How To Make A Shot List For Film

A shot list is a list of all the shots that makeup your film, and can be a super helpful tool when it comes time to storyboard and schedule your shoot. It’s basically your first shot, no pun intended, at making creative decisions about your film. So let’s go over how you choose and arrange your shots, in order to build a shot list.

The first step in building a film shot list, is to organize your shots by scene, in chronological order. So all the shots for scene 1, then all the shots for scene 2 and so on.

The next step in how to build a shot list, is you want to put the shot name. This is usually made up of a combination of the scene number and a chronological letter from the alphabet.

Pro tip, when naming a shot always make sure you skip letters like i, o, and z, because they tend to look like numbers when written on a slate. And if you run out of letters, just start doubling them up so for example 1AA, 1AB, and so on.

Then you want to make sure you arrange your shots into shooting order, and this is usually done by grouping shots by camera setups. A camera setup is any time the lights and or camera are moved to accommodate a shot.

So for example, if you need to shoot a medium shot and a close up shot of a character… it makes sense to shoot these shots back to back since the camera angle and lighting most likely won’t change. This helps you be more time efficient on set and spend less time moving cameras and lights.

Shooting orders can vary depending on what’s being shot, but typically most filmmakers start with the wider shots and work their way into the tighter shots, leaving closeups and insert shots last.

Pro tip, I also recommend knocking out more difficult shots earlier in the day, as sometimes these can take more time to shoot. Plus, by getting the harder shots out of the way first, it’s more likely to boost your cast and crew’s moral as the shoot day will just get easier and easier.

Also if you happen to be shooting with more than one camera, make sure you list which camera will be shooting the shot. Cameras are usually labeled using the alphabet in chronological order, so you’d have an A cam, B cam, C cam and so on.

Next make sure you note if each shot requires a particular camera move, such a dolly, tilt, or pan.

You’ll also want to note if each shot is an exterior or interior shot, as well as if the shot requires audio and what type of audio you plan to capture. Shots that don’t require audio are labeled as MOS.

And I like to also not any specific props that are required for the shot, just to make sure I don’t forget them. Finally, is a notes field where you can place any notes that might be handy during the time of shooting.

Now that you know how to shot list, you’ll be sure to cover your scene like a pro. Also, don't forget you can get my shot list template for film by supporting me on Patreon with the link above.

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