A shot list should tell you what to capture
A useful shot list holds decisions that somebody can act on. “Film the office scene” is too broad. “12A-2: close-up of the ledger as Mara crosses out a name, three seconds, static camera” gives the team a subject, action, framing and approximate screen duration. The editor above lets you write those individual decisions, change their sequence and export the rows you actually reviewed.
Begin with one shot. Give it a unique shot number and describe the visible action. Add a scene reference, location, framing, angle, movement, cast and props where they help production. Enter a planned screen duration in seconds. Optional fields can stay empty until you make the relevant decision; an invented detail is less useful than an honest blank.
The editor supports up to 500 shots. You can build from scratch, try a short fictional example, import a compatible CSV, or reopen a saved JSON project. The sample is there to demonstrate editing rather than prescribe how your scene must be filmed. Replace its actions and requirements with information from your own screenplay and creative plan.
Your list remains in the current browser session until you download it. Save a project before leaving, refreshing or experimenting with another import. CSV is useful for collaborators and spreadsheets. JSON is the better checkpoint when you intend to return to this editor with the story sequence intact. Neither download creates a production account or a shared cloud workspace.
Begin with the dramatic purpose of a view
Read the scene and identify what the audience needs to understand at each moment. A shot might establish geography, reveal a clue, show a reaction or connect two actions. Describe that purpose as visible behavior in the action field. “She realizes the train is gone” may need translation into something the camera can capture, such as Mara looking from an empty platform to the departure board.
Separate subject from action when it improves clarity. The subject could be “station ledger,” while the action says “Mara’s finger stops at a crossed-out name.” That distinction makes an insert easier to understand without adding a paragraph to the shot number. Dialogue can be recorded separately in its own field when a line determines the camera’s timing.
Decide whether one planned view covers a continuous action or whether it needs multiple shots. A character entering, noticing a clue and making a decision could be one moving shot, three simple views or several pieces of coverage. The list does not choose that style for you. It provides an editable structure for the choice once you have a reason for it.
Avoid making every sentence in the screenplay into a new row automatically. Screenplay paragraphs describe story events; shot boundaries describe camera decisions. Some events belong in the same frame, and some small moments deserve their own image. A good list is specific enough to guide filming while remaining flexible enough to respond to rehearsal and location realities.
Identify shots so changes remain understandable
Use a naming scheme your collaborators can repeat out loud. Scene-and-shot labels such as 12A-1, 12A-2 and 12A-3 connect the camera plan to the script. Short sequential labels also work for a tiny film. The editor requires shot numbers to be unique before exporting so two different rows do not accidentally share the same production reference.
Adding a shot starts a new row with a suggested numeric label. After deletions or custom numbering, check that label before keeping it. Duplicating a row adds “-copy” to its shot number as a visible reminder to review the new identity. Duplicating an already duplicated row can still create a collision, which the validation step will ask you to resolve.
Scene numbers and shot numbers serve different purposes. Several shots can belong to scene 12A, but each needs its own shot label. The scene column does not have to match the row’s position. A lettered scene inserted after a locked script remains lettered even if it appears near the beginning of a location-sorted export.
When revising the list, prefer stable identifiers over renumbering everything for neatness. If collaborators already refer to 12A-2 in notes, changing that label can create avoidable confusion. Add an insert suffix or document a revision convention as needed. The editor preserves the labels you type; it does not impose a professional numbering system on your production.
Choose framing, angle and movement separately
Framing describes how much of the subject the audience sees. Wide, medium and close-up are useful starting labels, but specificity matters more than vocabulary. “Close-up of Mara’s left hand and the key” provides more actionable information than a bare abbreviation. If the project uses standard short labels, make sure everyone receiving the list knows them.
Angle describes the camera’s relationship to the subject. Eye level, low angle, overhead or a deliberately tilted view can each change the meaning of the same action. An angle entry should reflect a reason, such as showing the layout of objects on a desk, rather than filling every field because the form provides it.
Movement is another independent choice. A static close-up and a slow push toward the same face require different execution. Write the intended movement clearly enough to distinguish a creative goal from an equipment demand. “Follow Mara through the doorway” describes a result; a particular support system is a production decision that may need further discussion.
The editor keeps these fields as plain text because productions use different conventions. It does not calculate lens selection, camera clearance, stabilization, focus distance or safety constraints. If a movement depends on a practical condition, put that condition in notes and verify it at the location. A well-written row can expose a question without pretending the camera department has already answered it.
An illustrative two-shot reveal
Consider a fictional station-office scene. Mara opens a drawer and discovers a crossed-out name in a ledger. The sample list uses a six-second wide shot followed by a three-second close-up. These invented durations demonstrate the total calculation and editing workflow; they are not timings measured from a released film or a recommended pace for every reveal.
