCT’s office in the Panavision Building
  
• A group of Guild members get together and sift through all the applications, preparing a short list of people to be interviewed
  
• Interviews are arranged and another group of Guild members forms the interview panel. This panel then shortlists the people interviewed to 12 people for the trainee course
  
• A 6-day course specifically designed for trainees is then arranged and run for the 12 people shortlisted. They are expected to pay for the course but it will be the best value for money they will spend on their careers. A further set of Guild members are tutors on the course with other GBCT members popping in and out to meet the trainees and help out if required. Other Guild members attend specifically provide an informal talk about their particular roles in the industry
  
• On Day 6 of the course, even more Guild members come in and test the trainees to see what they have learned and absorbed on the course. The trainees are given three different formal types of test – oral; written; practical. In addition, the assessors observe the trainees at ‘work’ on different tasks they are set
  
• When the course is complete, all the Guild members involved at various stages of the process as described above then meet and/or embark on email discussions about which of the trainees should be selected
  
• Finally, the trainees are selected and everyone is informed of the decision

The current set of 6 GBCT Camera Trainees started in January 2013.
We do not yet know when the next intake will be – this is industry work dependent.

Trainee Script Supervisor and Grips

All Trainee Grips are trained, monitored and assessed by the Grips Branch of BECTU.

All Trainee Script Supervisors are trained, monitored and assessed via the Script Supervisors Group.