Use this shot list to connect the script to the images the edit needs. Give every shot a story purpose, describe the important action and record continuity dependencies. Keep optional coverage separate from required views so the list remains a production decision tool rather than an unchecked collection of angles.
This is a reusable planning worksheet. Filled examples are fictional and are not evidence of product output or customer results.
Build a shot list you can review.
Edit the fictional example or start a blank list. Mark must-have coverage separately from optional shots. Every shot needs scene, action, framing and duration to complete its planning fields. Reorder shots without changing their IDs, then download your draft as CSV or text. Blank durations stay unknown. Your inputs stay in this tab and are lost when you leave; exports are saved only when you choose. This planning worksheet sends no inputs to analytics and is not a product import format.
Fictional planning presets. They contain no generated footage, customer work or measured production result. Durations are your timing assumptions, not a prediction of generated output.
Incomplete drafts can be downloaded with missing fields recorded. Timing totals exclude unknown durations. Changing a shot’s planning fields resets its manual review. Loading an example replaces the current in-tab draft.
Use the interactive worksheet
Build a list for one scene, give each shot a stable identifier and keep its purpose, action states and continuity notes together. Add or remove records and change the order as the scene develops. Required and optional coverage remain separate decisions.
The browser worksheet checks whether the planning fields have been completed. Review the neighbouring shots yourself: a completed record cannot establish that the action will read clearly in a finished cut. Use the labelled fictional example to inspect the structure, then enter your own scene and download a standalone planning file.
List the information before the camera choices
Read the scene and identify what viewers need to discover, understand or feel. Then choose views that carry those beats. A close-up is justified by the detail or reaction it reveals; a wide shot is justified by the geography or relationship it establishes.
Use stable scene and shot identifiers even if the order later changes. Time references can move during editing, while an identifier allows notes, references and revisions to remain attached to the same planned image.
Copy one record for each planned shot
Keep the fields concise enough to scan during review. Describe the beginning and end state of the action, particularly for prop handovers, entrances or movements that connect to another shot. Include sound when a cue changes the timing or interpretation.
Use the acceptance check to express the minimum story requirement. “The viewer sees the key change hands” is clearer than “looks cinematic.”
SCENE ID / SHOT ID:
SCRIPT VERSION:
STORY PURPOSE / INFORMATION REVEALED:
FRAMING / VIEWPOINT:
CHARACTERS / LOCATION / PROPS:
ACTION START STATE:
ACTION END STATE:
EYELINE / SCREEN DIRECTION:
CONTINUITY FROM / TO OTHER SHOTS:
DIALOGUE / ESSENTIAL SOUND:
REFERENCE LINKS AND PURPOSE:
REQUIRED OR OPTIONAL:
ACCEPTANCE CHECK:
CURRENT STATUS / REVISION NOTE:Worked illustration: a key changes hands
The fictional example below describes a single important action. It records the relationship to neighbouring shots so the production team can review the handover as part of a sequence rather than approve an attractive image that does not connect.
The framing remains a practical instruction. A separate visual reference can define the look, but the shot record explains what must remain legible if the look changes.
Review neighbouring records together
Check the sequence for missing information, duplicate coverage and incompatible states. If one shot ends with the key in a pocket and the next begins with it in a hand, decide whether the change needs to be shown or whether the second shot should be revised.
After a storyboard or edit change, update the affected records and mark unused shots clearly. Keep alternatives only where a real decision remains open. Before another production pass, confirm that the list represents the current cut and not a mixture of abandoned versions.
Questions & answers
Should I include shot duration?
Add a provisional timing note when it matters to the beat, then revise it during the animatic or edit. Do not treat an early duration as more authoritative than whether the action is understandable.
Can I use one row instead of a full record?
Yes. A table works well for a simple sequence. Preserve the fields that explain purpose, action and continuity, and expand only the shots with important dependencies or uncertainty.
Explore the workflow with your own idea.