Working on a film set demands a complex mix of hard and soft skills. Crew members must balance creative, technical, and interpersonal abilities. They need expertise in their specialised role, the judgment to know when to take initiative or follow instructions, awareness of what to say (and not say) to whom, and the timing to say it. They must support their supervisor, manage those reporting to them, and read the room with perceptiveness. The successful crew member is intuitive, confident, communicative, technologically skilled, quick, patient, gracious, and grounded in a thorough understanding of the filmmaking process and their role within it. A film crew unites diverse disciplines to function like a well-oiled machine. On set, knowing what to DO isn’t enough—knowing how to BE is just as important. For undergraduate screen students, developing these capabilities can be a significant challenge.

How might screen educators create learning environments that foster the creative, technical, and interpersonal skills needed for set work? One approach is immersive role-playing through simulated shoots that closely mirror real-world conditions. This discussion explores “Film Set Boot Camp” (FSBC), a series of intensive simulated shoots for second-year Screen Arts students at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand.

Unitec’s Screen programme emphasises practical film projects that grow in complexity across the three-year degree. Through hands-on learning, students assume roles in pre-production, production, and post-production, progressing from assistants to heads of department. A key challenge for the teaching team—each with years of film industry experience—has been to design environments that shift students’ mindsets: encouraging new ways of thinking, moving, communicating, and seeing themselves as vital parts of a unified team. FSBC was developed with this aim in mind.

Each session involves rehearsing, blocking, and lighting a simple two-actor scene, then shooting it from three angles—all within one hour. (In a professional setting, this would be nearly impossible if quality were the goal. Here, it’s a demanding exercise to build stamina and precision.) Staff are on hand to provide immediate feedback, adjusting communication and task execution. The aim is for students to experience firsthand what a well-functioning set should look, sound, and feel like. After each shoot, students debrief for 30 minutes, reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and why. They then rotate roles and repeat the process with a new scene. Each session lasts three hours.

Repeated over several weeks, this cycle builds confidence, speed, and cohesion, transforming students into increasingly effective crews. The pressure of fast-paced shooting, combined with structured reflection, promotes self-assessment and practical improvement. The environment fosters authentic learning, helping students integrate collaboration, communication, and technical skills. Along the way, they also develop metacognitive, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities in a space that encourages risk-taking and learning from failure.

Now in its fifteenth year, FSBC continues to evolve. Each new cohort brings unique personalities, strengths, and prior knowledge, prompting subtle refinements to meet their needs. This article explores FSBC’s core techniques and shares key insights from its development and delivery.

Keywords: Film, education, film set skills, screen pedagogy, film crew.