Building a simple shot list before you record

A shot list doesn't need to be a formal document. It can be four or five lines in your notes app, written a few minutes before you start filming. The point isn't precision, it's making sure you don't get halfway through editing and realize you're missing a piece you needed. A five-minute habit before you pick up the phone saves a much longer, more frustrating scramble later.

Start from the ending

Instead of listing shots in the order you'll film them, write down what the last few seconds of the video need to show. Working backward from the payoff makes it obvious what has to happen before it, and it's a lot easier to notice gaps this way than starting from the beginning and hoping it all connects by the time you get there.

A simple shot list template

• The ending shot — what the last few seconds need to show, decided first.
• The hook shot — whatever earns the first second and a half of attention.
• One wide and one close-up per key moment, for something to cut between.
• B-roll notes — hands, product, location detail, jotted down the instant you think of them.
• Backup take reminder — a note to grab two or three short takes rather than one long one.

Plan for one extra angle per scene

A wide shot and a close-up of the same moment give you something to cut between in Edits, which almost always makes a sequence feel more finished than a single continuous shot does. You don't need coverage of everything, just the two or three moments in the video where a cutaway would actually help pacing.

Note your b-roll needs while they're fresh

If a scene needs a shot of hands doing something, a product on a table, a location detail, write it down the moment you think of it, not after the main filming is done. B-roll is the easiest thing to forget and the most annoying thing to have to go back and reshoot later, once the light, the setup, or your own energy has already moved on.

Keep takes short and multiple

Edits' Multiple Takes feature is built for exactly this. Two or three short attempts at the same line usually give you more usable footage than one long, careful take, since the small stumbles and awkward pauses in a longer take are harder to trim around cleanly. More on getting the most out of that specific feature is covered in the takes and templates guide.

The list is disposable

Don't treat it as a script you have to follow exactly. Half the value of writing it down is that once it's on paper, you stop trying to hold the whole plan in your head while you're also thinking about lighting, framing, and performance. It's there so you can forget it and still not miss anything important, not a rulebook you're locked into once filming starts.

Adjust the list as you shoot, not just before

Sometimes a shot works better than expected and suggests a new direction partway through filming. That's fine, and worth chasing even if it means the original list changes. The point of writing a list beforehand isn't to lock in every decision in advance, it's to make sure you're not improvising the entire structure from scratch while also trying to manage lighting, framing, and performance all at once.