This occupation is found in the media industries and covers the Post Production area for Film, TV and Advertising. Post-production is effectively the final step in the making of a film or television programme and associated products, is the process of refinement and transition of productions’ raw materials into a finished product before distribution and release to the public. Post Production Technical Operators are employed by audio and picture post-production companies, visual effects companies, broadcasters and by film and TV production companies who have their own facilities.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide support, assistance and delivery within the technical support operation of a post-production company. Core duties include (but are not limited to) first line technical and edit support for the workflow and lifecycle of the content in post-production, media backup, ingest and export. The core objective of the role is to ensure that the technical support operations are fulfilled effectively and efficiently to the technical specification provided. Each company engaged in post-production, of whatever size, employs Technical Operators to prepare, manage and deliver the assets and creative media handled during the post production process.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with creative colleagues in editing, visual effects or production teams, as well as clients. This is a junior position into the Master Control Room (MCR) department, the role is often shift based and may involve working alone or as part of a larger team; they will report to senior technical managers.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for applying technical knowledge and understanding to the post production process in film, TV and Advertising. Post-Production Technical Operators are given high levels of responsibility with sensitive material, working to specific and varied technical standards within time-limited deadlines. In this role, they are responsible for assessing quality of content and carrying out corrective measures where possible. They have to be able to analyse source material/content and interpret and apply technical specifications to this. Although it is a technical role, there is a need to have an eye for the creative processes in post production such as editing, audio mixing and colour grading. The roles require an understanding of current digital file-based workflows as well as legacy media. Creative personnel in picture editing, grading and audio dubbing suites depend on the picture and audio files produced by technicians in this role. They are known by a variety of job titles, depending on the specific services provided by their employer, however the core technical understanding that they use applies across the industry. Summary of Standard https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/post-production-technical-operator/ Full Standard https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/media/2914/st0696-post-production-technical-operator_l4_ap-for-publication_08042019.pdf
