Sound trainee

Pay in the destination countries

Monthly, in US dollars. Each country is an Imora admission package — open one for that route's fees, language requirement and deadline.

What does the day look like?

On set, a sound trainee is the physical and logistical backbone of the audio crew. Your day starts 30 to 45 minutes before call time, unloading flight cases, setting up the sound cart (Sound Devices Scorpio or 888), and sanitising and handing out listening headsets (Comtek PR-216, Lectrosonics R1a) to directors and producers. You continuously manage smart battery chargers, swap transmitter batteries (Wisycom MTP60, Sennheiser SK 6212) before takes, jam timecode transceivers (Tentacle Sync E) onto cameras like the ARRI Alexa 35 or RED V-Raptor, and tape down BNC cables across walkways with gaffer tape. You also prep miniature lavalier microphones (DPA 4060, Sanken COS-11D) to conceal inside costumes.

Physical logistics and cable handling make up 40% of the day, battery maintenance accounts for 25%, lavalier rigging prep takes 15%, and guarding gear on standby takes 15%. The creative part — holding a secondary boom pole (Schoeps CMC641, Sennheiser MKH 416) or recording room tone — is only 5% of the job. Standard schedules are 10-hour days plus a 1-hour meal break or 11-hour continuous days, stretching to 12 to 14 hours with prep and wrap. You regularly lift cases weighing 15 to 30 kilograms, stand on concrete for up to 12 hours, and work night shoots from 18:00 to 06:00.

Where does this lead?