# The production pipeline

The Polden workshop's 17-step route, laid out on one board as 41 cards: from the first look at a game to the final cut. The interactive board: https://workshop.polden.gg/en/pipeline.html

## Stage 1. Research (Stage: ~4-5 days)

### Step 1. First look

We get into the game and collect the incoming package. (who: All)

The first step: work out what game we're dealing with and collect the incoming package. The ideal set is the Game Brief, the trailer brief, the GDD and a content build. But often there's no GDD at all and there never will be - then the alternatives take over, and that's a normal move, not an emergency.
**1. Collect the incoming package.** Game Brief, trailer brief, GDD, content build. We take what exists and name what's missing to the producer straight away - the clock starts when the material arrives, not when the task is set.
**2. If there's no GDD, take a substitute.** A spoken onboarding from the developers, which we write up ourselves, plus whatever documents and build we have. We relax the requirements, but we still need the answers, so everything missing goes to the team as a list of questions. We don't fill gaps with guesswork.
**3. Read the documents and the lore.** We read what we were given and write out everything we'll need later: the world, the characters, the mechanics, the tone.
**4. Download the build and play it ourselves.** Impressions get written down immediately, while the eye is fresh: this is the raw material for the hooks and for the game experience, and you never see it that way twice.
**5. Check the tech side.** What can be used, what can be captured, how, where and with what limits. This feeds into the Tech overview.
**6. Go through the Game Brief.** It comes from the producers. Four blocks matter most to us: GAME (positioning, genre, setting, similar games, visual style, strengths), AUDIENCE (who these people are, why they want this game, what they want to feel), COMMUNICATION (what to say, what to show, what feeling and emotion to create) and CORE LOOP (what the player does over and over and what brings them back - the structure of the story comes from here, and the next stage opens with it in “Story logic”).
**The result:** the game understood from both sides - by hand through the build and on paper through the Game Brief; everything gathered sits on the research board; the list of what's missing has gone to the producer.

### Step 2. Finding hooks

We look for the moments that hook. (who: Writers)

The game makes broad sense now - so we pull out the strongest things in it: the moments that catch attention, read fast on screen and carry the experience best. We call them hooks.
**1. Answer one question.** “What in this game could hook someone?” We don't think about the structure of the video here at all - that's the next stage's work.
**2. Collect everything, no filtering.** The selection happens in the next two steps. Throwing out the extra later is cheaper than trying to remember what you skipped.
**3. Put it all in one hook list.** One list per project, living on the research board next to the rest of the material.
For example, in Submarine: the accidents, the alarm, the confined space, the crew falling out, strange signals, creatures, the weight of every decision.
**The result:** THE HOOK LIST - long and unfiltered, the raw material for sorting into categories.

### Step 3. Hook categories

We sort the hooks by type. (who: Writers)

We take the list we've collected and sort it into categories. This step shows where the game has too much and where it falls short, before we start building the story.
**1. Sort every hook into categories.** Seven basic ones: WORLD · MECHANICS · CHARACTERS · DANGER and CONFLICT · INTRIGUE · CHOICE · WOW MOMENTS. For co-op games one more is always added - CO-OP (messing about together, bailing each other out, shared failures): for a game like that it's hook number one, and losing it isn't an option.
**2. Look at the balance.** The list of categories is open-ended: it exists not for its own sake but to show the balance. Sometimes it seems the game has plenty of strong moments, and then you sort them and every hook is “look what a beautiful world”, with nothing about what you actually do. Or it's all action with no sense of the mechanics, or plenty of mechanics with no emotion.
**3. Note the skew and the gaps.** What there's too much of and what's missing tells you what else to look for in the game and what to watch for during capture.
**The result:** the hook list sorted into categories (for co-op games, with co-op as hook #1), and a clear picture of the skew: where it's crowded and where it's empty.

### Step 4. Genre experience

We filter by the genre experience. (who: Writers)

The game is broken down into hooks and sorted into categories - now we find what matters most. We run every hook through the genre experience, and we come out knowing what in the game is worth telling the viewer about.
**1. Go back to the Game Brief.** It already says what experience the player comes for first. Not “which genre”, but what the person wants to feel while playing.
**2. Put the genre experience into words.** Two or three key words, not a paragraph. It's a filter, and it has to be sharp.
**3. Run every hook through it.** Delivers the experience directly - it stays; reinforces it - it stays; points somewhere else - it moves to the background.
For example, Submarine had plenty of everything: the underwater world, managing the crew, technical systems, exploration, events, choices. But the Game Brief made tension, claustrophobia and deciding under pressure the core. The accidents stayed, the confined spaces got stronger, so did the conflicts inside the crew; calm exploration moved to the background, and the “spare or kill a crew member” moments came to the front.
**The result:** not just a list of good moments, but a set of hooks all pulling in one direction - towards a single genre experience.

