Learning path · On set
Step up: your first time as HoD or supervisor
For working crew stepping up to run a department: budgets, your team, crewing up, hard days, the next job. Five short guides, each with a watch list.
Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course. This one leads to a step up on our unit.
Lesson 1
How to create a production budget for your short film
BFI · 1:13:46 · original on YouTube
You will learn: Where the number comes from, what goes in it, and how to stay on it.
Note: Then read the guide: run your department's budget (futuresinfilm.com/careers/step-up/department-budget/).
By the end you will be able to
- Read your department's budget lines and track actuals against them
- Brief a team and give notes people can use
- Crew up fairly and get the deal in writing
- Handle a bad day with production, and look after your crew
- Ask for the step up and get rebooked
Test yourself
Could you do it on a set?
5 real situations, one for each thing this path teaches. It's optional practice, not pass or fail, and your answers stay on this device.
Next: do it for real
Step up on our unit.
Working crew can take the next grade on a FIF unit, with a HoD who knows the arrangement. Free. Tell us your department, your last two jobs and the grade you want next.
How learning with FIF works
Learning path. Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course.
- Learn onlineFree films, paths and Academy coursesYou are here
- Competency checkA short check with us, online or in person
- In-person practicalOn our unit at Pinewood or 3 Mills
- FIF CertificateFrom the practical only
The FIF Certificate comes only from the practical. How it works · Book a competency check
Go further
Beyond YouTube, labelled honestly. Free first. Paid options are labelled.
- The step-up toolkit Free
Futures in Film. The five guides and the department budget template. - Skills checklists Free
Futures in Film. Every grade, from trainee to HoD. - The Production Guild Paid membership; training schemes vary
The Production Guild. Training for production and accounts crew. - The Whole Picture Toolkit Free
The Film and TV Charity. Mental health toolkit for productions.
For learners and trainers
Every lesson is a free video by its original maker, played from YouTube with privacy-enhanced settings. Found a broken video? Email [email protected].