ASP.NET MVC 6 Update Multiple Tables from One View - asp.net

Question

I’m coming from an intermediate C++ background (and to a lesser extent, C#) and wanted to try to build a project in Asp.net MVC 6 with EF 7 – not realizing how completely different it is from simple C# forms. I’ve stumbled through and researched a lot but since I’m a total noob I’m stumped at this point.
I have the following models:
public class Shift
{
public int ShiftId { get; set; }
//other properties
public virtual ICollection<ShiftActivity> ShiftActivity { get; set;}
}
public class ShiftActivity
{
public int ShiftActivityID { get; set; }
public DateTime StartTime { get; set; }
public int ShiftID { get; set; }
public int ActivityID { get; set; }
public int LocationID { get; set; }
public virtual Shift Shift { get; set; }
public virtual Activity Activity { get; set; }
public virtual Location Location { get; set; }
}
public class Activity
{
public int ActivityID { get; set; }
public string ActivityName { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<ShiftActivity> ShiftActivity { get; set; }
}
public class Location
{
public int LocationID { get; set; }
public string LocationName { get; set; }
public string LocationAddress { get; set; }
public int locationZip { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<ShiftActivity> ShiftActivity { get; set; }
}
I would like to create a shift and be able to input all the required fields all from one view. For instance, when I create the shift, I need to pick the type of location and activity to add to the ShiftActivity table which is then updated. Eventually I would like to be able to dynamically add additional activities (I’m assuming I’ll need javascript for that), but that’s another issue. I know I need a viewmodel to access all the tables, but I’m unclear as to how the viewmodel should be structured correctly.
Also, can the ShiftController update the ShiftActivity table directly or do I need to transfer the data somehow to the ShiftAcitivityController when the form is submitted? Either way, can someone point me to an example? Thank you… Any help is greatly appreciated.