Pre Production Process

After we were set our preliminary task, the first thing to do was to come up with an idea. We discussed a couple of different ideas in our group and soon settled on a thriller spoof that focused on some kind of deal transaction being made between two people, the idea being that we would build up suspense and tension and the audience would presume it was some kind of drug deal. Then there would be a comic twist right at the end.
Once we were clear on our narrative, we started to consider the shot sequences we wanted and the types of shots which could help create the 'thriller' style mood and tense atmosphere. I think we did well in really thinking about using imaginative shots 'such as the tracking shot of the feet' and from an editorial point of view how different shots would fit together to create a sense of rhythm. For example we came up with the idea of cross cutting between George's feet and my hands tapping the desk with the same rhythm as George's walking stride.
After our initial ideas on the different shots we wanted,  it was important to start getting our ideas on paper and create visual prints of the camera shots and the chronological order of them in the form of Storyboards. In the boxes we drew pictures of each shot, annotated with type of shot (e.g. Over the Shoulder) and it's framing(e.g. mid shot). We also annotated the camera movement. Generally we were successful in creating a clear plan of the shots we wanted to film that hopefully would help us to be efficient in the production process, however we did have some problems in drawing accurate pictures of each shot because of our lack of illustrative skill this meant that sometimes there was some slight confusion over how each shot was meant to look but mostly we were able to re-draw and eventually get on the same wave length for the film in how we want it to look.
Although our planning and research process may have been limited, we didn't create a shooting script or dialogue script and we probably could have discussed location in more depth. Generally we went into the production process with a clear idea of how we wanted to film our preliminary and an understanding of each others strengths and weaknesses.