### Step 5. Tech overview

A technical report on what can be captured in the build. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

A technical breakdown of the game: what's in it and how to get at it. This is a job in its own right, not something done in passing while capturing: getting to grips with someone else's game takes time - on one project it took an editor four days - and that time has to go into the plan and be shown to the producer.
**1. Play the build and take the resources apart.** Models, characters, props, locations. We look at each one separately: how it looks, how it behaves, whether it holds up on screen.
**2. Check the camera and the controls.** What can be moved, what can be controlled, whether there's a free camera. That decides which angles are possible at all.
**3. Look for cheats and debug modes.** The console, debug commands, anything that makes capture easier. One cheat found saves a day of recording.
**4. Check the UI and the game modes.** What gets captured with the interface, what without it, which modes this build actually has.
**5. Write down the limits.** Where you can't get to, what doesn't work, what doesn't exist yet. A limit named now is cheaper than a scene recaptured later.
**The result:** a document saying what can really be captured in this build - the locations, objects, modes and capture tricks available, plus a separate list of limits. We take it to the producer check and on into capturing footage.

### Step 6. Game overview

A general analytical overview of the project and its strengths. (who: Writers; Block: 1 day)

The Overview is the summing-up of the game for the whole team and the reference point we come back to at later stages. It's a job in its own right, not part of the concept. The research board stays our internal tool; what goes outwards - to the team and the producer - is the Overview.
**1. Assemble the research board.** The Game Brief, the GDD and the lore, impressions from the build, the hooks, references, our own research on the genre, on similar games and on the audience - all in one place. This is the database we take into Narrative.
**2. Go through the Game Brief's three blocks.** GAME, AUDIENCE, COMMUNICATION. The genre gives you the rules, the expectations and the patterns; the audience, why these people want the game and what they want to feel; the communication, how we get that across.
**3. Check what we saw by hand against what's on paper.** Does the build match the Game Brief? Where it doesn't, we write it down. A mismatch here matters more than any match: that's where the questions for the producer come from.
**4. Boil it down.** The Overview isn't a retelling of the board - it's a short summary you can put in front of the team and the producer, and they understand the game in five minutes.
**The result:** the game Overview, the anchor document of this stage. We take it to the producer check, and after that it holds the game experience, the concept and the script together.

### Step 7. Producer check

We check ourselves on the way out of Research. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

We check ourselves on the way out of Research: did we read the game and the audience right, did we find the right strength in it, is the video's job clear and do we know what can actually be captured. If there's a producer, we check against the Overview; if there isn't (an external developer working alone, say), we still run the check ourselves.
**1. We've read the game, the core loop and the audience right.** I can say what this game is in two sentences and put the core loop into words - what the player does over and over. What we saw in the build has been reconciled with the Game Brief, and the mismatches are written down, not postponed.
**2. Hooks and genre experience are agreed.** The list was collected without filtering, sorted into categories, the skew is visible, the genre experience is named and hook #1 is chosen. Hook priority is where the producer or the developer most often adds something we missed - they've lived with the game longer.
**3. The video's job and its limits are clear.** What kind of video this is (announce, playtest, demo, release), what it has to do, priority #1, the target running time, the platforms, the deadlines. All written down - the script will lean on it.
**4. The material and the tech options are clear.** The board is assembled, the Overview is ready, the build is playable, the tech side is checked, the risk of the game changing is accounted for, and whatever's missing is listed so it can be requested.
**What we show:** the Overview, the research board, the genre experience, hook #1, the video's job and target running time, the list of open questions.
**The result:** a decision - into Narrative, or gather more material and check again. The check shows what the decision rests on; the producer makes it.

## Stage 2. Narrative (Stage: ~4-5 days)

### Step 8. Story logic

The core loop as the foundation. (who: Writers)

We work out the logic of how scenes and events follow one another. There are plenty of options - simple to complex, calm to tense, or the other way round through chaos - but in our experience most good trailers are built on the logic of the core loop: it gives you a natural sequence of actions.
**1. Pull the core loop out of the game.** What happens first, what the player does, how the situation develops, where the tension appears, what it all leads to.
**2. Put it as simply as possible.** One line, with arrows. From Submarine: a breakdown or a threat → reaction (repairing, managing) → things get worse → pressure builds → a decision about what to save and what to sacrifice → consequences → a new problem, and the loop starts again.
**3. Check that the viewer lives through the experience.** If the chain doesn't tell you what the player does and why, it isn't a loop yet - it's a list of scenes.
**The result:** the core loop in a single line. That line becomes the basic logic of the trailer.

### Step 9. Structure

The frame of the video, block by block. (who: Writers)

We spread the experience across the trailer's running time: where the story starts, where it develops, where it peaks and how we hold attention. The loop isn't shown as is - it gets cut into blocks of meaning.
**1. Cut the loop into blocks of meaning.** A block isn't a scene, it's a piece of the experience with a job of its own.
**2. Set the way into the story.** The prologue sets the tone and introduces the hero and the setting: in a few seconds the viewer knows who they are, where they are and what the mood is.
**3. Lay the loop out across the set-ups.** Each set-up shows its own half of the loop, so the viewer sees what they'll be doing with their own hands.
**4. Close with a recap and a call to action.** The recap sums up and gives a sense of scale; the CTA turns the viewer from a watcher into a player.
Take Dave the Diver, six blocks: the prologue (the entry point into the experience) · the set-up for the first half of the loop (underwater: diving, exploring, gathering resources) · Fun & Games (strange, funny and unexpected moments - “so that's what people come here for”) · the set-up for the second half of the loop (the sushi bar, the loop closes) · the recap (the world is full of secrets, a quick run of bright moments) · the CTA. Four of the six blocks are about the core loop.
**The result:** the basic frame of the video, block by block, with clear proportions. It's still only a frame - drama brings it to life in the next step.

