Would it be bad to attempt this?

Hello! I’m a senior who wants to major in mechanical engineering and ultimately become a professional engineer. Throughout school I’ve taken a lot of engineering prep classes (like IB Comp Sci, Robotics, Calculus) and I’ve loved every minute of it. However I’ve also gone though high school and worked in film making which I seem to love just as much.

I want to work in both the film industry (likely in storyboard artist, editor, or/and music composer) while working as an Engineer ( I like mechanical, petroleum, industrial ) and was wondering if I am aiming to do too much.

Is it too much to attempt both careers? So I am considering what are the pros and cons of attempting both careers?

PS

  • I have 2 years of feature film working experience (mostly in production assistant work) and have completed 12 films with several awards
  • I have volunteered city’s engineering firm and I intend on returning next year.

I have absolutely no idea how you could juggle two careers of that sort like that. I think you need to choose one and the other will have to be a hobby.

@boneh3ad I guess a better question is will it get harder if I do both as a career because I’ve managed doing both with school for about two years and their hasn’t been a problem yet. But is that just because i’m a volunteer? Does engineering work take up that much more of my free time?

I think you need to pick one path for career, the other for hobby. College is typically lots harder than high school, and often even more so for engineering students.

Engineering curriculum is intense, with rigid course sequence.It was true 30+ years ago . It was true when I got my degree… Also true when my kids studied engineering- one stuck with it and the other did not The engineering kid did A TON of music in hs, including composing. Then he continued music hobbies college. It was a good counterbalance to the rigorous academics.

The workload in high school is absolutely laughable compared to college, and then after college when you have to live independently, there are so many other responsibilities to deal with that I fail to see how you could have two of these sorts of full-time careers. That doesn’t even address what happens if you decide you want to have a family, in which case you owe it to them to, you know… be present.

Pick one. Own it.

@colorado_mom @boneh3ad
I didn’t think about the work load because I’m in college classes now. (But its community college, so I guess it isn’t the most rigorous). What makes university harder?

I never though about film-making as “full time” or a “hobby” because I only work on things like storyboarding, editing, music, etc. things with definate required time amounts. I can write a full score for a 2 hr film in about 2 weeks (3 for something great) without using a lot of time and can edit a 30 minute movie in a few days. How is it different to do film-making as a hobby with engineering vs film-making as a job with engineering?

Engineering courses are hard because of the rigid course sequences. You’ll need to be taking about 4 intense math/science course per semester (plus an elective). At the community college you may be getting more of a taste of this than high school students - it depends on CC and the hs being compared. But you probably are not getting the total load you’ll see at the university.

I’m still confused about your proposed combination of engineering and film-making. Are you wanting to also have a degree related to film, along with the engineering degree? That would be really hard to do.

What makes college harder? The material is more advanced. It is taught in half the time. Teachers aren’t going to hold your hand. You are having to live quasi-independently on the side instead of having basically everything provided by mom and/or dad. High school is an absolute cakewalk.

You won’t be doing those filmmaking tasks on the side if you want to make it a career. That’s not a small-time thing. You can’t half-ass anything and call it a career.

Think about it this way: why would someone come to you for either engineering or filmmaking when they could go to two different people who are doing it full time? If you think you are so talented that you can be as good doing one of them halftime or less as someone doing them full time then you are almost certainly wrong. There are a lot of talented, hard working, dedicated people in each field, and certainly there are a lot of people trying to make it in filmmaking. So why would they pick a part-timer? And how would you handle conflicts where both need you at the same time?

A profession requires a lot of time. Sleep, eating, travel, work (including variations in schedule and at least occasional overtime) typically take far too much time to hold a second career simultaneously and do either well enough to succeed. Maybe if you are incredibly talented and give up everything else - hobbies, friends, family. Otherwise… no.

@colorado_mom @boneh3ad

@cosmicfish

I didn’t think about finding work considering the film makers I work with typically invite me to work . And most filmmakers I know work film part time or freelance and since I’m not a director or something I didn’t think I’d ever need to work full time. ( My recent Assistant Cameraman happens to be a doctor )

This may not be true for all of them, but full time composers and editors are “full time” becuase they are typially working on 5-7 projects at once. I would Ideally be working on one or two at a time a my own leisure or none of i wanted so I would imagine it would be manageable. Would work on one project at a time not be manageable? How would it be different than doing it for a career?

lessonwitch -

Others have already given you what it takes to be successful as an engineer. And they are right. It’s not easy and definitely not part time.

