P1: Create pre-production materials for an original TV programme or short film, in a chosen genre
From the look of the production and limited use of blood I would say 12A or 15 and people who like action movies/shows I don’t know this but I can assume from what they included as I have seen those types of movies with those ratings.
I found this short film on YouTube by a channel called Excluil. I think it was posted on YouTube is because of the mass audience that can view it as well as the simplicity of uploading to YouTube. The short was filmed during day time in the summer most likely as there were scenes with people on a boat with sunny weather, the reason for picking this time of year and day time is because you have much more control on the creative aspects and you can stay out longer filming compared to winter where the days are shorter and colder. |
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The mise-en-scene that was used in this short include props which included gun’s,wet sign, teleporter and a car as for costumes the majority of the people were wearing black suits no makeup was used in this production. The biggest part of the mise-en-scene in this short is their set which seems to be a office complex which was multiple stories high as well as also using shots from a snowy location and also along the coast on a boat.
They used a first person perspective throughout the whole short so there wasn’t any typical camera angles as for first person angles there is a lot of low and high perspectives as well as the element of having a shaky view makes it seem like your there in person. The use of close ups to give you more detail into what the main character is doing is also effective as your really are that person looking at those things.
They didn’t rely on editing techniques all that much during this short film and the editing techniques they did use were very simple for example they used cuts on various occasions which I feel took away from the experience but it was still very good, they also used some sort of filter to create the flash of blue light whenever the machine is used. Overall they seemed to focus mainly on the action and story aspect of this short film rather than using a range of different editing techniques that would not add anything to the flow of the narrative.
Diegetic sound: The diegetic sound that seems to be included is gunshots, footsteps, punching, alarms and dialogue I think that was enough as there was not much dialogue as it was not needed. The use of diegetic sound was good as it was placed in the appropriate places which made the whole short film sound much better.
Non-diegetic sound: The non-diegetic sound that I noticed being used was only the music of the sound track as overall they did not choose to use a lot of elaborate sounds which is a good thing.
Comparing the two and what had a bigger impact on the short I think the non-diegetic sound had a bigger impact as it’s so engraved into the movie after watching it I could not imagine the short film without the music in the background, but I think the diegetic sounds a key part too as without it the realism would go away from the short.
Soundtrack: Soundtracks that they used included The Stampede and Bad Motherfucker (I.O.E.2 Version) [feat. Dasha Charusha] by biting elbows. I think these soundtracks added to the acting and had a good synergy between the song and the action and it makes the whole product more interesting.
They used a first person perspective throughout the whole short so there wasn’t any typical camera angles as for first person angles there is a lot of low and high perspectives as well as the element of having a shaky view makes it seem like your there in person. The use of close ups to give you more detail into what the main character is doing is also effective as your really are that person looking at those things.
They didn’t rely on editing techniques all that much during this short film and the editing techniques they did use were very simple for example they used cuts on various occasions which I feel took away from the experience but it was still very good, they also used some sort of filter to create the flash of blue light whenever the machine is used. Overall they seemed to focus mainly on the action and story aspect of this short film rather than using a range of different editing techniques that would not add anything to the flow of the narrative.
Diegetic sound: The diegetic sound that seems to be included is gunshots, footsteps, punching, alarms and dialogue I think that was enough as there was not much dialogue as it was not needed. The use of diegetic sound was good as it was placed in the appropriate places which made the whole short film sound much better.
Non-diegetic sound: The non-diegetic sound that I noticed being used was only the music of the sound track as overall they did not choose to use a lot of elaborate sounds which is a good thing.
Comparing the two and what had a bigger impact on the short I think the non-diegetic sound had a bigger impact as it’s so engraved into the movie after watching it I could not imagine the short film without the music in the background, but I think the diegetic sounds a key part too as without it the realism would go away from the short.
Soundtrack: Soundtracks that they used included The Stampede and Bad Motherfucker (I.O.E.2 Version) [feat. Dasha Charusha] by biting elbows. I think these soundtracks added to the acting and had a good synergy between the song and the action and it makes the whole product more interesting.
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This short film is aimed at people who like action shorts as well as fans of watch dogs I know this from the content that is visible in the short film as well as from other media. If I had to guess the rating it would be 12A as there is some suggested violence but the is no gore so it would not be a 15.
