What a shot list is
A shot list is the complete, ordered set of camera setups for a scene or a shooting day — one row per shot, each specifying what the camera sees and does. It's the director's contract with the crew: by the time you're on set, the shot list says exactly what to set up next, so nobody is figuring out coverage with twenty people on the clock.
A storyboard shows the shot. A shot list specifies it. You can have one without the other — many productions shot-list everything and only storyboard the complex scenes — but the shot list is the document the day actually runs on.
What goes in a shot list row
A production-ready row carries these fields:
- Shot number — scene + letter (14A, 14B, 14C). The universal reference everyone uses on set.
- Shot size — wide / medium / close-up / insert, etc.
- Angle — eye-level / high / low / Dutch / overhead.
- Movement — static / pan / tilt / dolly / handheld / crane / gimbal.
- Lens — focal length (24mm, 50mm, 85mm…). Tells the camera department which glass.
- Subject / action — what's happening in the shot.
- Characters — who's in frame.
- Location — where it shoots.
- Notes — anything special: rack focus, practical effect, VFX plate, time of day.
- Estimated setup time — for the 1st AD's day math.
The discipline of filling structured fields — rather than scribbling freeform notes — is what makes a shot list usable: sortable, exportable, and machine-readable for the rest of the pipeline.
How to build a shot list — step by step
1. Read the scene for beats
Find the moments that change. Each beat needs coverage. (Same first move as boarding — see how to make a storyboard.)
2. Decide coverage per beat
For a dialogue scene: a wide to establish, OTS on each character, singles for the peaks. For action: wider, faster, more setups. Don't over-cover — every extra setup is real minutes on the day.
3. Write the spec for each shot
Translate each setup into the fields above. 14B — MCU, OTS over Sam onto Maya, 35mm, slow dolly in, rack to Maya at the end. Every word is an instruction to a specific department.
4. Order the shots for the day, not the script
Crucial and counter-intuitive. You shoot in the order that's efficient, not the order the scene plays. Group by lighting setup, by lens, by which way the camera faces. Shoot all of one character's coverage, then turn around. The editor re-assembles story order later. (This is also why you keep screen direction consistent — you're shooting out of order and have to match.)
5. Estimate the time
Put a rough setup time on each shot. Sum them per scene. This is how the 1st AD knows whether the day is achievable — and whether you need to cut coverage before you ever get to set.
6. Pressure-test against the schedule
Lay the shot list against the shoot day. Too many setups for the hours? Cut the shots you can live without now, on paper — not at 4pm with the light going.
Shot list vs storyboard vs floor plan
Three documents, three jobs. The shot list specifies the setups (text, sortable, the day runs on it). The storyboard visualises the ones that need it (pictures, for coverage you have to see to plan). The floor plan maps camera positions in physical space (overhead diagram, for blocking and the grip/electric departments). Big scenes use all three; a simple dialogue scene might use only the shot list.
How the shot list connects forward
A shot list that lives in a silo is a document. A shot list that's wired into the pipeline is infrastructure. When each row carries the scene, characters, location, and shot spec as structured data, those fields flow forward: into the storyboard (the editor knows the framing before you prompt a frame), into the schedule (setup times feed day math), and into the breakdown (coverage informs what each scene needs). Change the shot list and the dependents update.
What this looks like inside StoryboardCanvas
The /shotlist surface uses the full structured field set above — shot number, size, angle, movement, lens, action, characters, location, notes, estimated time. Build rows by hand, generate AI shot suggestions from a scene, or bulk-parse a whole screenplay into a starting shot list in one pass. Each row links forward: the AI Artist reads the framing fields to compose the storyboard frame, the schedule reads the timing, and a one-click sync pushes shots into the storyboard editor. Export to CSV in role-specific templates (DP, 1st AC, editor) when the crew wants paper.