### Step 10. Game experience

In one or two sentences - what it's like to play this game. Only the player's feelings and actions, no feature lists. This is what the trailer has to carry. (who: Writers)

**1. Catch the live feeling.** Play it (or watch, if playing isn't possible) - without analysing, as a player. Write down 3-5 raw words for what you felt, straight away. Describe this game, not what it resembles.
**2. Take the hooks already selected.** The hooks were gathered and filtered earlier, in Research (they're on the board, already run through the genre experience). Take that list as material and check it against step 1. If you find yourself arguing with the material, go with your own response - don't force it.
**3. Answer the questionnaire.** That's the main tool of this step - it's what puts the experience into words (see the Questionnaire button).
**4. Fill in “The game experience in words”.** Using steps 1-3, put together the result (see Record form) - that's what you take into the Concept.
**The result:** “The game experience in words” - a filled-in record form. That's what we take into the Concept.

**Step questions:**


The questionnaire is the main tool of this step - it's what puts the experience into words. Answer in the fields under each question:

- What desire - what fantasy - does the player come to live out in this game?
- If you could keep only one feeling - which one?
- What feeling does the game give? (if it comes from a mechanic, name what the player feels behind it)
- Which 3-5 actions (verbs) describe what the player does?
- What's the core here - what would make it a different game if you took it away?
- If you could keep only one hook - which one?

The goal: name the player's feeling and need, not a dry list of features.


**Step form:**

- The experience in one sentence (what it's like to play) (Only the player's feelings and actions, NO features or systems.)
- What it gives (kinds of pleasure, 1-3) (togetherness · thinking it out together · thrill · discovery and exploration · self-expression · physical messing about · being in the role · story. Mark which are ours and which deliberately are NOT.)
- What the player does (3-5 actions)
- The experience they come for and come back for
- The one feeling without which the game stops being itself

**Worked example:**


A filled-in example - the game Salty Dogs.

- **The experience in one sentence (what it's like to play)** — cheerful co-op chaos on the sea floor - the four of us working out together how to drag a haul far too heavy for us on a harpoon line and get it through the tight spots, bailing each other out, howling at our shared failures; cosy messing about that gets more thrilling and more dangerous the deeper you go.
- **What it gives (kinds of pleasure)** — togetherness · thinking it out together · physical messing about · goofing around. Deliberately NOT ours: hardcore skill, serious plot.
- **What the player does** — hook it with the line · haul the load together · squeeze it through tight spots · bail out my friends · dive deeper.
- **The experience they come for and come back for** — for the mayhem and the team messing about with friends, the joy of pulling it off together (plus cute dogs and the shiver of dread that comes with the deep).
- **The one feeling without which the game stops being itself** — “we're having fun messing about and pulling it off together, even when everything goes sideways”.

### Step 11. Concept

In one paragraph we set the lens we tell it through: the spirit, the tone, the voice, the feeling we want the viewer to have. The concept grows out of the game experience, not out of form for form's sake. (who: Writers)

**1. Keep the game experience in front of you.** The finished “game experience in words” is your compass. Everything after this grows out of it - not out of your head, and not out of trends.
**2. Answer the five questions.** Each answer is one element of the concept: the spirit, the tone, the voice and delivery, the feeling you want the viewer to have, the lens (see the Questionnaire button).
**3. Pull the answers into one paragraph.** That paragraph is the concept - one lens for the whole video, not a list of phrases.
**4. Test the concept.** Did it grow out of the experience? Does it strengthen the experience rather than argue with it? Does the form stay out of the way? Does it point to the means of expression - can you see the structure, the title cards, the cutting? If you stumble on any of these, think it through again.

Don't confuse the concept with techniques (title cards, POV camera, cutting, music) - those are the “how”, and they come later. The concept also generates new scenes: every episode has to ring with its spirit and tone.
**The result:** the concept in one paragraph plus a filled-in record form. It sets the lens for the outline, the script and the whole form of the video.

**Step questions:**


Five questions - each answer is one element of the concept:

- Spirit - what word or image carries the overall mood? (cosy · cheeky · epic · warm · chaotic-funny · melancholy · uneasy)
- Tone - how it's delivered: serious, ironic, dark, warm, detached?
- Voice and delivery - who is speaking: a narrator, a participant, an observer?
- The feeling we want the viewer to have - what should they feel by the end? (delight · warmth · thrill · nostalgia · “I want that too” · anxious anticipation)
- The lens - one sentence, “this trailer is about…”: the view we look at the game through

**Testing the concept**
- Did it grow out of the game experience rather than being invented separately?
- Does it strengthen the experience rather than argue with it?
- Does the form stay out of the experience's way?
- Does it point to the means of expression (can you see the structure, the title cards, the cutting)?

**Step form:**

- The lens (this trailer is about…)
- Spirit / what it's for
- Tone (label)
- Voice, delivery
- The feeling we want the viewer to have
- The concept in one paragraph

**Check**
- Grew out of the experience
- Strengthens the experience
- Form doesn't block the experience
- Points to the means of expression

**Worked example:**


A filled-in example - the game Salty Dogs.