The platform this short film is on is on is youtube and the reason for it is because the channel owner already has a large followership on youtube already therefore more people would see it if uploaded to youtube. As well as youtube is a good platform for posting fan made content. |
The short was filmed during the night not sure about the time but the video was uploaded 20th of may 2014 this suggests they wanted it to be relatively warm yet still have enough time in the dark
The mise-en-scene that was included in those scene included the props so phones, cars, bags and costumes for the actors. Their set was set in a busy street that seemed to be set in Chicago as well as being set on some buildings during the chase scene. And the lighting which was mostly dark since the movie was set in the evening but there were elements such as police siren lights as well as street lamps.
The cinematography of the production was very professional and well done the initial establishing shot was a view of the city either from a drone or a helicopter to show the scene the short will be taking place in which is chicago. They also utilise a lot of mid shots show the characters actions as well as expressions on their faces. One of the more interesting shots in this short film was the dolly like shot which followed the main character at a very strange angle but it created a nice effect of movement. There were also low angle shots to show the characters jump as well as a few over the shoulder moments and the reasons for those shots is to create suspense and give a range of angles on the story.
A lot of cuts as the different parts of this short film were filmed at different moments so they had to compile the whole thing together other than that there were not another noticeable effect as most of the special effects were made in person for example the smoke coming from the air conditioner.
Diegetic sound: The was a vast array of different diegetic sounds that were used in this production some were dialogue from characters while others included sirens, fans, cars, gunshots and many more, these were all made by a freelance sound expert Dan Pugsley who made the sounds himself as well as using a personal sound archive that he has access to. The way the diegetic sound was used showed that the production was professional and they took plenty of time to make it look as good as possible.
Non-diegetic sound: The Non-diegetic sound that is present in this production is background music to create more suspense during the action scenes of this short film the music seems to have been made digitally rather than through instruments. I think the use of sound was good as it did what it was meant to do which was to create suspense.
Comparing the two it’s clear that the diegetic sound is more crucial to the story as It establishes the story and what is happening in the following scenes after the beginning scene. Where as the non-diegetic music adds to the theme of the short film but it does not have a major part in the narrative
Soundtrack: The soundtrack included is a instrumental piece the team made it seems as they did not have to give any royalties, it consists of drums and some electronically produced sounds to create a soundtrack that both works with the action and dialogue.
The mise-en-scene that was included in those scene included the props so phones, cars, bags and costumes for the actors. Their set was set in a busy street that seemed to be set in Chicago as well as being set on some buildings during the chase scene. And the lighting which was mostly dark since the movie was set in the evening but there were elements such as police siren lights as well as street lamps.
The cinematography of the production was very professional and well done the initial establishing shot was a view of the city either from a drone or a helicopter to show the scene the short will be taking place in which is chicago. They also utilise a lot of mid shots show the characters actions as well as expressions on their faces. One of the more interesting shots in this short film was the dolly like shot which followed the main character at a very strange angle but it created a nice effect of movement. There were also low angle shots to show the characters jump as well as a few over the shoulder moments and the reasons for those shots is to create suspense and give a range of angles on the story.
A lot of cuts as the different parts of this short film were filmed at different moments so they had to compile the whole thing together other than that there were not another noticeable effect as most of the special effects were made in person for example the smoke coming from the air conditioner.
Diegetic sound: The was a vast array of different diegetic sounds that were used in this production some were dialogue from characters while others included sirens, fans, cars, gunshots and many more, these were all made by a freelance sound expert Dan Pugsley who made the sounds himself as well as using a personal sound archive that he has access to. The way the diegetic sound was used showed that the production was professional and they took plenty of time to make it look as good as possible.
Non-diegetic sound: The Non-diegetic sound that is present in this production is background music to create more suspense during the action scenes of this short film the music seems to have been made digitally rather than through instruments. I think the use of sound was good as it did what it was meant to do which was to create suspense.
Comparing the two it’s clear that the diegetic sound is more crucial to the story as It establishes the story and what is happening in the following scenes after the beginning scene. Where as the non-diegetic music adds to the theme of the short film but it does not have a major part in the narrative
Soundtrack: The soundtrack included is a instrumental piece the team made it seems as they did not have to give any royalties, it consists of drums and some electronically produced sounds to create a soundtrack that both works with the action and dialogue.
