Shot List Template for a Video Shoot: 12 Columns + 5 Templates

Key Takeaways

• A shot list has one row per camera setup, never one row per scene. Five scenes become five rows only on a list that is useless on set; a two-person dialogue scene alone usually needs five to eight setups.
• Storyflow is the tool to draft the list with: its AI writes the table (or a row of shot cards) from an attached script, a storyboard on the board or a short brief, numbers the shots 1A, 1B, 1C, and puts them in shooting order when it knows your locations. It is our own product, listed first of the seven tools here on one stated basis: how much of the shot list the tool writes for you.
• The 12 columns that cover almost every video shoot are scene, shot number, size, angle, movement, lens, subject, action, audio, location, setup group and time estimate. Drop the columns your shoot does not need; never drop setup group or time estimate.
• Group shots by setup, not by script order. In the 24-shot brand video example below, eight setup groups carry the whole day, and moving the interview to the hour the roaster is switched off saves a reshoot for sound.
• Choose StudioBinder instead when you need setup grouping, a schedule and call sheets sent and tracked. Its pricing page did not load when checked on October 10, 2026, so no price is quoted here. Shot Lister ($99.99 a year for Pro) is the strongest on-set app for Apple devices, and Google Sheets is the right free choice for a one-off shoot.
• The template changes with the shoot. An interview drops Movement and adds Lighting, a creator video drops Lens and adds Type, a music video adds Frame rate, and a brand shoot adds Product and Talent. The five filled templates below are ready to copy.

Which Tool Should You Use to Make a Shot List for a Video Shoot?

Use Storyflow to write the list. Its AI writes the first draft for you from the script, storyboard or brief you already have, as setup-level rows, and it keeps the list on the board where the storyboard, the schedule and the call sheet PDF live. The other answers depend on one condition each:

• You have no budget and one small shoot: Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, with the 12 column headers below pasted into row 1.
• You need call sheets sent to the crew and tracked: StudioBinder, whose shot lists sit inside a full production suite.
• Your AD retimes the day on an iPhone or iPad: Shot Lister, for its Live Mode.
• Your script lives in Celtx: Celtx, where you tag script text and it fills in the shot.
• The client signs off on storyboard frames first: Boords, then copy the approved frames into the crew's list.

Tools for Each Step of Making a Shot List

Every method for making a shot list has the same seven steps. This table shows which tool does each step for you and which leaves it to you.

Storyflow does the two slowest steps (3 and 4) for you. A spreadsheet does none of them, which is fine for 12 setups and painful for 60. StudioBinder and Shot Lister are stronger at steps 5 to 7 on a crewed shoot, and the reviews further down say exactly where.

What a Shot List for a Video Shoot Actually Has to Do

A shot list is the document the camera department shoots from. It names every setup the edit needs, in the order the crew will shoot them, with enough technical detail that nobody has to ask the director what "the nice close-up" means. If you want the definition and history, What is a Shot List? The Complete Guide covers it. This article is about the artifact itself: the 12 columns, a filled 24-shot example, five templates by type of shoot, and the tools that build it. If you want the method on its own, How to Make a Shot List for a Film or Video Shoot walks through it in eight steps.

A working shot list does four jobs at once, and most templates only do the first:

• It proves coverage. Every beat of the script or brief has enough angles for the editor to cut it together.
• It sizes the day. Each row carries a time estimate, so the producer can see the night before whether 24 setups fit in a 10-hour day.
• It orders the day. Rows are grouped by setup (same position, same lighting), so the gaffer lights the café once instead of three times.
• It gets ticked off. On the day, someone marks each setup as done, and the director sees at a glance what is still owed.

Where it usually breaks is the gap between the script and the list. The script lives in one app, the storyboard in another, the shot list in a spreadsheet and the call sheet in a fourth tool. When the client cuts a scene on Thursday, three of those four documents go stale and nobody notices until someone on set asks for a shot that no longer exists. The shot list that survives a shoot is the one that sits next to the script it came from.

When to write it. Write the first draft as soon as the script or brief is locked, and before you book the crew. The shot list is what tells you whether you need a slider, a macro lens or a second day. Revise it after the tech scout, when you know where the windows are and how loud the building is.

