Grey Coat 4 Issue 15: September 2011 Work Experience in Miami


Work experience is an essential part of preparing students for life outside of the secure school environment and therefore when students in year ten were looking for placements, we were all focused on testing out careers that we had in mind for our futures. My placement was centred around the fact that I was interested in a career in the


Before I went to the placement I thought that it would be beneficial to complete some research about fashion during the period in which the production is set, the 1950s, and to do some general research into the film business. When I arrived at the placement I learnt that all of the crew have to complete various types of research before they start


film business or documentary filming as a director, and was hoping to gain a better understanding of the business and see whether the reality of it would be something that I would like to be involved in. My Father works as a key costumer for films and television programmes and he offered me an opportunity to apply for a place to work with him on the television series he was involved in at the time. Richard Schoen, who was the wardrobe supervisor on the production, kindly agreed to a placement on the show working in the wardrobe department from the 11th July to the 22nd July 2011. The production was called “Magic City” and it was a 1950s drama, which revolved around a famous hotel in Miami and the family who owned it. Usually students are not allowed to travel overseas for work experience; however since I have a parent living in America, the school kindly enabled me to fly to Miami to carry out my work experience.


filming in order to get the clothes, cars or building structures right for the period they are trying to recreate so I was glad that I had done the same. In the wardrobe warehouse the designer had made mood boards and then placed sketches of the outfits for each character, in keeping with the research on the mood board. This is so that the tailors, seamstresses and costumers know what the designer wants and then they can fit and dress the characters accordingly. I found that the research I had done was very helpful in interacting with various members of the crew and allowed me to have a better understanding of the whole production.


During my two weeks on the set of “Magic City” I learnt not only that it is always hot in Miami, but also how many people and the numerous departments it takes to make the production work and transfer the


script onto the screen. Underneath the red carpet events and glamorous images projected on screen, the film business is actually a lot of hard work with unpredictable schedules. Many of the people working on the set do not get credit or recognition even though they are all essential to making the filming process run smoothly. I was able to experience what each department contributes to the production. I not only got to work within the wardrobe department but I was also allowed to work with the sound department and talk to many individuals in hair and make- up as well as the set dressers. I found it really interesting to see the structure of the business, as people have to work individually within a department and outside of that within the whole production, tying together both team and individual working skills. I had to apply these skills during my placement as I learnt to work in the environment of the film business. In the film business, under union regulations, all of these people within departments have to have all of their expenditures paid for


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