Pitch
Paragraph explaining the 5 finger pitch: In my five finger pitch I included that the short film will be a 5 minute thriller, I also mentioned that the main protagonist is a middle aged with a wife and a child. The goal of my story is he must get a large sum of money to help his child who is in a coma, the police are trying to stop the protagonist from robbing the bank since that is their job. And what is important in the story is the dilemma of if the character is doing the right thing.
The feedback I received after presenting my pitch was mostly about the logistics of my idea so how would I create a realistic bank and a vault to make the short film believable so instead of that I was suggested going on a smaller scale like a work place so they could hide the money in a shelf with a lock or something along those lines.
The feedback I received after presenting my pitch was mostly about the logistics of my idea so how would I create a realistic bank and a vault to make the short film believable so instead of that I was suggested going on a smaller scale like a work place so they could hide the money in a shelf with a lock or something along those lines.
Working title of production:
My working title is Hero the reason I picked this title because it questions what is a hero is it someone that always does the right thing or is it someone who tries to save someone, in one person's eyes a villain could be a hero and vice versa.
My Idea is a thriller about a middle aged man with a wife and a child who has been hospitalised in an accident and the farther is now in search of ways to get money for his child’s operation which is in Switzerland. He is determined to save his child no matter what it will cost him his only option is to turn to ill means to gain the money
Characters:
Rick (main character) Rick is the father that the story will be based around and he is going to be included in practically every shot of the production and he is going to have to come up with a way of getting this money to save his child. He is going to have to make a choice whether to steal the money to save his daughter or not.
Rick's friends (side characters) At the start of the short Rick will be talking to his friends about his situation.
Julia (side character) Julia is Rick's wife who will only be featured at the start of the movie when we are looking at their child and we just see her be very sad and crying next to her child.
Lily (side character) Lily is the daughter of Julia and Rick who has unfortunately been involved in a traffic accident and has been hospitalised and she needs a operation to save her live but the only country that has the right equipment to save her is Switzerland but it’s going to cost a lot of money to get her there.
Vinny (Plot device) Vinny is Rick's boss who gives Rick the suitcase with the money he needs but he is not meant to use it for his daughter he is meant to take it to the bank.
Dr Mario (Side character) He is going to be the doctor to perform the operation on Lily.
Conner (side character) He is Rick’s friend that will talk to Rick about the whole situation, he will try to advise him to do the best thing.
Police 1 and 2 (side characters) They will be chasing Rick after he steals the money.
Narrative techniques:
Pov: I could use point of view to show a close up of what a character is doing to create suspense since the audience sees less of the surroundings, then something could be happening behind the character.
Plot device: This is a person or a event in the story that helps the progression of the by moving it forward.
Voice over: A voice over could be a good idea as the sound is much clearer. But on the other hand it would be quite hard to lip sync the footage and sound in post production.
Flashback: I could include a flashback as a method of creating suspense by showing the characters choice without the audience knowing how the choice led to this so the flash back would reveal more about the narrative.
The reason why I am thinking of using these narrative techniques is because they are techniques that are used in the industry, which would give my production a more professional feeling which be better received by my target audience of 15 years old.
Theme:
The theme of the production is trying to saving a loved one but being put in a moral dilemma that would be a very hard choice. This would set a dark and suspenseful mood, mixed in with dramatic music and post production techniques which would make the whole theme seem more thriller like which is the genre that the brief asked me for.
Target audience:
The target audience of my production will be 15 and I will make sure it’s suitable for that audience by following the bbfc guidelines as that is what my client wanted me to use.
The target audience of my production will be 15 and I will make sure it’s suitable for that audience by following the bbfc guidelines as that is what my client wanted me to use.
Taking the bbfc guide for age 15 rated movies into consideration it shows me what I will be able to include and what i will not be able to include. The main thing the guidelines state is not to dwell on any of the things but the use of everything is allowed which is good as it means I can use violence and threat which is what I planned to use in my production.
