I usually don't work in anything outside of short form, so I don't do a heck of a lot of pre-planning.

Generally, i start with a very loose idea in my head, then just sit and play with my figures. I turn them around in my hands, and make mental notes of camera angles and positions i want to try.

In terms of writing though, I'll usually start with dialogue . I love stuff thats dialogue and character driven, so i try to move the plot along with that.

My usual method is to have the main points and scenes already planned out in terms of writing, then just kind of flesh out the in-between bits though a process of improvisation and refinement.