Photography and audiovisual production internship: a practical guide

Photography or audiovisual: two worlds that overlap

Photography and audiovisual work are often put in the same drawer because they share light, framing and technical rigour. Yet an intern’s daily life is not the same. In photography the team is often small: a photographer, sometimes an assistant, a stylist or a retoucher. In audiovisual work, production mobilises highly specialised roles: direction, camera, sound, editing, production and logistics.

Before you start looking, ask yourself a simple question: do you want to learn to make an image on your own, or to be part of a chain in which everyone depends on the others? Both choices are legitimate. The second teaches coordination and set discipline; the first teaches autonomy, the relationship with the client and the management of the whole chain, from shooting to delivery.

The types of organisation that take on interns

The possibilities are wider than you might imagine. Each offers a different kind of learning:

• Studios and independent photographers: advertising, product, portrait and fashion work, with plenty of direct contact with the creator.
• Production companies: fiction, documentary, advertising and music videos, with shooting crews and a tight schedule.
• Agencies and corporate communications departments: corporate films, social media content and brand photography.
• TV channels, radio stations and online media: news, magazines, reports and on-screen graphics.
• Equipment rental companies and post-production labs: technical preparation, colour grading, backups and quality control.

An equipment rental company, for example, is an excellent school for learning to recognise a lens, a tripod or a cinema optic, which a film set does not always show.

What you are really given to do

A beginner intern is not placed behind the main camera on the first day, and that is normal. The most common tasks revolve around preparation and support: charging and checking batteries, setting up a stand, holding a reflector, scouting a location, putting away memory cards, noting the shots filmed and accompanying a guest on set.

These tasks seem modest, but they teach the essentials: anticipating, staying discreet and understanding why a setting changes with the light. In post-production, the internship may involve sorting rushes, syncing sound, preparing an edit, cutting out subjects or basic retouching. Ask at the interview how much time will be spent observing and how much on supervised practice.

Skills to show before you even arrive

No team expects an intern to master everything. They expect reliable basics and real curiosity. Three sets of skills weigh in the decision:

1. Technical: exposure, depth of field, white balance, notions of framing, shot types and continuity, and basic sound recording.
2. Software: a photo development program, an editing program and a few notions of colour grading or mixing.
3. Professional behaviour: punctuality, listening, team spirit and the ability to work long days without losing precision.

A person who can name what they do not yet know, and who asks how to proceed, inspires more trust than one who improvises confidently with expensive equipment.

Building a portfolio that really works

The portfolio is your best application, provided it is selective. Ten to fifteen images, or two or three well-chosen short clips, are worth more than a long accumulation. For each piece of work, give the context, your exact role, the equipment used and what you would do differently. A production manager will read this note more attentively than the work itself, because it shows your lucidity.

Look after consistency too: a series on one theme, controlled settings and measured retouching. If you are aiming at audiovisual work, add a short film with its own sound, even a simple one: a professional ear quickly detects careless sound. Finally, do not put any image of a third party online without clear permission.

Image rights, permissions and copyright

This is the point that separates a reliable intern from a careless one. Anyone recognisable in a photo or video has a right to their image: their consent is needed, preferably in writing, stating the use and the duration. Locations, visible artworks, brands and music raise other rights questions.

In a professional organisation, these permissions are handled by production, but you must understand the logic. Before using an extract or an image in your portfolio, always ask whether distribution is permitted, and in what form. An answer such as “yes, but without the faces” is common and must be followed to the letter. Copyright in what you create during the internship also depends on what has been agreed; it is better to clarify this at the start.

Managing files: a skill that opens doors

In imaging, losing a file can ruin a day of shooting. Data management is therefore a highly valued skill, and it is quickly learned. Remember a few reflexes: copy memory cards onto at least two media before formatting them, check that the copy opens properly, name files according to a clear convention, and note what has been copied and by whom.

A rule often quoted in the imaging trades is to keep three copies on two different media, one of them off site. Some productions employ a specialist in data management on set; watching their work is a rare chance to learn a highly sought-after technical job.

Fictional example: a week in a small production company

Here is an illustration, with rounded and hypothetical figures. Léa, a second-year student, does an eight-week internship in a company that makes corporate films. In the first week she observes the preparation of a two-day shoot: equipment list, work schedule and location scouting.

During the shoot she is given charge of the cards and backups, and of note-taking on the shots. At the end of the week she sorts about three hundred clips and prepares a first pass through the rushes. The editor explains her choices. After eight weeks, Léa has a commented extract, a naming convention she knows how to apply and two contacts who agree to read over her applications. No salary comes with it by magic, but what she gains is concrete.

Internship framework, stipend and alternatives

In France, an internship that forms part of a course rests on a three-party agreement signed by the student, the school and the host organisation. Beyond a length set by regulations, a stipend is due; its minimum amount changes over time and should be checked with your school or official sources. Small imaging companies sometimes pay above the minimum, but do not promise it.

If an internship is hard to get, other routes exist: work-study, which combines an employment contract and training, schools that require periods in companies, or voluntary work at festivals and on short films. The important thing is to choose a setting where you are really supervised, not just available.