Almost everyone who films regularly has had the same experience: you sit down to edit, you reach for a shot you were certain you got, and it is not there. Sometimes you can go back. Usually you cannot, and the video is quietly worse than it should have been.
A shot list fixes this, and it takes less time than people expect. Twenty minutes of planning routinely saves an hour on location and a day in the edit.
What a shot list is
A shot list is a plan of every shot you need before you start filming. At minimum, each entry records what the shot is, how it is framed, and where it happens. That is it — the value is in the completeness, not the sophistication.
How to build one
- 01
Write the story first, not the shots
Before you think about framing, write what happens in order: the beginning, the middle, the end. For a YouTube video that is hook, content, payoff. For a wedding it is the phases of the day. You cannot list shots for a story you have not defined.
- 02
Break each section into moments
Take each part of the story and ask what the viewer needs to see for it to make sense. Each answer is a shot. Do not worry about how it is filmed yet.
- 03
Give every shot a framing
Now decide wide, medium or close for each one. This is where most lists become useful, because it forces you to notice that six consecutive shots are all mediums and the sequence will feel flat.
- 04
Add the practical detail
Location, time of day, camera or device, and anything you need to bring. This is the difference between a list you can execute and a list you have to re-plan on location.
- 05
Add the B-roll you will need to cover cuts
Go through your list and mark every place you will need to cut. Each of those needs something to cut away to. This is the step almost everyone skips and it is the one that determines whether the edit works.
- 06
Reorder it for filming
Your list is currently in story order. That is not the order you will film in. Group everything by location, by lighting setup, by who is available — then film in that order. This single step saves more time on a shoot day than anything else.
- 07
Check it before you leave
Read the list back before you pack up. Two minutes, every time. This is the entire reason for having written it.
How much detail is enough
Enough that you could hand it to someone else and they would know what to film. Not so much that you stop reading it. A useful test: if a line does not change what you actually do on the day, cut it.
| Field | Worth including? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shot description | Always | The point of the list |
| Shot size (wide/medium/close) | Always | Reveals a flat sequence before you film it |
| Location | Always | Determines your filming order |
| Camera or device | Usually | Matters the moment you use more than one |
| Time of day | If outdoors | Light is a scheduling constraint, not a preference |
| Lens | If you swap lenses | Otherwise noise |
| Duration | If cutting to music | Essential then, irrelevant otherwise |
| Camera movement | If planned | Only if it changes what you set up |
The mistake almost everyone makes
Storeyz holds both at once: your storyboard stays in story order while shoot mode reorders the same shots for the day itself. Tick one off on location and it is ticked in both.
Start from a template
You do not need to build a list from nothing. Most shoots have a well-established shape, and starting from a proven list means the only thing left to do is adapt it.