The 12-Column Shot List Template, Column by Column

Copy these 12 column headers, in this order, into any table: Scene, Shot, Size, Angle, Movement, Lens, Subject, Action, Audio, Location, Setup group, Time estimate. Here is what goes in each column and the vocabulary that keeps the list readable at speed. You can also start from the ready-made shot list template.

Scene and Shot Number

Number shots with the scene number and a letter: 1A, 1B, 1C, then 2A. Never a bare 1, 2, 3 across the whole shoot. When the client cuts scene 2 on Thursday, scene 3's shots keep their numbers, the script supervisor's notes still match and the editor can find 3B in the bin without a lookup table. Skip the letters I and O, which read as numbers on a slate.

Size, Angle and Movement

These three columns carry the visual grammar, so use a fixed vocabulary and nothing else. Size answers "how big is the subject in frame" (Wide, Medium, Close-up, ECU for extreme close-up, Insert for an object detail, OTS for over the shoulder). Angle answers "where is the camera vertically" (Eye level, Low, High, Overhead). Movement answers "what does the camera do" (Static, Pan, Tilt, Push in, Pull out, Slider, Gimbal, Handheld, Turntable for product). A DP can scan 24 rows of fixed labels in ten seconds; free text takes a minute and still gets misread.

Lens

Write the focal length the DP intends, not a wish. "85mm" tells the camera assistant which lens to have prepped for the next setup. On a one-lens shoot (a zoom or a phone), drop this column and fold any note into Action.

Subject and Action

These are the only prose columns, so make them concrete. "Maya sets the envelope down and does not look up" is a shot. "Dialogue" is not. Subject names who or what the camera is on; Action says what happens during the take, in one sentence. If you cannot write the action in one sentence, you have two shots.

Audio and Location

Audio saves more reshoots than any other column. Mark every row Lav, Boom, Lav + boom, Wild sound (sound recorded but not synced to dialogue), Room tone or MOS (no sound). Location tells the producer where the company moves are. If the whole shoot is in one room, drop Location.

Setup Group and Time Estimate

Setup group is the column most templates leave out, and it is the one that builds the day. Give every shot that shares a camera position and lighting state the same letter. Time estimate is the minutes to rig, light and shoot that setup, including a couple of takes. Add the time estimates for a group and you have the block you will write into the schedule. Add every group and you know whether the day fits.

Optional Columns: Priority, Got It, Frame Rate and Type

The 12 columns plan the day. Four more earn a place on some shoots:

Keep the total at eight to ten visible columns. Adobe's own shot list guide makes the same point: a list with too much detail stops being useful on set. TechSmith's guide lists a similar core set: shot and scene number, size, angle and movement, subject and action, duration, audio and equipment (TechSmith).

How to Make a Shot List for a Video Shoot, Step by Step

This is the method, start to finish, for a shoot of one to three days. It works whether you build the list by hand in a spreadsheet or let an AI draft it and correct the draft.

Step 1: Lock the Source Material

Start from the script, the brief or the storyboard, whichever is the most final. For a narrative piece that is the script with numbered scenes. For a brand video it is the approved treatment or the script with its voiceover lines. For a creator video it is the outline. If none of these exists, write a one-paragraph brief first: what the video is, how long it runs, where you shoot and how long you have. In Storyflow, this is the step where you attach the script to the AI chat or open the board that holds the storyboard.

Step 2: Break Each Scene Into Beats

Read each scene and mark every beat that needs its own picture: an entrance, a reveal, a line that lands, a product moment. A 2-minute brand video usually has 6 to 8 sections and 20 to 30 beats. The beats are not shots yet; they are the moments the edit has to show.

Step 3: Write the Coverage for Each Beat

For each beat, list the setups the editor needs to cut it: usually a wide to establish, a medium for the action, a close-up for emotion or detail, and an insert. An interview needs a medium, a tighter close-up on the same answers, a wide safety and hand inserts. Now you have rows. Number them 1A, 1B, 1C. This is the step Storyflow's AI drafts: ask for a shot list and it writes one entry per setup from the script's own scene numbers.

Step 4: Fill the Technical Columns

Add size, angle, movement, lens and audio for every row, using the fixed vocabulary above. This is where the DP earns their day rate: a lens choice or a slider move written here is a lens prepped and a slider on the truck.