The first row establishes Mara’s action and the office geography. Its cast field contains Mara, its prop field includes the brass key, and its action says that she unlocks the drawer. The second row identifies the ledger as the subject and the crossed-out name as the action detail. Keeping those rows separate allows the editor to compare an establishing view with an insert.
Six seconds plus three seconds gives nine planned screen seconds. If you later change the first duration to 7.5, the total becomes 10.5 seconds. Reordering the rows changes their story sequence but leaves that sum unchanged. Deleting one row changes both the sequence and the total, which is why the overview should be reviewed after structural edits.
Now duplicate the close-up and turn it into Mara’s reaction. Give it a new unique label, change its subject to Mara and write a visible action such as “Mara looks toward the locked door.” Update cast and props rather than carrying the ledger requirements into the new row automatically. Duplication saves typing, but it also copies assumptions that you must revisit.
Planned seconds are an editing estimate
The duration column measures how long a shot is intended to appear in the finished sequence. It is not a stopwatch for the time needed to set up or capture the shot. A three-second insert may take much longer to light than a six-second static view, and neither duration tells you how many takes a performance will need.
Each row accepts a finite duration above zero and up to 3,600 seconds. Decimal seconds are supported. Validation rejects missing, negative, zero and nonnumeric values so the exported list does not hide an unusable duration behind a misleading total. If you do not know a duration yet, choose a provisional estimate and identify that uncertainty in notes.
The displayed total adds the duration values across the story list. For 4.5, 6 and 2.25 seconds, the sum is 12.75 seconds. That arithmetic is useful when planning a short sequence, but it does not account for editorial overlaps, transitions or an alternative take that replaces another shot. Define what each row represents before treating the total as a final runtime.
If two rows are alternative versions of the same moment, the editor will still add both. Keep alternatives clearly labeled and consider separate project copies for distinct cuts. A list that mixes every possible coverage option with a final edit plan can produce an inflated duration without any calculation error. The meaning of the rows matters as much as the sum.
Story order and location order answer different questions
Story order helps you see what the audience experiences. Use Move earlier and Move later to change the selected shot’s position in that underlying sequence. The controls act on the story list even while the overview is grouped by location. Return to story view after a major reorder so you can assess whether the planned sequence still makes sense.
Location view helps you inspect shots associated with the same place. It sorts the overview alphabetically by the location text and keeps the existing sequence among shots with matching labels. This is a useful planning view when comparing office work with platform work, but it does not automatically determine the order in which those shots should be filmed.
CSV, copied output and printed tables follow the current overview order. Saving a project preserves the original story order. If you export a location-grouped CSV and later import that CSV, its row order becomes the new story sequence because CSV does not carry a second hidden ordering system. Keep the project file when you need to preserve both concepts clearly.
Consistency in location names makes grouping more useful. “Station office,” “Office” and “Manager’s office” remain separate entries. Standardize them only after deciding whether they really identify the same filming space. A script location and a physical location can differ, so notes may need to distinguish the story setting from the place where the shot will actually be captured.
Turn cast and props into shot-specific instructions
A scene-level breakdown tells you which elements appear somewhere in a scene. A shot list refines that into individual camera requirements. A ledger may be needed for three inserts but absent from the wide master. Mara may appear in the scene but not in a close-up that shows only a document. Enter the requirements the planned view actually needs.
Use cast labels that match the script breakdown whenever possible. A role name is usually more stable during early planning than an actor’s personal name. If you need a stand-in, hand double or off-screen voice, make that requirement explicit in notes. This editor stores your text and does not infer labor assignments from a character label.
Props deserve enough detail to avoid confusion. “Key” can be adequate for a tiny project with one object; “brass station key, duplicate available” may be more helpful when several versions exist. The props field is a planning note, not an inventory database. It will not track ownership, quantity, return dates or which crew member carries an item to set.
For continuity-sensitive work, describe the required state rather than merely naming the object. “Ledger open to crossed-out entry” communicates more than “ledger.” If Mara’s coat is wet in a reaction shot, put that condition in notes. A row should help someone prepare the exact view, including the visible state that connects it to adjacent footage.
Build a list from a script breakdown
Complete a scene breakdown before trying to solve every camera choice. Confirm the scene’s place, time, people and requirements. Then open this editor and add the views needed to tell that scene. Use the scene field to retain the connection. The two tools support related decisions without pretending that a parser can automatically direct the film.
The script breakdown generator can organize screenplay headings and cast while preserving source references. This shot editor does not import those breakdown records automatically. Read the reviewed scene and enter the intended camera views. That deliberate step is where the creative translation from production requirements to photographed action happens.
For a broad first pass at coverage structure, the storyboard shot-list generator offers a different kind of planning aid. It proposes an outline from broad inputs. This page is for managing the actual rows of your own shot list, including precise wording, sequence, imports and exports. Use the generator when you need a starting framework and this editor when you need a working document.