- **The lens (this trailer is about…)** — a trailer about a hopeless but lovable team of diver dogs who strip the sea floor bare, cackling all the way.
- **Spirit / what it's for** — “we're having a great time together” - the joy of co-op messing about, of working things out together and of failing together.
- **Tone** — friendslop, cute and a bit janky; a contrast of cosy turning dangerous and eerie as you go deeper (the reference point is SpongeBob).
- **Voice, delivery** — from inside the session itself, carried by the players' own live commentary, with no narrator.
- **The feeling we want the viewer to have** — “I want to dive like that with my friends” → add it to the wishlist.
- **The concept in one paragraph** — an announce trailer that drops you straight into a co-op session - the players' own eyes, the players' own live lines - showing the cheerful mess a lovable team of diver dogs makes as they clear out the sea floor between them: warm friendslop mayhem that turns eerie the deeper they go, so the viewer wants to dive like that with their own friends and puts the game on their wishlist.

### Step 12. Outline

The bare bones of the story, before the script. (who: Writers)

A required internal step between Concept and Script: a short retelling of the future story part by part, without details or lines. First we check whether the logic works at the level of a simple story, and only then put the details in - otherwise you fly off into detail and get tangled in it. Here a change costs a paragraph, not a set of rewritten scenes.
There are still three points of contact with the producer - the brief, the concept, the script. The outline stays an internal check, but it can be shown if anyone wants it: it's a fast way into the idea.
**1. Split the story into numbered parts.** The parts are containers for the future edit, so the numbering matters: the editor works from it.
**2. Name the key scene of each part.** Only what actually happens - events in order, not a description of the mood.
**3. State what each part is for.** Which hook we're showing, which mechanic we're explaining, which emotion we're creating. A part with no job is a candidate for the cut.
**4. Describe it in brief, without writing out the scenes.** The same structure as the script, but without the detail. Narration and lines come in the next pass, in the script.
**5. Hand it to the editor without waiting for the script.** Working from the outline, the editor already sets the project up, splits the timeline into containers by part and starts filling them with footage. There's no need to wait for music and lines: the story won't change conceptually now.
**The result:** the outline as a separate section of the overall script document, ahead of the full script: numbered parts, key scenes and the job of each part. From this point the writer and the editor work in parallel.

### Step 13. Script

We bring it together into one document. (who: Writers)

We bring it all together into one document. We have our own script template with four elements: it works both as a presentation for the team and as a starting point for production.
**1. Lock down the brief.** The trailer's job, the game experience in words, the concept, the logline, the player and character archetypes with stills, the overall tone and mood. It matters that this is written down: if it stays in people's heads, every member of the team will picture a different video.
**2. Split it into parts with tight headings.** The parts come from the outline - the structure has already been tested. A good heading explains at a glance what happens in that block, and the length of the parts already shows where things will be short and where they'll need screen time.
**3. Write out what happens in each part.** First of all the sequence of actions: action is the core of an episode, and that's what we show. Then we add the lines, the voice-over and the title cards.
**4. Choose the dramatic devices.** Contrast, tension and release, escalation - we place them at the key points: in the hooks, in the joins between blocks, at the climaxes.
**5. State the job of each part.** Which hook we're showing, which mechanic we're explaining, which emotion we're creating, which expectation we're setting up. That's how you check a part works towards the trailer's overall job instead of existing because it's “a cool scene”.
**6. Make the stills.** A screenshot from the game with a short description for every key moment. You can see at once which scenes are needed, which assets to use and what the priority is.
We work from the department's two reference scripts - Iron Frontier (Demo) and Salty Dogs (Announce + CPT); direct links to them are in the CANON, §4.
**The result:** a script in the template - at once a presentation for the team and a ready starting point for production.

### Step 14. Creative director check

An internal review with the creative director: the concept serves the game, the story reads, the tone and the taste hold. We catch problems on paper, while fixing them is still cheap - not in the edit. (who: Lead; Block: 1 day)

An internal review with the creative director: the concept serves the game, the story reads, the tone and the taste hold. We catch problems on paper, while fixing them is still cheap - not in the edit. We work through a four-part questionnaire (the Questionnaire button).
**1. Experience and authenticity.** The game experience is identified and written down in words, the concept grew out of it rather than being pulled in from outside for the sake of form, and no technique has been mistaken for the concept.
**2. Story and structure.** The logic comes from the game's core loop, the structure is in place, the parts are balanced, and there's escalation towards the end.
**3. Tone, taste, timing.** The tone holds across the whole video, the hooks land on time, the ending leaves the right aftertaste, and you can see the actual game behind the form.
**4. Can it be made.** It's clear what can really be captured in the current build, the risk of the game changing is accounted for, and the editor knows what material is needed.
**What we show:** the script, the game experience in words, the concept and the coverage checklist.
**The result:** a filled-in record form (the Record form button): the creative director's notes and a decision - into production, or rework it and check again. The decision is the creative director's.