Step 5: Assign Setup Groups

Go through the list and give every row a setup letter. Rows that share a camera position and a lighting state share a letter, even when they come from different scenes. A macro lens setup on a table is one group, whether the insert is from scene 2 or scene 5.

Step 6: Estimate Time and Reorder Into Shooting Order

Put a time estimate on each row, then reorder the groups into the order you will shoot them, following light, sound and talent availability. Exterior daylight first when the light is right; noisy locations when nobody is talking; talent-heavy setups when talent is on set. The script order stays in the Shot column; the row order becomes the day. Storyflow's AI writes the rows in shooting order when it knows your locations or lighting, and says which order it used.

Step 7: Mark Must-Haves and Share the List

Mark the setups the edit cannot work without. When the day runs behind, these are the ones you protect and the rest are the ones you cut. Then share the list with the DP, sound, the producer and the client, and carry it into the schedule and the call sheet. How to Make a Call Sheet covers the next document.

The shot list is finished when the time column adds up to a day you can actually shoot, not when every beat has a row.

A Filled Example: 24 Shots for a 2-Minute Brand Video

Here is the template filled in for a realistic job: a 2-minute brand film for a small coffee roaster with a café at the front, shot in one day with a crew of four (director, DP, sound recordist, producer) and two on-screen people, the founder Maya and the head barista Leo. The brief: show the path from green bean to cup, with the founder's interview carrying the story. The company, the names and the shoot are an illustrative example, not a real production.

Twenty-four setups, six scenes, eight setup groups, 370 minutes (6 hours 10 minutes) of rigging and shooting. Add an hour for lunch, 30 minutes for load-in and two short moves between rooms, and the day lands at roughly 8 hours of a 10-hour booking. That margin is what lets you pick up the shot the client asks for at 3 p.m.

What this example gets right:

• Every scene has a wide and at least one tighter size, and the four longer scenes add an insert or ECU, so the editor can cut each section at any pace.
• The interview has a safety wide and a second tighter size on the same answers, so the edit can hide jump cuts.
• The roasting and espresso details get their own groups (C and G), because swapping to a 100mm macro lens and relighting for a small subject is its own setup; quick macro inserts (3D, 4B, 4D) stay in the group of the room they belong to.
• Every row has an audio value, so sound knows when to roll and when to stand down.

Shot List Templates by Type of Video Shoot

The 12-column template is the full set. Most shoots need eight of them, and which eight depends on what you are filming. Copy the header row for your type, then the sample rows as a starting pattern.

These follow the column sets Storyflow's AI starts from when you tell it the kind of shoot, so a draft arrives in the right shape for the job. Its tables hold up to eight columns, so on a brand shoot it folds one of these nine into another.

Interview Shot List Template

One setup group carries the whole interview, so the cost is the first 45 minutes of lighting. Add one B-roll row for every topic the guest will cover.

YouTube Video Shot List Template

For a creator video, Duration is how long the shot runs on screen, not the time to rig it, because the day is short and the edit is long.

Brand or Product Video Shot List Template

The Product column is the client's checklist: they scan it to confirm every item they are paying to feature has a hero shot.

Music Video Shot List Template

Shoot each performance setup for the whole song, then mark the section you need it for in the action column.

Wedding and Event Shot List Template

An event cannot be reshot, so the Time column replaces the time estimate, and bare numbers are fine because there are no scenes to protect.

How to Group Shots by Setup (and Why Script Order Wastes the Day)

Shooting in script order means the gaffer lights the roastery, then the office, then the roastery again for scene 2E, then the café, then the café again for the product shot. Every relight costs 20 to 45 minutes. On a 24-shot day, script order can cost two hours you do not have. Grouping by setup fixes that: all of group B in one block, all of group C in the next, regardless of which scene each shot belongs to.

Here is the same brand video, reordered into the shooting order the producer would actually run.

Three rules set that order:

• Light first. Anything lit by the sun goes where the sun is right, and everything else fits around it.
• Sound second. The interview moves to the hour the loudest machine in the building is off. On this shoot, that one decision is the difference between clean audio and a reshoot.
• Talent third. Setups that need Maya and Leo cluster while both are on set; setups with hands and product only (C, G, H) fill the gaps.

