Meet Toby, 25, from the south west of England. He works for a video production and training company as a director of photography. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.
Toby:
I'm Toby. I'm 25 years old and I'm a director of photography. The director of photography works really closely with the director of the film to create a beautiful image. The way that they do that is by deciding on different kinds of cameras, different lenses, as well as different types of light. Basically, lighting is really useful, because you need to be able to see what's in front of the camera, but also what's awesome is that you can be really creative with it, so whether or not that's making a scene look really moody and dark and scary or, on the other hand, you could light the same scene, but with brighter lighting and it could become a comedy. Something that's really key for a director of photography to be conscious of, is exposure. What exposure is, is basically how bright the scene is. The way that we control that is through different settings within the camera. A piece of equipment that really helps us with exposing a camera is called a light meter.
Growing up in the south west of England, I didn't know anybody in the film or TV industry. It wasn't until I was 15 and I was really lucky to get a work experience placement at a production company in Swindon. On this work experience placement, I learnt video editing and I got some hands-on experience with cameras as well. This work experience placement gave me the motivation to apply for a media degree in Birmingham. During my degree in Birmingham, I had the dream to move to London. After graduating, I was incredibly lucky to get an internship at a production company called CTVC. It's quite a small company and what that meant is that I was given so many different opportunities, whether or not that was going out on shoots and meeting people on location or getting to do some editing in the office. Through doing this, I found the role that I want to progress down.
Toby's colleague:
Toby is probably the most hard-working person I know and it's because he loves film. He lives and breathes film. He's a very trusted work colleague and to win two BAFTAs at such a young age, it's astonishing. So, you know, BAFTAs before the age of 30, Oscars before the age of 40 maybe, I don't know, we will see.
Toby:
Working on any production, it's all about teamwork and working with different kinds of people and for me, initially, that was quite difficult, because I was quite an anxious kid. I didn't really like crowds or new people. But working in this industry has really helped me come out of my shell.
I was quite an anxious kid. I didn't really like crowds or new people. But working in this industry has really helped me come out of my shell.
Toby is a director of photography and works closely with a film director to create beautiful images for video productions. He uses different kinds of cameras, lenses and light to create the right look and feel for different scenes.
At 15 he did a work experience placement at a production company in Swindon, learning video editing and using cameras, which motivated him to apply for a Media degree in Birmingham.
After graduating, he was lucky to get an internship at a production company, CTVC in London, where he got exposure to different aspects of the job such as going on shoots and editing in the office. He has flourished there and has already won two BAFTAs.
What to expect if you want to be a director of photography
- Director of photography average salary: £21,000 to £35,000 per year
- Director of photography typical working hours: 39 to 41 hours per week
What qualifications do you need to be a director of photography?
You could get into this role via a university course, a college course, working towards the role, or specialist courses run by private training providers.
Sources: LMI for All, National Careers Service
This information is a guide and is constantly changing. Please check the National Careers Service website for the latest information and all the qualifications needed.
For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
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