Realistically the show could be screened at school on one of the classroom projectors as this would not include any fees and would be easy to get the permission for. Alternatively I have looked into what are the requirements to have your short film presented at BFI Film Festival, the requirements are simple for a short film entry the short film needs to be under 40 minutes long and you have to pay a fee of either £20 for a regular submission or £30 if your late, if your film is UK based and passes the cultural test it only costs £15 for regular and £20 for late submissions.
I could distribute my product through VOD such as YouTube as that is a cheap and easy way of distributing a video and having it been seen by a large audience. There are other alternatives such as indie markets NoBudge or short of the week who take submissions of around $30 and screen the movies in a public location.
Evidence from real media products
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIHg7Dc7E0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH43cTsQxQo
The Birds, hell are two example of real media products hell being a low budget short film while The Birds is a professional production with a much higher budget being a feature length film.
Realistically the show could be screened at school on one of the classroom projectors as this would not include any fees and would be easy to get the permission for. Alternatively I have looked into what are the requirements to have your short film presented at BFI Film Festival, the requirements are simple for a short film entry the short film needs to be under 40 minutes long and you have to pay a fee of either £20 for a regular submission or £30 if your late, if your film is UK based and passes the cultural test it only costs £15 for regular and £20 for late submissions.
I could distribute my product through VOD such as YouTube as that is a cheap and easy way of distributing a video and having it been seen by a large audience. There are other alternatives such as indie markets NoBudge or short of the week who take submissions of around $30 and screen the movies in a public location.
Evidence from real media products
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIHg7Dc7E0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH43cTsQxQo
The Birds, hell are two example of real media products hell being a low budget short film while The Birds is a professional production with a much higher budget being a feature length film.
Research into genre and the conventions of that genre
Before discussing what are the conventions of the thriller genre I need to know what is a thriller, from my research a thriller is a broad genre that encompasses literature, film and television often having a range of sub-genres. Thrillers are typically defined by the moods they create giving viewers feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety.
The narrative in thrillers follows todorov’s narrative theory which is about there being a equilibrium, disturbance of the equilibrium, Recognition of the disruption, an attempt to fix the equilibrium and lastly a new equilibrium. And thrillers mostly follow this narrative with some exception such as the mist which ends on a bad note.
Thrillers utilise camera angles to create their moods the main convention of camera angles is that it zooms in on a character to create more tension or have the camera be in dynamic and awkward angles this makes the viewers feel uncomfortable and uncertain of what is going to transpire in the following scenes.
The use of sound is quite important in thrillers is also a key in their conventions this is because the sound contributes and works well with the different camera angles to help create the mood the director wants the audience to feel.
The clothing in thrillers tends to be quite dark melancholy colours such as blue, black and so on this is because because the themes of thrillers tend to be sad/ scary so it would not make sense to have very vibrant coloured clothes.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)
The narrative in thrillers follows todorov’s narrative theory which is about there being a equilibrium, disturbance of the equilibrium, Recognition of the disruption, an attempt to fix the equilibrium and lastly a new equilibrium. And thrillers mostly follow this narrative with some exception such as the mist which ends on a bad note.
Thrillers utilise camera angles to create their moods the main convention of camera angles is that it zooms in on a character to create more tension or have the camera be in dynamic and awkward angles this makes the viewers feel uncomfortable and uncertain of what is going to transpire in the following scenes.
The use of sound is quite important in thrillers is also a key in their conventions this is because the sound contributes and works well with the different camera angles to help create the mood the director wants the audience to feel.
The clothing in thrillers tends to be quite dark melancholy colours such as blue, black and so on this is because because the themes of thrillers tend to be sad/ scary so it would not make sense to have very vibrant coloured clothes.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)
https://youtu.be/UIkkiyGKfA0, https://youtu.be/G8BeI5FSXnQ
From my research on these two short films I’ve found a number of conventions that I have listed previously in the page as for what I would take or have taken and incorporated into my story is in the “Epic First Person Shooter With Parkour!” I adapted the idea of trying to get something but instead it being a weird piece of technology it’s money for his daughter. And as for techniques I may want to use “Epic First Person Shooter With Parkour!” does not have any as it’s all set in first person which is not something I would want to do whereas “Watch Dogs Parkour in Real Life” has a abundance of different shots as for shots I may want to include mid-shots, behind the shoulder shots, long shots, close ups and many more.