When script order is the right call. Keep script order when continuity is fragile: a performance that builds across a scene, a real event you cannot repeat, or a one-take documentary moment. Then group within each scene rather than across the day. Say which order you used at the top of the list, so nobody on set assumes the other.

How grouping feeds the schedule. Once your setups are grouped and timed, each group becomes a block on the schedule and a line on the call sheet. How to Make a Production Schedule covers stripboards and multi-day shoots; for a single day, the block table above is the schedule.

How We Evaluated Shot List Tools

The question is how to make a shot list for a video shoot, so the tools were compared on how well each one builds and runs that specific document, not on everything a production suite does. These are the criteria. The tools are listed with Storyflow, our own product, first, and the basis is the first criterion alone: how much of the list the tool writes for you. No weighted total is published, because a total depends on weights and the right weights depend on your shoot.

What we did not score: script formatting (it belongs to screenwriting software), budgeting, crew payroll, and editorial or review tools after the shoot. A tool that is excellent at those jobs can still sit lower on this page, and the review for each tool says so.

The Scores Behind the Ranking

Each tool gets a score out of 10 on each criterion, set from the vendor's own product and pricing pages on October 10, 2026, and Storyflow's from its current shot list workflow. The cells are not added up. We compared documentation and did not run a timed test.

How to read the table: each cell is a score out of 10 on that one criterion. Storyflow is our product, and it is listed first because it has the highest score in the first column, drafting the list (10, against 7 for Boords and 5 for StudioBinder), since its AI writes setup-level rows from your script. It leads no other column. It scores 6 on structure because its tables cannot be sorted, filtered or grouped into setups, so a new shooting order means asking the AI to rewrite the rows, and 6 on price because there is no free plan yet. StudioBinder and Shot Lister lead on structure, StudioBinder leads on sitting beside the plan, Shot Lister leads on the shoot day, Boords leads on client sharing and Google Sheets leads on price. If structure, the schedule and call sheets matter more to you than a drafted list, choose StudioBinder. StudioBinder and Celtx score 5 on price because each offers a free way to start but showed no price on its pricing page when checked; StudioBinder's support article lists Indie at $49 a month for 2 users.

Comparison Table: The 7 Shot List Tools Side by Side

Prices were read from each vendor's own pricing page on October 10, 2026. Where a page did not show a price, the table says so and no figure is quoted. Storyflow, our own product, is the first row as our pick; the other rows follow the order of the reviews below.

The 7 Best Tools to Build a Shot List, Ranked

Storyflow is ranked first because it is our pick, and it is our own product. The basis is one criterion: how much of the shot list the tool writes for you from the script, storyboard or brief you already have. The other six are not ranked against each other by a total score. Each follows with the job it is best at, and StudioBinder is the one to choose instead of Storyflow when you need setup grouping, a schedule that recalculates and call sheets sent and tracked.

1. Storyflow

The verdict: Storyflow is our own product and first here for writing the shot list: its AI drafts it from the script, storyboard or client brief you already have, and the list then lives on the same board as the rest of the shoot. Its tables cannot be sorted or grouped into setups, its strip board does not recalculate and it does not send call sheets, so choose StudioBinder when those are the job.

Best for: Shooter-directors, producers and small video teams who write the shot list themselves and then have to turn it into a schedule, a call sheet and something the client can look at.

Key features for this job:

• It builds from what is in front of it, in order: elements you selected, a storyboard already on the board, then a script or brief you attached. It reads scripts as PDF, Final Draft (.fdx), Fountain or Word files, and takes the scene numbers from the script instead of inventing its own.
• It writes one entry per camera setup, never one per scene, as a table or a row of shot cards, numbers shots 1A, 1B, 1C from the script's own scene numbers, and puts them in shooting order when it knows your locations or lighting.
• The table format defaults to Shot, Size, Angle, Movement, Subject and action, Lens, Setup time and a Got it column to tick on the day, and it changes the columns by shoot type (a brand shoot adds Product and Talent; a creator shoot adds Type and Audio).
• On the same board, the AI's storyboard, script breakdown and strip board workflows cover the neighbouring documents, and the AI lays out a call sheet and the shot list itself as designed pages you export as a PDF for the day.
• Storyflow also works from inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok through its MCP connector: ask the assistant to build the shot cards on your board, and it writes them there.
• The client opens the board by link with no account, and signs in to comment. Invited collaborators edit the same board in real time.

