This article evaluates a transition intervention project aimed at first-year undergraduate filmmaking students in the Manchester School of Art. In response to recently identified shifts in confidence and resilience linked to an increased rate of withdrawal, a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research project was undertaken to address the issue and develop a transition strategy to promote engagement, confidence and progression. Research into studies of first-year transition and retention, and an analysis of both the pedagogical context of the course and wider ecology of the discipline, informed a remodelling of the autumn term curriculum with a focus on the first six weeks of study. The research revealed key themes of consequence to first-year curriculum design, including the impact of art and design’s ‘pedagogy of ambiguity’ and the significance of belongingness and community to filmmaking students.