From my research on these two short films I’ve found a number of conventions that I have listed previously in the page as for what I would take or have taken and incorporated into my story is in the “Epic First Person Shooter With Parkour!” I adapted the idea of trying to get something but instead it being a weird piece of technology it’s money for his daughter. And as for techniques I may want to use “Epic First Person Shooter With Parkour!” does not have any as it’s all set in first person which is not something I would want to do whereas “Watch Dogs Parkour in Real Life” has a abundance of different shots as for shots I may want to include mid-shots, behind the shoulder shots, long shots, close ups and many more.
Equipment:
The equipment that I will require includes:
Setting and locations
Job roles:
Crew:
Director/producer :Damian Golik
Camera operator :Damian Golik or someone else
Cast:
Rick (main character) = Gianfranco
X (Dr. Mario's assistant) = Rebecca
Vinny (Rick’s boss) = Jacob
Dr Mario (Lily’s doctor) = Morgan
Jerko (Rick’s friend ) = Lewis
Luke (Rick’s friend ) = Luke
Roberto (Rick's father) = Fryderyk
Police 1, 2, 3 = Beau, Morgan, Archie
I used Mandy to look into possible actors for my production and I found two actors that would be suitable for my production one of them is Matt Tester who has participated in 18 different productions that were evidenced in his portfolio he also has 2 years in American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York so he has experience but it does not show how much it would cost to hire him. The other actor is Katy Stokes who has a more academic portfolio with only participating in 6 different productions but like with Matt it didn’t show how much it costs to hire them for a production. I think these two actors would suit my production because they have experience both in education and out of education and they are old enough to portray the characters in my short film.
Source:
https://www.mandy.com/actor/profile/matt-tester-1
https://www.mandy.com/actor/profile/katy-stokes-1
In a similar way to props these are the key crew that will be required during the production of the short film, other roles may be filled by one person such as sound operator would be also be the camera operator this is to ensure a manageable crew and so that the people required are on set.
Budget:
When looking into costs of equipment I looked into a number of websites and the rates of hiring different equipment, when looking at mediadoghire.com I found that the average rate for hiring a camera for a day was between £200 - £350 and for a week it was in the £600’s this is what I expected as a majority of the camera’s are very good as they record at 4k with up to 200 fps allowing for smooth visuals. Tripods were only £50 - £100 for one day, lighting all was under £50 also for one day and finally sound equipment which costed around the £25 margin making the lowest cost for one day around £325 for all of the equipment.
The budget will be most likely 0 as I don’t require any equipment as I already have all the equipment that will be necessary for the production. If I were to include any cost it would be for hiring actors I would not pay them directly as that would cost too much so I would pay them by treating them to a meal and giving them a copy of the production.
Legal and Ethical Issues
One legal issue that I may have to consider is getting the permissions to record the hospital entrance as well as the police entrance as they are both very busy places so it might be hard to get permissions for those. If I have my police have guns it would be both an ethical and legal issue to have gun replicas in public as it may create panic, which I don’t want so I might have to replace the guns with batons or other methods of taking down my main character.
Another legal and ethical issue I will have to consider is the BBFC 15 rating as I am following their guide lines for a 15 year old short film, I will have to make sure none of the scenes in my short film dwell on any violence or anything that would not be suitable for a 15 rated movie.
A legal issue I would have to consider is ensuring I have all paperwork ready this would include a risk assessment, permissions slips, if any copyrighted material is used have permission to use that as well. The reason is need all the paperwork is because in the industry without this paperwork you can be sued and fined which I would not want for my production.