Pricing (checked October 10, 2026): Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). Its Free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free now. Pro ($14 a month billed annually, $19 monthly) adds AI image generation, which you need for AI-generated frames on shot cards.

Pros:

• The draft arrives in the right shape: setup-level rows, industry numbering and your script's scene numbers, rather than a scene list you then have to break down by hand.
• The shot list sits on the same canvas as the storyboard frames, the reference images and the schedule, so a cut scene is visible next to every shot it affects.

Where it falls short:

• The canvas cannot sort or filter a table, so rows stay in the order written. Ask the AI to write them in shooting order, or to rewrite the table when the order changes; Google Sheets is better if you want to re-sort a list by location or time with one click.
• There is no native iPhone or iPad app and no live on-set mode that retimes the day as you shoot. Shot Lister does that better.
• The call sheet is a PDF you send yourself. Storyflow does not email or text call sheets, collect confirmations or track who has opened one. StudioBinder does.
• There are no storyboard drawing tools or animatics. Boords is stronger when the client signs off on a drawn storyboard.

The AI shot list generator page shows the workflow on a real board, and How to Plan a Photoshoot From Moodboard to Shot List covers starting from references instead of a script.

2. StudioBinder

The verdict: StudioBinder is the most complete production management suite on this list, and it has the best shot list structure here. Its shot lists sit beside storyboards, scripts, stripboard schedules and call sheets it can send and track. If your job does not end at the shot list but at a crew list with confirmed call times, StudioBinder is the most direct route.

Best for: Production companies and producers who run the whole pipeline, from script breakdown to sent call sheets, inside one production app.

Key features for this job (from its shot list page, checked October 10, 2026):

• Import a script and each scene gets its own shot list. Shot Tagger adds a shot from a line of action or dialogue you select.
• Shot specs for size, camera movement, lens, frame rate, camera angle, sound and location, with columns you show or hide.
• Group shots into camera or lighting setups and drag the setups into shooting order. Banners mark company moves and meal breaks.
• Time estimates per shot, totalled for the day.
• View-only links, invited collaborators who comment, a customizable PDF, and progress the crew follows on a phone.

Pricing: StudioBinder's pricing page showed no plans when loaded on October 10, 2026; its own Indie plan article lists Indie at $49 a month for 2 users. Check studiobinder.com/pricing for the current tiers.

Pros:

• The deepest set of connected production documents here, with call sheet sending and tracking that Storyflow does not have.
• Setup grouping with drag-and-drop ordering is built for exactly the reorder step in this article.
• Shot list and storyboard in one product, familiar to anyone trained on professional sets.

Where it falls short:

• Its shot list page describes no AI drafting: an imported script gives you a list per scene, and you add the shots.
• It is a production suite, which is more product than a one-day brand shoot needs.
• We could not confirm prices or free-plan limits when checked.

The 12 Best StudioBinder Alternatives in 2026 covers the rest of the field if StudioBinder is more suite than you need.

3. Shot Lister

The verdict: Shot Lister is the best tool for the shoot day itself. It is an iOS and macOS app built for directors and ADs who run the day from an iPad, reorder setups when the schedule slips and see the running time update as they go.

Best for: Directors and first ADs on narrative and commercial sets who want a dedicated on-set app in their hand, not a document.

Key features for this job:

• Shot lists with industry numbering, letter revisions and cast numbers.
• Shot-by-shot, minute-by-minute shooting schedules.
• Live Mode, which tracks the day while you shoot and lets you reorganize on the fly.
• Crew sync (Pro up to 10 crew, Studio up to 80) and Scriptation sync.
• Storyboards and script import on Pro, episodes for TV and an Apple Watch app.

Pricing (from shotlister.com, checked October 10, 2026): Free download with Pro features locked, including making more than two projects. Shot Lister Pro is $15.99/month or $99.99/year (about $8.33 a month). Shot Lister Studio for teams is $24.99/month for 10 users, $44.99 for 20, $64.99 for 40 and $94.99 for 80. Subscriptions are bought inside the app.

