Moving to England... any advice?

M

mrWr0ng

Well-known member
Family circumstances have dictated I head to England w/ no foreseeable return. I've been working as a videographer in San Francisco for several years and have put together a decent camera & light kit, built up a client base and have been doing well for myself.

I'm headed for Cambridge now. There's not a lot of work over there, so I imagine I'll be having to look to London for an occasional gig and then looking for local work. Who knows, I did alright in SF so it's always a possibility.

So I do have questions... are there people working in England, especially in the Cambridge area, who could give me advice?

I have an NTSC HVX - can I change it over to PAL or is there a way I can trade it for a PAL HVX? I would hate to lose my camera but I imagine there's not that much work for an NTSC cam in PAL land.

I would love to hear more about this from people in Europe in general, too, as I plan on heading out of England to elsewhere in the EU when the family circumstances lighten up, if possible. I have citizenship, I just don't have any connections or know anyone.
 
You will love Cambridge, I've studyied and lived there, and plan to move eventually.

Great place. Great people very cosmospoliton, (ps bicycles rule :D )
 
We were in Cambridge during a visit to England, a couple years ago. It's a perfectly lovely place.

I'm actually envious - I'd love to live in southern England, at least for a while. London, Oxford, Dover, St. Albans - so many fascinating places an easy train ride away...

Good luck with the move, and with getting set up over there.

ps- watch out for those bicycles. Cyclists seem to believe they own the road and the walkways, and aren't too generous when it comes to sharing, sometimes. They are to pedestrians there, as cars are to cyclists, here.
 
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I'm not in britain but I think you'll have to sell your camera and buy a pal one, that is more expensive and with the dollar change even more. And you'll have to rebulb all your lights with to 220v, if you decide to move them there.

Anyway, I've been once to cambridge and liked it. Good luck there.
 
I think the location will be a lot of fun, I was just there in February and it was great traveling all around on the train. So low in stress, I really enjoyed it.

My camera is my biggest worry right now - I'm selling off the rest of my gear to prepare, I'm just hoping not to take too big a hit on the camera. I figure as long as I have the camera itself, I can start building up the rest of my kit again.
 
I think most of your equipment should be fine (just use a plug adaptor) but the PAL/NTSC will be the only thing,

might be a long shot, but have you thought of trading/swaping in your DVX for a PAL DVX with someone wishing to move to America? ebay?
 
You should get listed with Crews Control or Media Central. I actually hire NTSC camera owners in Europe quite a bit. There are lots of American production companies that need a qualified pro shooter in U.K. who can supply NTSC footage rather than PAL HD.

For work over there, you will need a PAL camera but if you are a pro, keep your NTSC camera and get lined up with the booking companies over here. I book in UK all of the time and getting PAL footage is a significant extra expense. You having an NTSC camera over there makes you much more marketable over here IMHO, but you really need both.

Crews Control
Media Central
and there are a whole lot of other bookers here who hire in Europe.

Dan
 
Well that's some good news! I have to travel light so I'm going to be putting my lights up for sale, probably my tripod as well, but I'll bring my shoulder mount for the camera, my mac pro, a powerbook and then I'll try to find some work. I'm hoping I can pick up some editing work here and there (and a few clients here in the states may still have stuff for me), but if I can keep my HVX I'd be happy - that camera and I have been through a lot together, lots of international travel, so I hope that it can work out.

I'll sign up with those two bookers and then start keeping my eye out for others. Ideally, I can land a few jobs here and there and start re-building my kit, lights first then sound, maybe save up for a PAL cam and see where it all takes me.
 
One word for you - UMBRELLA!

Never been, but had a pen-pal who complained mightily about the rain.
 
while your there try taking over and start a new democratic revolution man teach them to vote!!!
can i say that hear?
i dont even vote?just take over and blow the place up!!!!!!
make a great movie!!!
mike d
vote 4 me!!?
 
If somebody asks you for a Fag, it ain't what you think. Same goes for a Twinkie. Knowing these two things could save you much embarrassment later on :)
 
The weather is wonderful here in England :wink: so unpredictable..... who wants 'same ol', same ol' :undecided :huh:
 
Lol well I've gone there every couple of years since I've been a kid so I know a fair bit about the culture, I'm just wondering more about *living* there as opposed to just visiting :)

Not looking forward to the weather, mind you, but from my own experience it ain't *that* much worse than San Francisco
 
joemiked said:
while your there try taking over and start a new democratic revolution man teach them to vote!!!
Click to expand...

You might as well move here. It seems like everyone else has. And the voting thing might have an element of truth in it as well. Although I think it might me the politicians who need to learn a few things (like about actually listeining to the voters) rather than the voters themselves.

England is quite a good place, although maybe not as good as it used to be. There is more legislation and red tape than there used to be, but it's not too bad yet, and I'm sure there are worse places.

I haven't been to Cambridge, but I hear good things about it, and the country being the size it is, you can always get to anywhere else relatively easily.

If you want consistently bad weather (depressing rain for weeks on end) then head for Manchester. And for better, warmer weather for more months of the year, with a barely noticable winter compared to other areas, the south coast is the place. Part of it is shielded by the Isle of Wight, so the worst of the weather misses the coast and goes inland.
 
I'd be careful if I were you - my older brother was born in Cambridge, and if he's anything to go by I can't imagine anything any good coming from there! :undecided
 
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