Today we're going to talk about everything you need to know about shot listing.
What a shot list is and how to create one.
After that, we're going to take a one-page script,
turn it into a shot list and shoot it.
Let's go.
[Music]
Hey, I'm Marvin.
In addition to being StudioBinder`s content producer,
I'm also a filmmaker.
And as you can imagine, I have to create shot list all the time.
And by the end of this video,
you will know everything there is to know about shot listing.
"- It`s sound amazing to me.
- Then let's get started."
So first things first.
What is a shot list?
Well, a shot list is a full list of all the shots, you want to get on a shoot day.
You shot list includes all the key details for every shot.
Such as size, type, camera movement, lens and gear requirements
and really anything there is to know.
Think of it as a shopping list to make sure you get everything to tell the story.
It's especially useful when you have a more complex scene
that goes beyond the typical master medium close-up.
Not only will a shot list keep track of the shots in your head,
but it's also a strategic document.
It's a way for you to clearly communicate your vision
with your cinematographer and first A.D.
And plan out the most efficient order of shooting
to make sure you get all the shots you need, every day.
"Do you have to have a strategy, I told you earlier."
Alright, so now that you know, what a shot list is and why we create one,
let's actually talk about how to shot list.
In order to demonstrate that I pulled up my shot list
that I created for my film "Crossroads."
So to give you a little context,
in the scene my two main protagonist just finished a dialogue
in the middle of a desert.
And Matthew - the male protagonist is walking back to his trunk
while Karen - the female protagonist is trying to escape the scene.
So she's sneaking up to the truck,
opens the passenger door
and tries to find the car key.
Instead of the car key, she finds her own ID.
So she gets out of the car, once to confront Matthew
and runs right into him
that is intentionally a jump-scare effect.
From there, I'm going to create a floor plan.
A floor plan is essentially a bird eye view of your set,
like a architectural blueprint.
So we know that Matthew walks from position A to position B,
which is his trunk,
so we draw the line there
and it gives you an idea of his blocking,
as well as for Karen, she walks from position A
to the passenger door into the car.
And once you've done that you want to position your cameras.
So really think about what camera can cover what.
Let's say you have a tracking shot with the camera, you want to follow an actor,
you also draw that into your floor plan.
Another thing why a floor plan is really helpful to me personally
is to think about a 180-degree rule.
What that basically means is you have two actors,
you draw like an invisible line in between them,
and you want to make sure that the cameras don't jump this line.
So it's really helpful to think about those things beforehand
before you get on set.
So now we marked our script,
we have an idea what camera positions we need
where the actors are going to move to
and we have our flour plan all laid out.
Now, we really want to go into the details
and that's where the shot lists comes in.
So here I am in my StudioBinder project,
and as you can see everything is already populated.
But the very first thing I always do
is go on my adjustment columns here
and I can select everything that is important to me personally as a director
and what I want to define.
So the first thing I'm going to do
is taking all the camera positions that I had created in the floor plan
and want to duplicate them in the shot list.
So I use visuals here,
as you can see those on my screenshots of the film.
Obviously, you won't have those when you first start your shot list.
So, as an alternative, you could, for example,
use your storyboards if you have that.
Or reference photos from famous films that you liked.
Or you can go on the location scout,
take photos with a stand-in and upload those.
And those visuals really helpful to actually
populate the rest of your shot list.
And from there we going to go to shot description,
which is really important to actually understand what's happening in the shot.
For example, here Matthew is walking back to his trunk and opens it.
And then we have the shot size
that could be for example a wide shot, medium, a close-up and so on.
And then we're going to move on to the shot type
which could be a single, a two shot, a POV and over the shoulder,
whatever you like to do.
Okay, so next step is the movement.
We have static pan-tilt,
or let's say we want to have something like a tracking shot,
a pedestal shot or even combining shots, you can do that here.
And over here we have equipment
and now we need to think about:
"What do we actually need to achieve the shot?"
For me, as a director, it's really important to make this decision
because let's say a handheld shot has a completely different feeling
than put the camera on the dolly or on sticks.
And next up is location, which is pretty straightforward.
In my film, I only had a desert and interrogation room.
And then over here, we have prep, shoot and start time.
So preparation I usually hand over to my cinematographer
because it's usually something more technical.
Let's say you have a specific lighting setup
or a camera needs a little more love.
And in the shoot time is something that I like to think about as a director
because there are particular scenes
that will take a little longer to prepare the actors
or if you have to go through different emotions and you think like:
"Hey, I should probably think about like four or five takes,
instead of a one-take wonder."
Because it is really crucial for your film.
And then the next thing is start time.
This really tells you
what time you're going to start this particular shot.
And I'm going to tell you this, I shot in a desert,
and you really need to plan your entire shoot
around where the Sun is going to be when.
So to give you an example,
we shot everything in the morning with Matthew first
because the sun was East and it was facing him.
After that, we shot the car interior in the truck during noon
because the sun was right above us,
and it's really difficult to shoot during that time in an open Sun
because you get like these weird shadows on your face,
you need a lot of reflectors.
And then after that,
we flipped the entire world around and shot Karen side
around 2:00 or 3:00 p.m.
So the sun was perfect for her face.
So if you have that shot list plan out to a tee,
it will help you in so many ways and put you on ease when you on set.
Just take it with you and use it as a checkbox.
Every time you get the shot you needed,
shake it off, you get the coverage you need in the editing room
and your A.D. will have everything he needs from your side
to create a perfect shooting schedule,
to make sure that your shoot go smoothly.
So let's check out the scene with our shot list in mind.
"- Good.
I love the desert.
There's nothing.
There`s nobody around.
Nobody there.
- Where the fuck did you get this?
- Don`t focus on the little details."
Alright, guys, so I hope you like the scene
and if you want to check out the entire movie
click on the link in the description below.
In the second part of this episode,
I will take an existing script, turn it into a shot list
and take you on set to shoot the scene.
So don't forget to subscribe and click the bell icon,
so you get notified once that video comes out.
Stay tuned and I will see you there.