Pros:

• Live Mode is the best on-set feature in this category: the schedule reacts when setup 5 runs 20 minutes long.
• The annual Pro price is low for a professional tool.
• Built by and for working crews, with numbering and revision conventions that match industry practice.

Where it falls short:

• Its site links iOS and macOS downloads only, so a crew member on Android or a client on a Windows laptop is left out.
• No AI: building the list is manual.
• No client-facing board, moodboard or brief around the list. Storyflow or Boords covers the client side.

Storyflow's Shot Lister alternative page compares the two directly.

4. Celtx

The verdict: Celtx is the pick for writers who want the script and its shot list inside one writing app. It is a screenwriting tool first, with shot lists made by tagging the script itself.

Best for: Writer-directors and corporate video writers who draft in Celtx and want shots attached to the script they wrote.

Key features for this job (from its shot list page, checked October 10, 2026):

• Highlight text in the screenplay and shot-tag it; Celtx fills the shot with the script information.
• A shot menu for size, frame, extra angles and camera movement, with presets you can edit.
• A shot list compiled for each shoot day, exported as a PDF for the director and camera crew.
• Storyboards, breakdowns, schedules, budgets and call sheets elsewhere in the same suite.

Pricing: The Celtx pricing page showed plan names without dollar amounts when checked on October 10, 2026. It lists a free plan with 1 seat and 1 project, Writer (up to 3 projects), Writer Pro (unlimited projects) and Team (3 to 15 members), with shot lists and the production planning tools shown as optional add-ons on the two Writer plans.

Pros:

• The shot list and the script are in the same app, and a tagged shot carries the script text with it.
• Daily shot list PDFs come out of the schedule without retyping.

Where it falls short:

• Shot lists are an add-on on the Writer plans, and the page showed no price for it when checked.
• Its shot list page describes no AI drafting and no way to reorder shots, so coverage is written by hand.
• The planning outside the script (references, moodboards, a client-facing board) lives elsewhere. Storyflow covers that side.

5. Boords

The verdict: Boords is a storyboard and animatic platform for video agencies, and its shot list is the storyboard's frame list. When the client signs off on drawn or generated frames before the shoot, Boords is the most polished place to get that sign-off.

Best for: Agencies and animation or explainer studios whose client approves a storyboard and animatic before anything is shot.

Key features for this job (from its AI storyboard page, checked October 10, 2026):

• Paste a script, treatment or brief and its AI turns it into frames, with a shot list that carries camera angles and scene descriptions.
• A saved library of characters, locations and props you reuse by name to keep frames consistent.
• An animatic you preview with audio and export as MP4.
• Client review, version history and PDF export on every paid plan.

Pricing (from boords.com/pricing, checked October 10, 2026): A free plan with 5 active storyboards, 3 active scripts and 8 one-off AI image credits. Solo $26 a month billed yearly or $39 monthly (1 user, 250 AI images a month). Pro $50 or $75 (up to 5 users). Team $85 or $125 (up to 10 users). Agency $165 or $250 (up to 30 users).

Pros:

• The smoothest client review of storyboard frames on this list.
• Animatics show the client the edit before a single shot is taken.
• A shot list generated from the script comes with the frames.

Where it falls short:

• It is storyboard-first: lens, audio, setup grouping and time per setup are not the core of the product, so the crew's working list often ends up in a spreadsheet anyway.
• Converting a script makes a snapshot, so later script edits do not update the frames.
• No schedule or call sheet. StudioBinder or Storyflow covers the shoot-day documents.

Storyboard vs Shot List: The Complete Guide explains when you need both documents and when one is enough.

6. Notion

The verdict: Notion is a strong choice when your team already runs its projects there. A Notion database makes a flexible shot list, with properties for size, angle and movement, a board view grouped by setup and a page per shot for notes. It is not built for production, so you build every piece of the structure yourself.

Best for: In-house content teams and agencies whose briefs, scripts and tasks already live in Notion.