**Step questions:**


**1. Experience and authenticity (the main thing)**
- Is the game experience clearly identified and written down in words? Are we talking about this game, not the genre next door?
- Does the concept come from the experience rather than being pulled in from outside for the sake of form?
- Does the form put the experience forward rather than cover it up?
- Has a technique been mistaken for the concept?

**2. Story and structure**
- Is the logic taken from the game's core loop rather than someone else's template? Does the viewer live through a piece of the experience rather than watch a set of scenes?
- Is the basic structure there (prologue → body → recap → CTA + packshot), and are the parts balanced?
- Does the logic hold the emotion: at every moment, is it clear what the game is, what I do, and what experience I get?
- Is there escalation towards the end - does the pre-finale build before the call to action?

**3. Tone, taste, timing**
- Does the tone hold across the whole video and match the spirit of the game? Any sagging or pieces that don't belong?
- Are the hooks placed on time (we don't fire the strongest one too early, and the main peak is where it should be)?
- Does the ending leave the right aftertaste? (a co-op video ends on a positive note, unless the darkness is deliberate)
- Can you see the actual game behind the form (no “lots of vibe, little game”)?

**4. Can it be made (the bridge to production)**
- Is it clear what can actually be captured in the current build and where the limits are? (has the tech side been checked)
- Have we allowed for the game changing (mechanics, assets, priorities), and left ourselves some slack?
- Is it clear to the editor what material the script calls for (is the coverage checklist actually filled in)?

**Step form:**


**Summary by section**
- Experience and concept are authentic, techniques kept separate
- Story from the core loop, structure and proportions fine
- Tone and taste hold, hooks land on time, the ending is right
- Can be made in the build, the material is clear
- Notes from the creative director
- Decision (go into production / rework and check again)

### Step 15. Producer check

The review before production. (who: Lead)

The final review of the script with the producer before production. It isn't a formality: the script is almost a production plan already, and a change here is cheaper than one in the edit.
**1. The logic and the structure work.** The sequence reads, the frame holds, nothing has to be guessed at.
**2. The concept and the game experience come across.** The text shows what the video is about and what playing will feel like - not just what happens in it.
**3. Balance of parts and the job of each block.** The parts are balanced in length, and each one does its own job.
**4. Can it be made, and has the game changed.** Games often change while the script is being written: mechanics appear, assets come and go, priorities shift. We check the script can still be made in the current build.
**What we show:** the whole script, with stills and brief.
**The result:** a decision - into production, or fix the script and check again. The decision is the producer's.

## Stage 3. Production (Stage: ~6-8 days)

### Step 16. Breakdown

The edit plan built from the script. (who: Editors)

We turn the script into an edit plan. The editor doesn't start from a blank page: the script template already gives them the split into blocks, the structure and proportions, the list of key scenes and hooks, the title cards, the lines and the stills.
**1. Break the script into scenes, lines and title cards.** Every element becomes its own block - that's how you see which scenes are needed, which shots to record and which elements to create.
**2. Work out the order of scenes inside each block.** The script sets the order of the parts; the editor sets the order of the shots inside them.
**3. Pick the key frames and shots.** The shots a block stands on: without them the part won't come together.
**4. Mark the climaxes, the transitions and the intended rhythm.** It's better to name where the video accelerates and where it switches before the capture, not after.
**5. Note the missing assets.** Everything the game doesn't have or that has to be made separately goes on a list - that's the input for the designer and for the shooting plan.
**The result:** the edit plan - a general plan of action to lay the Textomatic out from, plus the list of missing assets. It isn't a shot-by-shot storyboard with stills.

### Step 17. Music and VO selection

Choosing the main music track and finding a voice - a real one or AI. (who: Sound designers; Block: 1 day)

Alongside the breakdown we prepare the sound elements of the future video, so they're already in hand when the Textomatic is assembled.
**1. Do our own breakdown.** The sound designer goes through the script from their side: where the music goes, where the voice-over goes, where the accents and the silences are.
**2. Pick the main track to fit the structure.** The track isn't chosen by vibe but against the parts of the video: it has to carry the prologue, the build and the finale.
**3. Find the voice for the voice-over.** A real voice or AI - it depends on the concept, the deadline and the budget.
**4. Pick the sounds.** A set of SFX for the key actions, so nobody has to hunt for them from scratch in the edit.
**5. Generate a draft AI voice-over if one is needed.** A scratch voice is needed as early as the first assembly, otherwise the timings have to be redone.
**The result:** the main track, the chosen voice, a set of sounds and, if needed, a scratch voice-over - the kit you need to assemble the Textomatic.

### Step 18. Project setup

We set up the working edit project: timeline and structure. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

We set up the working edit project. You can start from the outline alone, without waiting for a finished script, music or lines: the parts of the outline are containers for the future video, and the editor's basic job at this stage is to create them and then fill them with footage.
**1. Set the project up and put it on the shared drive straight away.** From day one the project lives where everyone can find it, not on a local machine.
**2. Lay in the structure and the hierarchy.** Folders, sequences, layers. The timeline is still empty - which is exactly why the structure is cheap to lay in now.
**3. Split the timeline into containers, one per part.** The parts come from the outline, or from the breakdown if there isn't one. Footage goes into those containers afterwards.
**4. Set the final naming straight away.** Renaming later costs more than naming it right once: on language versions and aspect-ratio versions, muddled names cost hours.
**The result:** an empty but fully mapped project on the shared drive: structure, hierarchy, naming and containers by part.

