While the script development process was finishing up, pre-production began. The first step was the creation of a storyboard. As Phil's background is in design and animation, he created a rough version of this with Nicola Daley (Director of Photography) and James Croke (Production Designer). He then drew up a high quality version which was used by the rest of the team for planning. This storyboard was scanned and turned into an animatic or storyreel by Melanie Annan (Editor).

Phil recorded some voices to accompany this, and it became the first version of Crooked Mick the film. This allowed the team to see how well (or unwell) proposed shots would cut together. It also helped immensely in planning how to achieve the many visual effects.

Concurrently Luke Eve (Producer) was busy organising casting sessions and booking actors, getting sponsorship deals from various companies and ensuring that everything necessary for the shoot was being looked after. During this time the team was very fortunate to gain the support of Gerry Brooks from Rexel and the use of their HDC27V Panasonic Varicam Camera. This allowed shooting progressive frames, making for much cleaner keys. They also made use of the variable frame rate, shooting dramatic scenes such as the arrival of Crooked Mick in slow motion. Gerry was extremely giving in support and time, and assisted the team during the entire shoot. Fujinon also came on board and donated the use of their DigiPrimes and cinestyle zoom lenses.

The 3D team (Anthony Church, Daniel Thompson and Phil) then began building rough previsualisation models. Previsualisation became imperative, enabling the strategic planning of complex shots such as the fairground opening. The team built models of set elements in a 3D version of the studio and set up the camera's with the same lens settings. This allowed for highly detailed planning and by the time the crew walked on set, they knew exactly what each other was doing, where everything would be and how it should look.

Jonathan Dower (composer) also had to begin a lot earlier than he normally would. As the film has a song, which needed to be scored and a temp track recorded prior to the shoot. Jonathan developed a wonderful short little tune for Gus to use to cheer up Sam. The song is all about the immanent defeat of Crooked Mick and the popularity the two will enjoy afterwards. Jonathan also had to be on hand to coach Matt Potter in the use of the strange Banjo that his character had to play.

James Croke developed some fantastic concept artwork to assist in the shooting of a film that essentially wasn't there, which helped the cast and crew allow for what would be added in post. It was amazing how close some of the final 3D models got to James' illustrations.

Nicola Daley researched Australian painters for colour and lighting. Landscape artists such as Pro Hart and Sidney Nolan gave great inspiration with their stark, textured interpretation of the Australian landscape. The idea was to give Crooked Mick a similar, faded/painterly look.

On a film like Crooked Mick, the lines between Pre Production, Production and Post Production really become blurred. Departments that don't normally begin on a film till after it is shot (such as music and editing) are on board at the earliest stages, and more production based disciplines such as Cinematography and Production Design remained right till the very end.