On set: Coulsdon sixth formers during their visit to Elstree

Pupils from Coulsdon Sixth Form College were given an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of one of the country’s biggest film and TV studios as part of their course.

The group – all studying BTEC Media, or A-Level Media or Film Studies – went on the trip to Sky Elstree Studios in Borehamwood to see first-hand how a film is made, talk to professionals and find out more about the jobs available in the industry and the skills required to succeed.

Real-time experience: the pupils played active roles with industry professional during the tour

Pupils were separated into three groups to complete pre-production, they were then assigned their industry roles and plan their film scenes. They also took part in a challenge where they learnt about industry career pathways through a series of games and activities.

The BTEC pupils, who are working on creating a short film for their assignment, were able to use the state-of-the-art XR – Extended Reality – studio to bring part of their film idea to life, giving them first-hand experience of the extensive capabilities of XR.

Some areas were out of bounds due to some top secret films in production currently being kept under wraps, but they did get to experience going to an empty lot where they filmed scenes from Wicked and to a full Dolby Cinema that they have on location.

Teacher Tevin Robinson said: “The team at Sky Elstree were brilliant,” and he added that his pupils “got so much from the trip and have come back with a renewed sense of energy and excitement about a career in the film and TV industry.”

• Inside Croydon has moved to Bluesky. Click here to join us there for latest updates and insights

• Check out our archive of podcasts on Spotify, including our monthly news discussion panel show thingy, the Croydon Insider, and The Andrew Fisher Interview

PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates

Inside Croydon – If you want real journalism, delivering real news, from a publication that is actually based in the borough, please consider paying for it. Sign up today: click here for more details

• If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

• As featured on Google News Showcase

• We offer FREE ads to community groups when they have members who are paid subscribers to Inside Croydon

• Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here

• Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network