What you’ll learn
- Be able to describe the costume department from designer to daily, explain the difference between the workroom and the set, and say what a trainee does from the 05:45 unlock to the end-of-day storage check.
- Have scored yourself on the twelve practical skills a supervisor will test, chosen three to fix in eight weeks, and know the cheapest honest way to learn each one.
- Have found three named, dated routes to costume experience this month, and know the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours, tax and safety that apply to each.
- Have an outline of a one-page Stage 1 costume CV checked against the site's example, a three-paragraph cover letter plan, and a way of approaching supervisors that does not annoy them.
- Have a saved plan and be able to say, honestly, the five Stage 1 exit statements for this role, and know what to do next on MFJF.
Where this leads
By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.
Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.
The role and the department
20 minWhat the costume department does from script breakdown to wrap, who is in it, the two worlds of workroom and set, and what a trainee actually does all day.
- readWhat the costume department does, and where it does it8 min
- readWho is in the department, and the trainee's day hour by hour8 min
- checkCheck: the department4 min
Before day one: skills, kit and knowledge
20 minThe sewing, garment, dressing, continuity and breakdown skills a supervisor assumes you have, how to learn each one now, the kit, the paperwork, the words, and the ten tips. Then an honest audit with a score.
- readSewing, garment, continuity and breakdown skills: what to learn now7 min
- readKit, paperwork, the words people use and the ten tips6 min
- taskTask: your skills audit, scored out of 367 min
Getting experience at Stage 1
20 minWhere costume experience really comes from: theatre and television as parallel routes, costume houses and hire companies, vetted short films, styling tests, alterations shops, courses and schemes. Then the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours, tax and safety, and a task to find three routes this month.
- readWhere costume experience really comes from7 min
- readThe rules: pay, unpaid work, hours, tax and safety6 min
- taskTask: find three routes you can start this month7 min
Your CV, cover letter and first approaches
20 minWhat a one-page Stage 1 costume CV contains, the portfolio, the three-paragraph letter, how to approach supervisors in prep without annoying them, and what a reference really means. Then draft your outline against the site's example.
- readThe CV a costume supervisor wants to see, the letter and the approach7 min
- taskTask: draft your Stage 1 CV outline against the site's example8 min
- checkCheck: CV, letter and approaches5 min
The industry around the role
20 minThe wider map: film, television, theatre, costume houses, workrooms and events; the three career routes and the site's three-year plan; what the nearest case studies show; and the curated library for this course.
- readThe map around costume, the three routes onward and the three-year plan7 min
- resourcesThe costume trainee's library8 min
- checkCheck: the industry around the role5 min
Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2
20 minYour saved plan, the five statements you self-certify against, and what to do next on MFJF.
- plannerYour plan10 min
- readHow you know you are ready for Stage 26 min
- checkCheck: ready for Stage 24 min
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