Vic O'Callaghan

"The skills I learned from my degree help me every day. Whether I’m using coding skills for data entry in R software, coming up with creative solutions for scenes or streamlining current processes."

How has studying at UQ help get you where you are today?

The skills I learned from my UQ Science degree and my PhD help me every day. Whether I’m using coding skills for data entry in R software, coming up with creative solutions for scenes or streamlining current processes.

What I feel has helped me most with my current role as a Third Assistant Director is all that I have learned about human behaviour - how people act in crowds and how people can respond or react in certain situations.

I believe this has helped me tremendously to be able to make the background I set in a scene look more realistic rather than a bunch of people acting.

What kind of work do you do as part of your job?

I work for the BBC in London as a Third Assistant Director on the British television series EastEnders.

As the Third Assistant Director it is my responsibility to direct the supporting artists (formerly known as ‘extras’) in a scene to make the background look busy and realistic.

I would like to work my way up through the ranks to become a First Assistant Director and then one day go on to become a Director or Writer.

What is the best part of your job?

I love being creative with it! I enjoy coming up with little scenarios for people to be doing in the background based on the mood of the scene. For instance if the scene involves a main character getting stressed/becoming overwhelmed, you can direct the supporting artists to be striding past extremely close to the main artist and have people passing from all directions to make the character look more overwhelmed.

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