### Step 19. Concept art

Developing the concept for the visual elements: title cards, graphics, packshots (who: Designers; Block: 1 day)

Working from the breakdown, we set the visual concept for the video's graphics - to match the spirit and tone of the trailer, not separately from them.
**1. Gather references and a moodboard.** A shared language with the team: showing is faster than describing.
**2. Settle the title card style.** Typeface, size, behaviour - so every title card in the video belongs to one family.
**3. Settle the motion graphics style.** The character of the movement and the transitions: it has to match the rhythm of the edit.
**4. Make the packshot concept.** The final frame with the logo and the call to action - it stays on screen longest, so it gets designed separately.
**The result:** an approved visual concept for the graphics - references, title card and motion style, packshot concept. Everything after this is made to it, in one style.

### Step 20. Textomatic

The first draft, in text. (who: Editors)

A stripped-down animatic: instead of images and footage, the timeline holds blocks of text describing what's happening. The fastest and cheapest way to assemble a first draft and finally see the story unfold in time. We build it in Premiere Pro.
**1. Cut the track to the structure.** The music sets the length of the parts - the whole timing follows from it.
**2. Lay the text blocks over the track.** Each block describes what's on screen at that moment.
**3. Put in temporary title cards.** To check how long a card really takes and whether it argues with the action.
**4. Add a scratch voice-over if one is needed.** With a voice you hear straight away whether the text fits the time it's been given.
**5. Check: story, rhythm, mood.** Is the story clear, does the rhythm work, does the mood come through. The structure often changes right here - that's normal.
**The result:** the first draft of the video in text, laid out in time. The Textomatic is our test pilot: it shows whether the video flies or crashes on take-off.

### Step 21. Creative director check

We review the Textomatic with the creative director. (who: Lead; Block: 1 day)

We review the Textomatic with the creative director at the text level. We catch structural problems before any footage is captured - while a fix costs moving a block, not recapturing a scene.
**1. The story holds together as it unfolds.** Watched straight through, it's clear what happens and in what order.
**2. Rhythm and timing.** Where the video sags, where it rushes, whether there's enough air between the accents.
**3. Structure and running time.** The parts are balanced and we're inside the target running time.
**4. What to fix before the shoot.** We collect the list of fixes that are cheaper now than after the material is recorded.
**What we show:** the assembled Textomatic and the script it was built from.
**The result:** a decision - go and capture footage, or rebuild the Textomatic. The decision is the creative director's.

### Step 22. VO draft

Scratch voice-over: VO generated to fit the Textomatic. (who: Sound designers; Block: 1 day)

A scratch voice-over for the Textomatic: it's there so the first assembly already carries the dynamics and the balance with the music.
**1. Take the voice-over text from the script.** The narration is fixed in the description of the parts - there's no need to invent it again at this step.
**2. Generate draft takes.** A few options for delivery and pace, so there's something to choose from.
**3. Lay it on the timeline and check the balance.** You can hear where the voice argues with the music and where the text doesn't fit the time it's been given.
**The result:** a scratch voice-over track in the assembly - it shows whether the video holds its pace or sags.

### Step 23. Capturing footage

Capturing footage and staging in UE (who: Editors)

Working from the Textomatic, we gather the material for the edit: the main gameplay, staged scenes, extra angles and reactions.
**1. Collect the pool of episodes.** Everything to be captured, in one list, so the whole volume is visible.
**2. Sort the episodes by category and priority.** What has to be captured, what would be good to have, what only if there's time.
**3. Build the shooting plan.** What we capture, how many people we need and when to bring them in. This matters most for co-op shoots, where every shot is rehearsed by the team in advance.
**4. Start a checklist for every episode.** The checklist is what gives full coverage: not one take of “the player did the thing”, but a wide shot of the situation, a close-up of the action, the successful and the failed outcome, the reaction of the hero and of the others, a version with UI and without. During capture it feels like you have the shot; in the edit it turns out there's no cutaway, no reaction and no clean exit from the scene.
**5. Capture it.** We get the team together and record the gameplay, keeping to the technical requirements for the material. Staged scenes are built in Unreal Engine when needed.
**The result:** a captured pool of material with the checklist closed - the edit has something to choose from and keeps its flexibility.

### Step 24. Building the graphic elements

We prepare the title cards, packshots and motion graphics. (who: Designers; Block: 1 day)

Following the visual concept approved at the concept-art step, we make the graphic elements themselves.
**1. Title cards.** Every text plate in the video in one style - names, captions, key phrases.
**2. Packshot.** The final frame with the logo and the call to action, built to the approved concept.
**3. Motion.** Animation of the title cards and transitions - the character of the movement is set by the concept.
**The result:** a set of graphics ready to drop into the edit: title cards, packshot, motion.

