Dinosaur, Sheffield, with Into Film

The story

Five Year 12 film studies students from a Sheffield school won Into Film's Time to Inspire storyboard competition with Dinosaur. Matthew wears a kurta to school on a non-uniform day and, anxious about standing out, imagines himself in a dinosaur costume instead. With his family and friends behind him, he grows comfortable in who he is.

Into Film: the storyboard competition

Pre-production

We worked with the students on the script, casting, recces, screen tests and rehearsals, the same steps any production goes through before a camera turns. Into Film's project began with a storyboard workshop in London in May 2024.

How we run a production

The shoot

Four days on location in Sheffield, 11 to 14 July 2024, with first assistant camera Rupert Hornstein and cinematographer Mark Nutkins on the crew alongside the students. Post-production ran through the summer: edit reviews, voice-over recording, colour grading, music and visual effects.

The camera department

On the big screen

Dinosaur premiered at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield on 8 November 2024, at the launch of the Into Film Festival, and was shown in cinemas across the UK during the festival.

Into Film: the premiere

Watch the film

Dinosaur (Showroom Edit) · Into Film. Plays from Vimeo when you press play.

Into Film's cut of Dinosaur, from its Vimeo channel. Also on Into Film's YouTube Shorts channel.

From the set

"Today was really about showing how a film set runs and why it runs that way."

Mark Nutkins, cinematographer, on the Dinosaur shoot

On the shoot, a first assistant camera took the young filmmakers through lenses, focus marks, camera settings and heads and legs. A sound recordist ran the boom. A local lighting team lit a classroom through its windows, and the group shot an exterior with a reflection in a wing mirror, deciding the shooting order the way a real crew does.

Dinosaur: from storyboard to the big screen in Sheffield.