Arts, Audio/Video, Communications

Pathway 1: Audio and Video Technology and Film

Broadly, individuals that work in the AV communications industry manufacture, sell, rent, design, install, integrate, operate, and repair the equipment of audiovisual communications. They are involved in the presentation of sound, video, and data to groups in such venues as corporate boardrooms, hotels, convention centers, classrooms, theme parks, stadiums, and museums. The major activity sectors in the AV communications industry are distributive service firms (AV dealers, rental companies, consultants, designers, and related firms), manufacturers of AV presentations and communications products, and large end-users.

Pathway 2: Journalism and Broadcasting

News analysts, reporters, and correspondents gather information, prepare stories, and make broadcasts that inform us about local, state, national, and international events; present points of view on current issues; and, report on the actions of public officials, corporate executives, special interest groups, and others who exercise power. Broadcast and sound technicians install, test, repair, set up, and operate the electronic equipment used to record and transmit radio and television programs, cable programs, and motion pictures. Chief engineers, broadcast field supervisors, and transmission engineers supervise the technicians who operate and maintain broadcasting equipment.

Sample Occupations

• Audio and Video Technicians

• Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys

• Broadcast Technicians

• Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film

• Editors

• Film and Video Editors

• Lighting Technicians

• News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists

• Photographers

• Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers

• Sound Engineering Technicians

• Technical Writers

• Writers and Authors

Pathway 3: Performing Arts

A variety of businesses and groups involved in theatrical and musical performances are included in this pathway. Theatrical production companies, for example, coordinate all aspects of producing a play or theater event. Agents represent actors and assist them in finding jobs. Costume design management companies design costumes. Lighting and stage crews handle the technical aspects of productions. Also in this segment are dance studios, schools, and halls, which provide places for professional and amateur dancers to practice, perform, and learn. Performers of live musical entertainment include musical artists, dance bands, orchestras, jazz musicians, and various modern bands. Orchestras range from major professional orchestras with million-dollar budgets to community orchestras often with part-time schedules.

Sample Occupations

• Actors

• Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes

• Choreographers

• Costume Attendants

• Dancers

• Disc Jockeys, Except Radio

• Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance

• Media Programming Directors

• Media Technical Directors/Managers

• Music Directors and Composers

• Musicians and Singers

• Producers and Directors

• Talent Directors

Pathway 4: Printing Technology

The printing process has three stages-prepress, press, and binding or post-press. Prepress workers prepare material for printing presses. They perform a variety of tasks involved with transforming text and pictures into finished pages and making printing plates of the pages. Desktop publishing poses new challenges for the printing industry. The printing industry is rapidly moving toward complete “digital imaging,” by which customers’ material received digitally is converted directly into printing plates. Other innovations in prepress work are digital color page makeup systems, electronic page layout systems, and off-press color proofing systems. Printing press operators prepare, operate, and maintain the printing presses in a pressroom. In most shops, press operators also perform preventive maintenance. Computers allow press operators to perform many of their tasks electronically. With this equipment, press operators monitor the printing process on a control panel or computer monitor, which allows them to adjust the press electronically.

Sample Occupations

• Desktop Publishers

• Prepress Technicians and Workers

• Print Binding and Finishing Workers

• Printing Press Operators

• Proofreaders and Copy Markers

Pathway 5: Telecommunications

Telecommunications specialists focus on the interaction between computer and communications equipment. Telecommunications equipment is computerized and can communicate a variety of information, including data, graphics, and video. The workers who set up and maintain this sophisticated equipment are telecommunications equipment technicians, installers, and repairers.

Sample Occupations

• Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers

• Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers

Pathway 6: Visual Arts

Visual artists create art to communicate ideas, thoughts, or feelings. They use a variety of methods-painting, sculpting, or illustrating-and an assortment of materials, including oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, pencils, pen and ink, photography, plaster, clay, and computers. Their works may be realistic, stylized, or abstract, and may depict objects, people, nature, or events. Visual artists are generally categorized in two groups. Fine artists create art to satisfy their own need for self-expression. Illustrators and graphic designers, on the other hand, put their artistic skills at the service of commercial clients, such as major corporations, retail stores, and advertising, design, and publishing firms.

Sample Occupations

• Art Directors

• Commercial and Industrial Designers

• Craft Artists

• Fashion Designers

• Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

• Floral Designers

• Graphic Designers

• Set and Exhibit Designers

• Special Effects Artists and Animators