### Step 25. Draft 2

We swap the text for pictures. (who: Editors)

We turn the text into pictures: the captured material replaces the Textomatic's text blocks, and for the first time the video looks like an actual trailer. Still rough, but already telling you something.
**1. Swap the text blocks for footage.** Block by block, keeping the timings the Textomatic set.
**2. Check whether the story reads in pictures.** What worked in text doesn't always work in an image - this is the first honest test.
**3. Check whether the game is clear and the hooks land.** Can you tell what's being played, and do the moments the whole thing was built around actually fire.
**4. Collect the fix list.** This is often where it becomes clear which scenes are missing and what needs strengthening. Pickup footage grows out of this list.
**The result:** Draft 2 and the fix list that goes with it.

### Step 26. Creative director check

We review Draft 2 with the creative director. (who: Lead; Block: 1 day)

We review Draft 2 with the creative director: the video is in pictures for the first time, and this is the best moment to name what material is missing.
**1. The story reads in pictures.** What held together on text now has to hold together on the image.
**2. The hooks land.** The strong moments actually register rather than being implied.
**3. Coverage of the material.** What's missing and what needs picking up - the list goes into pickup footage.
**4. Visual problems.** Where the picture sags: a weak shot, a muddled composition, an action you can't read.
**What we show:** Draft 2 and the list of what was missing.
**The result:** a decision - on to Draft 3, or capture more material and rebuild. The decision is the creative director's.

### Step 27. Sound revisions

We fix the sound against the review notes. (who: Sound designers; Block: 1 day)

We fix the sound against the Draft 2 review notes: after a re-edit the sound almost always drifts away from the picture.
**1. Fix the VO.** We re-record or regenerate the lines that no longer fit the changed timing.
**2. Fit the music to the edit.** The track's accents have to land on the new cuts, otherwise the rhythm falls apart.
**3. Fix the sounds.** We add SFX for the new shots and remove the ones left over from scenes that were cut.
**The result:** the sound matches the edit again and the review notes are closed - we can move on to Draft 3.

### Step 28. Pickup footage

Capturing the missing shots from the fix list. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

Capturing what was missing. After Draft 2 it's usually clear which scenes aren't there and which moments need strengthening: that becomes the fix list, and we go back into the game with it.
**1. Take the fix list.** It was collected at the Draft 2 check - that's the brief for the pickup, and we don't invent anything on the fly.
**2. Extend the shooting checklist.** Same order as in capturing footage: pool of episodes, priority, a checklist per episode. Coverage matters here too, otherwise you'll be going back a third time.
**3. Capture what's missing.** We shoot to the updated plan and check the material against the list as we go.
**The result:** the missing material is recorded and the capture fix list is closed - Draft 3 comes together without holes.

### Step 29. Graphics revisions

We fix the graphics against the review notes. (who: Designers; Block: 1 day)

We fix the graphics against the Draft 2 review notes - before the video goes into sharpening the form.
**1. Title card fixes.** Readability, duration, how they sit against the action on screen.
**2. Motion fixes.** The speed and character of the animation are fitted to the changed edit.
**3. Packshot fixes.** Composition and timing of the final frame.
**The result:** the graphics match the current cut and the review notes are closed.

### Step 30. Draft 3

Sharpening the form. (who: Editors)

Sharpening the form. Now we look not only at whether the video is clear, but at how well it feels.
**1. Strengthen the accents.** The key moments have to stand out through the cutting instead of getting lost in the flow.
**2. Tune the rhythm and the pauses.** A pause works as well as a cut: with no air the video reads as mush.
**3. Refine the transitions.** The joins between blocks are where the viewer's attention breaks most often.
**4. Add the title cards and the graphics.** Finished elements go into the edit rather than being fitted at the last moment.
**5. Animate the packshot.** The final frame gets movement and holds the viewer to the end.
**The result:** an approved cut, which we hand over for voice-over and sound design.

### Step 31. Creative director check

We review Draft 3 with the creative director. (who: Lead; Block: 1 day)

We review Draft 3 with the creative director - this is a conversation about form, not content: the story is already approved.
**1. Rhythm, accents, pauses.** The video feels assembled: the build is there, the air is there.
**2. Transitions.** The joins between blocks don't trip the viewer up.
**3. Title cards and graphics.** Everything has settled into one style and reads at the speed of the video.
**4. Packshot and readiness for finishing.** The final frame works and the video can go to voice-over.
**What we show:** Draft 3 with all the graphics.
**The result:** a decision - on to voice-over and finishing, or work on the form some more. The decision is the creative director's.

### Step 32. Producer check

The final review of the cut with the producer. (who: Lead; Block: 1 day)

The final review of the cut with the producer before finishing. Language versions and aspect-ratio versions come next, so changes of substance after this point cost several times more.
**1. Matches the brief and the USPs.** The video does what it was made for, and the game's strengths are visible in it.
**2. The spirit and the experience come through.** The viewer sees not only what happens but what playing feels like.
**3. The producer's notes.** We collect the list of fixes in one pass, not in instalments.
**4. Ready for finishing.** We confirm that voice-over, language versions and aspect-ratio versions can start.
**What we show:** the current cut of the video, in full.
**The result:** a decision - into finishing, or work on the cut and check again. The decision is the producer's.

