What you’ll learn
- Be able to read a call sheet and know what every time on it means.
- Know exactly what to do when you hear "lock it up", "turning over" and "back to one".
- Be able to name the departments on a set and know who to ask for what.
- Be able to use a walkie-talkie the way the crew expects.
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.
The shape of a day, and the words that run it
8 minA shooting day has a shape, and every part of it has a name. Learn the shape first and half the jargon explains itself.
- readThe call sheet, and the day it describes3 min
- readWhat the 1st AD shouts, and what you do when you hear it3 min
- checkCheck: the day and the calls2 min
Departments, and the kit they ask for by name
8 minSets are run by departments, and each has its own titles and its own kit words. Know who is who and what they are asking for and you become useful in an afternoon.
- readWho is who, and what they call each other3 min
- readKit words: what people are asking you to fetch3 min
- checkCheck: departments and kit2 min
The walkie, the manners, and your first day
9 minThe radio is how a set talks to itself. Using it well is most of what people mean when they say someone is good on the floor.
- readWalkie language, and the etiquette that goes with it3 min
- taskTask: your day-one word list3 min
- checkCheck: the walkie and the floor3 min
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Sources and references
Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.
Check it yourself
This course is written from our own experience of the industry. These are the authorities that set the rules, so you can check anything here for yourself.
- ScreenSkills: job profiles for film and television what each grade on a set is actually called, and what it does
- BECTU grades, rate cards and the agreements the words on set come from
- HSE: entertainment and the arts the safety terms you will hear, from the regulator that sets them
- The Production Guild of Great Britain production office and accounts terminology
- albert: screen industry sustainability the sustainability words now on most call sheets
Every link checked 19 September 2026.
