SFX technician

The job

You build effects and you run them. In the workshop: fabricate rigs, cut and weld, build pneumatics and hydraulics, wire controls, make breakaways. On set: smoke and haze, rain, wind, snow, fire bars, water, moving parts, collapsing props.

Every effect must work on cue, repeat between takes and be safe for everyone round it. You handle pyro only once trained, competent and nominated for it.

A typical day (on set)

Arrive before unit call and load the effects for the day.
Rig a rain bar over an exterior with the lighting crew.
Attend the safety briefing the 1st AD runs before the effect.
Run the effect for rehearsal, then on cue for each take.
Reset between takes: drain, dry, refill, re-rig.
De-rig, check and service the kit at wrap.

Skills

Practical engineering: fabrication, welding, mechanical, electrical, pneumatics and hydraulics.
Safe working with heat, pressure, water and heavy loads.
Following risk assessments and method statements precisely.
Problem-solving under time pressure.
Plant and access tickets help, such as for forklifts and access platforms.

Reporting lines

You report to the senior technician or floor supervisor, and through them to the SFX supervisor. Trainees and assistants work under you.

How people get in

Most technicians start as trainees or assistants with an SFX company. An engineering apprenticeship, a trade such as welding, plumbing or electrics, or model-making for film are all common starts. Show a portfolio of things you have built. Safety-critical work means people progress slowly and under supervision.

Next step up

Senior technician, then lead technician or floor supervisor, and in time SFX supervisor. Technicians who want to work with explosives train further in pyrotechnics.

Building the rig in the workshop, then running it on cue on set.