Key features for this job:

• Databases with select properties for size, angle, movement and audio.
• Table and board views over the same shot list, grouped by setup group or location, with sorting and filters.
• A page per shot for reference images and notes.
• 10 external guests on Free, unlimited guests on Plus and above.
• Full Notion AI on Business; Free and Plus get a limited trial.

Pricing (from Notion's pricing page, checked October 10, 2026): Free, then Plus at $10 per member a month billed annually ($12 monthly) and Business at $20 ($24), with Enterprise priced on request.

Pros:

• Views give you the same shot list grouped by setup, filtered by scene or laid out on a board.
• If the brief already lives in Notion, the shot list sits near it.

Where it falls short:

• There is no shot list structure out of the box: numbering, coverage and time per setup are yours to design.
• Full AI needs the Business plan, and it fills database properties; it does not draft coverage from a script.
• Visual references sit inside pages, not beside the rows, so the storyboard and the list are two clicks apart. Storyflow keeps them on one canvas.

The 12 Best Notion Alternatives for Filmmakers and Video Creators compares Notion with production-first tools.

7. Google Sheets

The verdict: Google Sheets is the right answer when the shoot is a one-off, the budget is zero and you already know how to build a shot list. It is free, everybody can open it and it sorts and filters in a click. It is listed last here because it drafts nothing and holds nothing but the grid, not because it is a bad choice. Microsoft Excel does the same job if your team lives in Office.

Best for: Solo shooters, students and one-off shoots where the shot list is the only planning document.

Key features for this job:

• Paste the 12-column header and you have a template in seconds.
• Sort by location or setup group, filter to one scene, and add a checkbox column to tick shots on the day.
• Data validation dropdowns keep Size, Angle and Movement to a fixed vocabulary.
• Share by link with view, comment or edit access.
• The Sheets app on phones makes the list readable on set.

Pricing: Google Sheets is free with a personal Google account. Business use comes with Google Workspace, billed per user; Google's pricing page showed euros when checked on October 10, 2026, so check it for your country's price.

Pros:

• Free, universal and fast to build.
• Sorting and filtering are the best on this list for reorganizing a long list by location or setup.

Where it falls short:

• It is only a grid: no storyboard frames beside the rows, no reference images, no call sheet. Storyflow or StudioBinder keeps those together.
• Every row is typed by hand unless you pay for a Workspace plan with Gemini features, and even then the tool does not know what coverage a scene needs.
• Spreadsheet shot lists drift from the script the moment the script changes, because nothing connects them.

How Storyflow Builds the Brand Video Shot List

Here is the 24-shot example above, built on a Storyflow board instead of by hand.

1. Put the Source on the Board. Attach the brand video script (PDF, Final Draft, Fountain or Word) to an AI message, or build the storyboard first with the AI's storyboard workflow, one wall per scene. If you already have reference stills from the tech scout, drop them on the board and select them.
2. Answer the Three Questions. Ask the AI for a shot list. It asks, in one message, whether you want a table or shot cards, how many shots, and where card frames come from. For a crew document, choose the table. For a client-facing shot plan with a picture per setup, choose shot cards; web search frames arrive captioned as reference, so nobody mistakes them for footage you already have, and AI-generated frames need Pro or Max.
3. Correct the Draft. The table arrives one per scene by default, numbered from the script's own scenes, with setup times and a Got it column. Ask for the Audio, Location and Setup group columns if the draft left them out for your shoot type, fix the lens choices your DP disagrees with, and ask the AI to rewrite the rows in the shooting order you worked out. Any AI change can be undone in one click.
4. Build the Neighbouring Documents. On the same board, the AI's strip board workflow groups scenes into shoot days, and the AI lays out a call sheet from the board as a page you export as a PDF: the day's calls, a schedule table, cast, crew by department, locations and notes. Anything you did not give it, such as a phone number or the nearest hospital, is left visibly blank and listed as an open item, never invented. Ask for shot list pages the same way and the crew gets a printable list, one table per scene with a kit list at the end.
5. Share the Board. Turn sharing on and send the link. The client opens the board with no account, and signs in to comment on a shot; the DP and producer, invited to the board, edit it with you in real time. Presentation mode goes fullscreen and steps through the board one wall at a time for a walkthrough on a call. The AI call sheet generator page shows the call sheet step in detail.

