Abstract Recognizing the benefits of peer interactions, collaborative problem solving, and creative processing in pedagogical settings, this study aims to understand the interaction in the context of DV storyboarding, both at the individual and group levels, by looking at one mixed-gender group of fourth graders faced with frequent conflicts in negotiations on the theme, ideas, events, and character roles of a jointly produced movie. The observed and video-recorded activities occurred in naturalistic settings with no pedagogical interventions or instructions for students as to how to organize themselves in a group discussion. In a mixed-method analysis, we employed Bales’s IPA method to visualize the interaction and enable comparison across individuals and sessions, and wrote qualitative summaries to describe the group interactions from the perspective of collaboration, Mercer’s productive talk, and Tuckman’s group development. The IPA method appeared to serve as a robust interpretive framework. The study not only reveals the complexity of the open-ended DV assignment, initially insufficient skills to negotiate and proceed in collaborative creative processing, as well as unequal participation, but also incorporates enthusiastic task-oriented discussions and self-directed development in inter-relational skills and conflict solving. The results are worth taking into account for teachers and other practitioners in order to identify potential areas of improvement, and thus enhance the educational value of group work.