Day three of industry week and we had a talk from ex-Confetti lecturer and sound design artist Mark Sargison. He began telling us about how he got to where he is today and also about being a freelance artist.
Mark went to a grammar school and always expected to continue through education and go to university. He achieved A-levels in geography, economics and music before going onto to study digital music at the University of Brighton where in his final year he produced a short film and a soundtrack.
He has always had a passion for music and has experimented with lots musical sounds including making music from an air conditioning unit and other pieces of equipment. As well as producing music he has also had experience of live music and at the age of 11 started a band with some friends. For the next 11 years they would tour England doing gigs and recording demos.
Mark has had many jobs over the years from working in a record shop to being a chef for an ‘all you can eat’ restaurant (which he doesn’t recommend doing). However after taking a teaching job at Confetti Studios he met fellow teacher and freelance editor Richard Graham who asked him to produce some music for a film he had made. This lead to him working on other projects as well as being asked to work on the Arctic Monkeys concert film.
Two years ago he relocated to Manchester and became a freelance sound designer. There he decided to attend a networking event on motion graphics which resulted in him gaining freelance work with local businesses.
Mark gave an insight on what it’s like to work as a freelance artist. This is someone who is self-employed and not committed to a long term employer.
There are many things you need to set yourself up as a freelance artist but the most important things are having a website so that you can advertise your work and a show reel to showcase what you have done and what you can bring to your customer. Buying good equipment and legitimate software are important however; his personal tip is that you create a workspace separate from your living space. So have a room to use as an office to create a private workspace.
There are a lot of positives of being a freelance artist such as being your own boss, choosing your own hours and working with whom and where you want. However, being a freelancer isn’t the only option to help get into the business. There are many ways including getting an apprenticeship with production companies such as the BBC and ITV or going straight into a production company as a runner and start working your way up.
In summary Mark has given us an insight into freelance work and is proof that, if you work hard and take chances you’ll discover the opportunities.
By Matthew Darbyshire, level 3 student in Film and Television.
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