### Step 33. Sound design

SFX, music, character lines. (who: Sound designers)

We build the final sound of the video: SFX, music, voice-over and character lines. After this step the video can be called almost finished.
**1. Place the SFX.** The sound of an action gives the picture weight - without it even the densest edit feels empty.
**2. Fit the music to the edit.** The track's accents and the cuts have to line up, otherwise the video's rhythm argues with itself.
**3. Write and lay in the voice-over and the character lines.** The voice leads the viewer through the story and holds the pace.
**4. Treat co-op lines separately.** In co-op games it's the live talk between players that creates the friendslop effect: the feeling that you aren't watching a trailer but sitting inside the session. There are two approaches: real recordings of the players (maximum life and natural reactions, but you're tied to the episodes you recorded) and staged voice-over (full control of the story, but harder to make it sound natural). In practice we use a hybrid - AI (text-to-voice or voice morphing) plus our own voices - and then process the sound so it comes across as live conversation.
**5. Mix it into the finished track.** One level balance across the whole video.
**The result:** a voiced trailer with its rhythm, accents and atmosphere strengthened.

### Step 34. Polishing the video

The final clean-up of the edit, plus subtitles. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

The final clean-up of the edit before delivery: we take off the rough edges left after Draft 3 and add subtitles.
**1. Clean up the joins and the timings.** We trim frames, even out durations and remove the judder on cuts - what a draft forgave is visible in the final.
**2. Watch the video all the way through, without stopping.** The last moment when you can look at it with a viewer's eyes rather than an editor's.
**3. Assemble the subtitles.** The lines and the voice-over as text - they go on into the language versions.
**The result:** a clean edit with subtitles, ready for the final assembly.

### Step 35. Polishing the graphics

The final pass on the graphic elements. (who: Designers; Block: 1 day)

The final pass on the graphics - the last iteration before the master.
**1. Final title cards.** Final wording, size and positions - there will be no more changes.
**2. Final motion.** The animation is cleaned up, with no draft curves or judder left.
**3. Final packshot.** Logos, call to action and platforms in their approved form.
**4. Timing against the edit.** We check how the graphics sit against the edit and the sound: a title card mustn't argue with a line.
**The result:** the graphics in final form, lined up with the edit and the sound.

### Step 36. Final edit

Language versions, aspect-ratio versions, delivery. (who: Editors)

The final assembly of the video: we bring the edit, the sound and the graphics together into a master.
**1. Assemble the master.** Every element in one project, at final quality.
**2. Watch it as a team and sign it off.** The group screening is the last point where the video is watched in full before it goes outwards.
**3. Hand it over to finishing.** Language versions, aspect-ratio versions, export and handover to the producers come next.
**The result:** an approved master of the video - the starting point of finishing.

### Step 37. Building the language versions

Exporting the multi-language versions of the trailer, project by project. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

We prepare the language versions of the video. In the Guide this is step 8 of finishing: translating the title cards, the subtitles and sometimes the voice-over.
**1. Translate the title cards.** We check the translation on screen: a line in another language almost always changes length.
**2. Prepare the subtitles.** A text track for each version - taken from polishing the video.
**3. Localise the voice-over if it's needed.** Not always: some videos go out with subtitles.
**4. Assemble the language versions.** Each version is its own project; the structure for that was laid in back at project setup.
**The result:** a set of language versions, each watched in full rather than skimmed for title cards.

### Step 38. Aspect-ratio versions

Versions for the platform formats: 16:9, 1:1, 9:16. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

We prepare versions of the video for the different platforms. In the Guide this is step 9 of finishing.
**1. Settle the list of formats and platforms.** 16:9, 1:1, 9:16 and the platforms the video actually goes to: Steam, YouTube and the rest. The list comes from the video's brief, fixed back at the research stage.
**2. Reframe for each format.** Vertical and square aren't a centre crop - each is its own framing job.
**3. Watch every version all the way through.** We watch the reframe straight through rather than frame by frame: framing mistakes only show up in movement.
**The result:** a set of aspect-ratio versions for every platform named.

### Step 39. Trailer cover image

Making a clickable preview image for YouTube. (who: Designers; Block: 1 day)

The cover is the clickable preview image for the video on a platform, YouTube first of all. The step belongs to the designer and comes after the final edit: the frame is taken from the finished video.
**What isn't here yet.** There's no proven method for this step: neither the Guide nor the department's breakdowns describe covers even once. So this card is deliberately short - a frame around the step (what it is and who does it), not an invented procedure. We'll put the step-by-step order together separately: by talking to the designer and taking finished covers apart.

### Step 40. Export

The final render of the video files at maximum quality. (who: Editors; Block: 1 day)

The step is in the pipeline, but the Guide has no separate description of it: the export is dissolved between the final draft and uploading the versions to the shared drive. We're not writing the text of this card until a source is found and confirmed - otherwise we'd end up with an invented method instead of our own.

### Step 41. Upload and handover

Uploading to Google Drive and the official handover to the producers. (who: Lead; Block: 1 day)

The closing steps. In the Guide these are steps 10 and 11 of finishing.
**1. Upload every version to the shared drive.** Every language, every aspect-ratio version and the sources - in one place, under the shared folder structure and naming, so the material can be found without us.
**2. Hand the material to the producers.** The official handover: from this moment the video counts as ready to publish.
**The result:** every version sits on the shared drive and the material has been handed to the producers - the trailer is ready to publish.

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