Another legal and ethical issue I would have to consider is data protection act as if any under 18 actors participate they would need permission from their parents to participate, I would also have to be more considerate of how long they are on set so that they don’t over work
The equipment that I will require includes:
- Camera
- Tripod
- Rig
- phone
Setting and locations
- Hospital entrance (outdoor)
- Police entrance (outdoor)
- Police interrogation room (school studio) (indoor)
- Street shots (not a busy street so it’s easier to record) (outdoor)
- Workplace shot (somewhere at school) (indoor)
Job roles:
Crew:
Director/producer :Damian Golik
Camera operator :Damian Golik or someone else
Cast:
Rick (main character) = Gianfranco
X (Dr. Mario's assistant) = Rebecca
Vinny (Rick’s boss) = Jacob
Dr Mario (Lily’s doctor) = Morgan
Jerko (Rick’s friend ) = Lewis
Luke (Rick’s friend ) = Luke
Roberto (Rick's father) = Fryderyk
Police 1, 2, 3 = Beau, Morgan, Archie
I used Mandy to look into possible actors for my production and I found two actors that would be suitable for my production one of them is Matt Tester who has participated in 18 different productions that were evidenced in his portfolio he also has 2 years in American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York so he has experience but it does not show how much it would cost to hire him. The other actor is Katy Stokes who has a more academic portfolio with only participating in 6 different productions but like with Matt it didn’t show how much it costs to hire them for a production. I think these two actors would suit my production because they have experience both in education and out of education and they are old enough to portray the characters in my short film.
Source:
https://www.mandy.com/actor/profile/matt-tester-1
https://www.mandy.com/actor/profile/katy-stokes-1
In a similar way to props these are the key crew that will be required during the production of the short film, other roles may be filled by one person such as sound operator would be also be the camera operator this is to ensure a manageable crew and so that the people required are on set.
Budget:
When looking into costs of equipment I looked into a number of websites and the rates of hiring different equipment, when looking at mediadoghire.com I found that the average rate for hiring a camera for a day was between £200 - £350 and for a week it was in the £600’s this is what I expected as a majority of the camera’s are very good as they record at 4k with up to 200 fps allowing for smooth visuals. Tripods were only £50 - £100 for one day, lighting all was under £50 also for one day and finally sound equipment which costed around the £25 margin making the lowest cost for one day around £325 for all of the equipment.
The budget will be most likely 0 as I don’t require any equipment as I already have all the equipment that will be necessary for the production. If I were to include any cost it would be for hiring actors I would not pay them directly as that would cost too much so I would pay them by treating them to a meal and giving them a copy of the production.
Legal and Ethical Issues
One legal issue that I may have to consider is getting the permissions to record the hospital entrance as well as the police entrance as they are both very busy places so it might be hard to get permissions for those. If I have my police have guns it would be both an ethical and legal issue to have gun replicas in public as it may create panic, which I don’t want so I might have to replace the guns with batons or other methods of taking down my main character.
Another legal and ethical issue I will have to consider is the BBFC 15 rating as I am following their guide lines for a 15 year old short film, I will have to make sure none of the scenes in my short film dwell on any violence or anything that would not be suitable for a 15 rated movie.
A legal issue I would have to consider is ensuring I have all paperwork ready this would include a risk assessment, permissions slips, if any copyrighted material is used have permission to use that as well. The reason is need all the paperwork is because in the industry without this paperwork you can be sued and fined which I would not want for my production.
Another legal and ethical issue I would have to consider is data protection act as if any under 18 actors participate they would need permission from their parents to participate, I would also have to be more considerate of how long they are on set so that they don’t over work
Proposal to class:
In this video I proposed my idea to the class to get some feedback on how I can improve my idea further to make it even better. The feedback I got was for me to do more statistical research about who watches thrillers. This would mean I would have to research a bit more about my audience to ensure that my short film fits the genre and will appeal to the target audience of 15-25 with a BBFC rating of 15.
Script Unit 5 Updated version by on Scribd
This is my final script for my production I have made many changes during the creation of the script for continuity purposes, so the plot made sense such as the boss giving the main character money after he was caught by the police and letting him go this would not make sense unless the boss was a leader of a criminal organisation with large influence over the police. So based on the feedback I received from friends I edited it accordingly to create this final version.
This is my budget sheet that I created for my production, when researching the costs of hiring equipment I found out the prices of it so I included it in the estimate. But since in my final product I will not be hiring equipment from third parties and only using equipment provided to me by the school my budget will be basically 0 unless I choose to bring some extra money to reward my actors for their hard work since they are not being paid.
Recee
Unit 5 Risk Assesment by on Scribd
After completing the recee of all the locations I will be using during my production I included all possible dangers during the production that my actors should be aware of so that they don't get injured during any point
Unit 5 Call sheet by on Scribd
Story Board
StoryBoard Unit 5 by on Scribd