However, I happen to live in “hollywood east”, working for an engineering company, and have several co-workers that kinda do what you are describing. Heck, one of them was an extra that was allowed to speak on screen in Iron Man 3. I don’t think they make much money, but they sure enjoy it. One thing that I believe makes it possible for them is the fact that there is already a film making presence here, and for smaller independent projects, there is a demand for part time support. Of course, I think it is also true that the smaller production companies like using part time help because it is cheap.

Are you currently being paid a living wage for the film work you are doing? The fact that your cameraman is a doctor makes me think these jobs don’t pay enough to live on. That’s a huge issue and may well be why people are “full time” and working on multiple projects at a time - it’s the only way to make enough to pay the bills.

Are you expecting your engineering career to be free lance - you pick the projects you work on - or would you be working for a company full time like a 40+ hour week? If it’s free lance, you will have to establish your name and credentials professionally and continually market yourself to be in line for these jobs. That takes time you’re not spending actually doing the work. And you have to be doing this all.the.time in order to have sufficient income coming in to live. Then you need time to actually do the work. You’d likely be working far more than 40 hours a week and have little time to pursue a 2nd completely different career.

Working as an engineer for a company full time means your time is committed to that company, you can’t take off in the middle of the day to meet with someone about a side job in your other career. So everything about your 2nd career would have to be done in off hours. And some potential clients in your 2nd career may well only be available to meet when you’re at your engineering job. Or some people you’d be collaborating with on your 2nd career may not be interested in always working with you evenings and weekends when you’re free from your engineering job.

If you were doing both careers free lance, it’s possible it would work. But building your careers at a profession level and providing enough income to live would be very very difficult. That’s what makes HS and college easier - you don’t typically have that pesky demand of providing a living for yourself.

There are engineers who work in the film industry. It’s a narrow market though. All the gimbals, tracks, cameras, lighting, etc. have engineer fingerprints. Then there’s companies like Laika that are a small subset of an already narrow market, that may employ an engineer in production. Your experience would be helpful in finding such a job. I agree with all the others though, to do it as a second major and to try to juggle two parallel, unrelated careers would not likely work.

Just to clarify, I am refering to working in film part time / freelance and full time in engineering. Am i understanding right that I can’t make a career in either if I attempt this?

@JustGraduate Idk what a living wage is bc i’m 17, but this year I made about 3k from film making (then again i have very little experience) . And the jobs i’m interested in could be done from home if I wanted to.

What if I limited myself to 2 projects per year?

With full time engineering work

Doing two projects per year at the scale you seem to be discussing is not a career. It’s a hobby that pays a little. You also don’t likely need a degree in it.

If you are talking about part-time freelance work, then you are talking about a hobby, not a career. You can have a hobby and a career, but you can’t expect your hobby to be much - perhaps you’ll help on some small independent or student films, but don’t expect anything that would pay nearly enough to live on! Hobbies are meant to work around a career, careers are not generally designed to work around each other. You’re basically confusing community theater with Broadway - the former is absolutely doable, but no way to make a living.

I am an engineer, one of my good friends is a professional cinematographer. It took everything he had just to get into the industry, and that is the norm, not the exception.

A living wage, btw, is a wage that pays enough to live on. $3k is enough for a month if your aspirations are low. Starting engineers can make $5k+ a month, and protesters are asking that everyone in the US get paid the equivalent of $2500 a month, for comparison. The poverty line (being officially poor) is around $1500-2000 a month.

I think you can take a breath and see how this works out. You’re still in high school and will explore both interests.

I know plenty of engineers who balanced work and some other interests that required a time commitment, anything from rehabbing a home during every free hour, to getting another degree while working, to the so-many I knew who took off every Friday afternoon in winter to go skiing all weekend. Lol. Some had other work they did (eg, side freelance or teaching U extension classes.) Or responsibilities in their communities or families.

But: a) they weren’t trying to juggle two big balls at the same time. They didn’t fool themselves. Their primary job was their livelihood, they enjoyed it, they treated their responsibilities seriously, got the job done to the best of their abilities, etc. The other took second place.

And b) important: they weren’t trying to do this as newbies or rookies. They proved their worth at the main job first and foremost. Only later did they ask for the occasional flexibility in their schedules.

So go off to college, explore, see if you stay interested in engineering or film work.

Thank you ALL for your answers. After you brought up the career point me and my teacher had a lengthy discussion about what a career is. Long story short, sorry, I misunderstood the term. I hope to continue though engineering while making films on the side. Thank you all again.

I’m glad you had a chance to talk it over and think it through.

My funny story - when I was young I read something about career / nursing. I assumed the word was “care-er”, like a nurse would do with a patient.