A shot list is the director's plan for a scene, written one shot per row: the shot size, the angle, the camera movement, the lens, and a line on what it covers. It answers one question the schedule cannot answer without it, which is how many camera setups a day actually holds. You build it from the scene breakdown, and the 1st AD builds the day from it.
What is a shot list?
The list is where a scene stops being prose and becomes work. “Maya confronts the cook” is one line in the script. On the shot list it is a wide master, a pair of over-the-shoulders, two singles, and an insert on the missing order ticket. That is five or six setups, and five or six setups is most of a morning.
What goes in each row?
Six columns carry almost everything. Here are the standard ones, with what each is for:
| Column | Example | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Shot number | 12-3 | Scene 12, third shot. The label everyone uses on set. |
| Size | MS, CU, WS | How much frame the subject fills. Wide to close. |
| Angle | OTS Reyes | Where the camera sits: eye level, high, over-the-shoulder. |
| Movement | Static / dolly in | Locked off, or a move. Moves cost time and often track. |
| Lens | 35mm | Focal length. Changing it can mean re-marking the actors. |
| Subject / action | Maya turns, sees ticket | The one thing this shot has to get. |
Optional columns earn their place on bigger scenes: estimated setup time, whether it needs the dolly or the slider, sound notes, and a tick box for when it is in the can. Keep the list narrow enough that the director will actually fill it in.
Shot list, storyboard, or floor plan?
Three documents describe the same scene from different angles. You rarely need all three, and knowing what each one answers tells you which to make.
How do you build one?
Start from the scene breakdown, not from a blank page. The breakdown already tells you the location, the cast, and the page count. The shot list adds how you will cover it.
- Read the scene for its beats. Where does the attention move? Each beat usually wants at least a wide to establish and a close to land.
- Choose the master. The one wide shot that holds the whole geography. Everything else is coverage of it.
- Add coverage. Over-the-shoulders, singles, and inserts for the moments the master cannot sell on its own.
- Group by camera position. List the shots you can get without moving the camera together, so the day shoots them in one setup.
- Count the setups. Hand that number to the AD. It is what the day is scheduled on.
| Shot | Size | Angle / move | Lens | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-1 | WS | Static, high | 24mm | Master: Maya enters, whole kitchen line |
| 12-2 | MS | Dolly in | 35mm | Maya moving down the line toward the cook |
| 12-3 | MCU | OTS the cook | 50mm | Maya accusing |
| 12-4 | MCU | OTS Maya | 50mm | The cook denying |
| 12-5 | CU | Static | 85mm | Maya, she does not believe him |
| 12-6 | Insert | Static, top down | 50mm | The missing order ticket |
Six shots, but not six setups. Shots 3 and 5 share a camera position on Maya's side; 4 is the reverse. Grouped, the scene is roughly three setups plus the insert. That is what the AD schedules, and it is why the list matters more than the count of shots.
How the shot list feeds the day
The list is not a document that lives on the director's laptop. It moves down the pipeline: the breakdown makes it possible, the AD counts its setups into the schedule, and the call sheet inherits the shooting order the list implies.
Common mistakes
- Only a master, no coverage. One wide per scene cuts together like a play. The editor needs somewhere to go on the line that lands.
- Coverage with no master. All singles and no wide, and the audience loses the room. Shoot the geography first.
- No shot numbers. “The close one” means three different things to three people. 12-5 means one.
- Ignoring the lens column. Jumping from a 24mm to an 85mm is a new mark, a new focus, and sometimes a new light. It belongs on the list, not discovered on the floor.
What comes next
Once the list exists, the setups it contains are what you schedule against. That is the same number the pages-per-day math is really a proxy for, and it is what turns a scene list into a shooting schedule. The free shot list template has the columns above, filled in for Nightfall's Scene 12 and blank for the rest.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a shot list and a storyboard?
A shot list is a text table: one row per shot, with size, angle, movement, and lens. A storyboard draws those shots as frames. The list tells you how many setups the day holds; the board tells you what each one looks like. On a small shoot you often make the list and skip the board for anything but the tricky scenes.
Who makes the shot list?
The director, usually with the cinematographer. On a documentary or a small shoot the director does it alone. The 1st AD then uses it to count setups and build the day, so it has to exist before the schedule is final.
How many shots should a scene have?
However many the coverage needs and the day allows. A two-page dialogue scene might be 6 to 10 shots; a wordless action beat can be 20. The useful number is setups, not shots, because relighting for a new angle is what eats the clock.
What is a setup versus a shot?
A setup is one camera position and lighting state. A shot is one framing you record from it. Two shots from the same position (a wide and a punch-in on the same lens family) can be close to one setup; moving the camera across the room is a new setup and often 20 to 40 minutes of relight.
Do you need a shot list for every scene?
For anything with staging, coverage, or an effect, yes. For a simple insert (a hand picking up a note) a single line is enough. The point is that every setup the day contains is written down before the day, so the AD can count them and the gaffer can pre-rig.