A shot list tells you what to film. A shoot day plan tells you when, and in what order. The difference matters because the constraints on a shoot day are physical — light, travel, access, and how long people can concentrate.
- 01
Group by location first
Travel is the biggest waste on any shoot day. Every shot at a location gets filmed while you are there, regardless of where it falls in the story.
- 02
Then group by light
Within each location, order by what the light demands. Anything needing golden hour is fixed to a time; anything indoors is flexible. Build the day around the fixed points.
- 03
Then group by setup
Within each light block, group shots that share a camera position, lens or lighting setup. Changing setups is the second biggest time cost after travel.
- 04
Put people-dependent shots where the people are
Anyone who is only available for part of the day dictates their own block. Schedule around them, not the other way round.
- 05
Add 30% contingency
Every shoot runs over. If your list says four hours, schedule five and a half. The shots that get cut when you run out of time are always the B-roll, which is exactly what you need most.
- 06
Identify what you cannot leave without
Mark the shots that make the video impossible if missing. If the day collapses, these are what you protect.
- 07
Run the pre-flight check
Batteries charged, cards formatted, everything packed against the list. Do it the night before, not in the car.
Before you leave any location
Read the list back. Every time, at every location. It takes two minutes and it is the entire reason for making a list in the first place. The shots you miss are almost never the ones you forgot to plan — they are the ones you planned and then did not check.