Decision Rules by Shoot Size and Budget

The two-tool setup that works for most crews. A sensible setup is one tool to plan and one to run the day: build the shot list, storyboard and call sheet in Storyflow or StudioBinder, and give the AD Shot Lister on an iPad for the shoot itself. The plan tool is where the client sees the work; the on-set tool is where the day gets retimed. If you are choosing for a whole production, The 12 Best Shot List Tools, Apps and Software in 2026 covers a wider field on the same scores, The Best Shoot Day Planning Apps covers the apps that run the day itself, and the shot list software page describes Storyflow's side in more detail.

When Storyflow Is Not the Right Choice

Storyflow is first on this page for one thing, drafting the shot list. It is the wrong tool for some parts of the job, and here is what to use instead.

• You need call sheets sent, confirmed and tracked. Storyflow lays out the call sheet as a PDF, but it does not send it or collect confirmations. Use StudioBinder or a dedicated call sheet app; The 12 Best Call Sheet Software Tools in 2026 compares them.
• Your AD wants to retime the day live on an iPad. There is no native iPhone or iPad app and no live on-set mode. Use Shot Lister.
• You need to re-sort a 200-row list by location or lens in one click. The canvas cannot sort or filter a table. Use Google Sheets or Notion for that pass.
• The client signs off on a drawn storyboard or an animatic. Storyflow has no storyboard drawing tools or animatics. Use Boords.
• You need a free tool today. Storyflow is paid-only until its Free plan launches before the end of 2026. Use Google Sheets or Notion's free plan.
• Your team needs formal approval steps. There is no approval button or approval status; feedback happens in comments. Use Boords for sign-off on storyboard frames.
• You need a schedule that recalculates. A Storyflow strip board is a layout the AI builds once; it does not retime itself when a day moves. Use StudioBinder or Shot Lister for that.

Shot List Pre-Shoot Checklist You Can Copy

Run this list the night before the shoot, whichever tool holds the shot list.

The list itself:

• Every scene or brief section has at least a wide, a medium or close-up, and an insert.
• Every row has a shot number in the 1A, 1B format, and no number is reused.
• Size, angle and movement use the fixed vocabulary, with no free text.
• Every row has an audio value, including MOS.
• Every row has a setup group letter and a time estimate.
• Must-have setups are marked.

The day:

• The time estimates add up to 70% or less of the booked hours, after lunch and moves.
• The rows are in shooting order, and the list says so at the top.
• Dialogue setups sit in the quietest hours at each location.
• Exterior setups sit in the hours the light is right.
• Every lens and support item the list names (macro lens, slider, gimbal, turntable) is on the kit list.

The people:

• The DP, sound recordist and producer have the latest version and know where it lives.
• The client has seen the shot list or the storyboard it came from, and their comments are resolved.
• The call sheet schedule matches the setup blocks. How to Plan a Photoshoot in 2026 shows the same handoff for stills shoots.

The Short Version: Five Moves and the Tools That Help

1. Lock the script, brief or storyboard.
2. Write one row per camera setup, not per scene, numbered 1A, 1B, 1C.
3. Fill size, angle, movement, lens and audio from a fixed vocabulary.
4. Give every row a setup group and a time estimate, then reorder by group.
5. Mark the must-haves, share the link and tick rows off on the day.

Tools that help, by the step each one does:

1. Storyflow drafts steps 2 to 4 from your script or storyboard and keeps the list beside the storyboard and the call sheet PDF.
2. StudioBinder groups setups, totals the day and sends and tracks the call sheet.
3. Shot Lister runs step 5 live on an iPhone or iPad and retimes the day.
4. Google Sheets or Excel holds the template for free when you type the rows yourself.

The Bottom Line

A shot list for a video shoot is one row per camera setup across 12 columns, grouped by setup and timed so the day fits. Build it in that shape and the schedule and call sheet almost write themselves. Storyflow gets you there with the least typing, because its AI drafts the list from the script or storyboard already on your board, and the list stays beside the storyboard, the schedule and the call sheet PDF where a client can open it by link. StudioBinder is the better choice when you need call sheets sent and tracked, Shot Lister when the day runs from an iPad, and Google Sheets when the budget is zero. See pricing for Storyflow's plans.