If you are adapting a passage from a novel, reduce it to visible actions before filling many rows. A paragraph of remembered history may need a prop detail, a reaction or a separate scene rather than a literal image for each sentence. The free filmmaking course includes a shot-planning lesson that helps make that translation in plain language.
Import a spreadsheet without losing its structure
The CSV importer expects the same thirteen columns that this editor exports: Scene, Shot, Location, Size, Angle, Movement, Subject, Action, Dialogue, Seconds, Cast, Props and Notes. Keep the names and order unchanged. Additional columns or renamed headers are rejected rather than silently mapped to the wrong field. Download a small sample export if you need a compatible template.
Quoted CSV fields can contain commas, quotation marks and line breaks. The parser keeps those values together instead of splitting a multiline action into several shots. This matters when a dialogue line contains punctuation or a note includes more than one instruction. A malformed unclosed quotation mark produces an import error so you can correct the source file.
The importer validates the resulting shot rows. Empty projects, missing actions, invalid durations and duplicate shot labels are rejected. A successful CSV import assigns internal identifiers for editing; those internal identifiers are separate from your visible shot numbers. Your production references remain the labels in the Shot column, not a browser-generated identifier.
CSV exports protect against spreadsheet formulas by prefixing potentially executable values with an apostrophe. If you reopen such cells, you may see that protective character as text. Inspect any formula-like content before deliberately removing it in another application. Ordinary shot descriptions, including commas and Unicode characters, remain ordinary text throughout the export workflow.
Save a checkpoint before a production meeting
A saved JSON project contains the shot rows and their story order. Name it for the project and draft you are discussing. For example, “station-short-rehearsal-plan.json” is easier to distinguish from a later camera review than a generic download name. The browser supplies a default filename, and you can rename the downloaded file in your normal file manager.
Importing a new list stores the previous list as a one-step undo. Deleting a shot also creates a recovery checkpoint. That recovery feature helps with an immediate mistake, but it does not replace deliberate project saves. A later import or deletion can replace the previous undo state, and closing the browser removes the in-memory history.
Save project preserves unfinished rows as well as complete shots, so you can stop working without inventing an action or duration merely to save. Structural checks keep its fields and identifiers valid. CSV, copy and print require complete actions, valid durations and unique shot labels. For a major alternative, save a separate project rather than relying on the one-step undo to preserve two creative versions.
The tool does not synchronize changes among collaborators. If two people edit separate copies, agree who will combine them and which file becomes the next reference. A simple revision note in the project filename and a short change summary can prevent two perfectly valid lists from being mistaken for the same plan.
Inspect the export as a crew member would
Before sharing CSV, open it in the application your collaborator uses. Check that the thirteen columns are present, multiline notes remain inside cells and the selected overview order is the order you intended. A correct file can still be inconvenient if a spreadsheet automatically narrows the action column until every row becomes unreadable.
Print uses a landscape table with repeated column headings. Your browser and printer determine the final scale and paper handling. Inspect the preview for very long dialogue or notes before printing a large packet. A dense full list may work better as a digital reference, while a short scene-specific project can be easier to carry during a rehearsal.
Copy shot list produces a tab-separated table suitable for a quick paste or discussion. This is useful for sharing a small plan without attaching a project file. A destination application may handle tabs and line breaks differently, so verify the pasted result. CSV remains the more structured interchange choice when notes contain several lines.
Exports contain the details you entered, including contact-like text if you placed it in notes. The editor processes those fields in the browser and usage measurement excludes the entered content. Once downloaded or copied, however, the resulting document is yours to distribute carefully. Review a list before sending it outside the production team.
A practical review before the first shoot
Read the list in story order and ask whether the audience can follow the action. Is a character’s important reaction covered? Can the geography be understood? Does a detail shot show the information the next moment depends on? These are storytelling checks that no duration sum or required-field validator can answer for you.
Then inspect the list by location. Look for shots whose requirements do not fit the available space, light or access. A doorway that works in a script may be too narrow for the planned camera movement. A window may reveal a background that changes between shots. Write down the decisions that need a location visit instead of assuming the list itself resolves them.
Check each unique shot label, action and duration with the validation button. Resolve duplicate numbers and unfinished rows. Finally save the project and create the export needed for the next meeting. A useful working list should make the next person’s job clearer without requiring them to guess which rows are real decisions and which are abandoned notes.
Shot-list conventions vary across productions. The framing and coverage examples here are original illustrations; the editor’s validation and export behavior are defined by its tested functions. For a broader account of shot-list planning and common fields, see StudioBinder’s shot-list template guide. Apply the terminology your team understands, then keep the actual plan specific enough to use on set.