Shot Lists
Every setup, planned and accounted for.
A shot list is a plan until the day starts, and a progress tracker after that. ScenePaper handles both — build the list in prep with real camera metadata, then tick shots off as they're captured and see instantly what's still owed.
Comparing free options? Is free shot list software good enough?
What is a shot list?
A shot list is an ordered breakdown of every camera setup needed for a scene, specifying shot size, angle, lens, camera movement and the action covered. It is built during prep by the director and cinematographer, and used on set to track which setups have been captured and which remain.
What you get
Real camera metadata
Shot size, angle, lens, movement, frame rate and equipment per shot — not a free-text notes field. Structured data means the list can be filtered, totalled and tracked.
Storyboard frames
Attach a frame to any shot. The list and the boards stay in one place instead of living in a PDF the director emailed and nobody can find on the day.
On-set progress tracking
Mark shots captured as you go. The remaining count is visible to the director, the AD and the producer at the same time, which is the number everyone is actually asking about.
Linked to scenes
Shot lists attach to broken-down scenes, so the day's shot list is filtered by what's on the call sheet rather than assembled by hand.
Department views
Camera sees lenses and movement. Grip sees rigging. VFX sees flagged shots. Each department filters the same list rather than getting a separate document.
Bulk actions
Duplicate coverage patterns across scenes, reorder in batches, and apply changes to many shots at once — because most shot lists are variations on the same handful of setups.
Shot list vs storyboard
They answer different questions and most productions need both. A storyboard answers "what does this look like" — it is a visual exploration made early, often right after the script locks. A shot list answers "what do we have to capture" — it is a production document, ordered, countable and tracked on the day.
A storyboard frame without a shot list entry doesn't get scheduled. A shot list without frames leaves the crew guessing at intent. ScenePaper keeps frames attached to entries so neither drifts from the other.
The number everyone wants at 4pm
How many setups are left. On a conventional production that number lives in the 1st AD's head and gets requested every twenty minutes.
When shots are ticked off as they're captured, the remaining count is simply visible — to the director, the AD, the producer and anyone else with access, at the same time and without asking.
What a shot entry holds
Structured fields rather than free text, so the list stays queryable:
- Shot number and the scene it belongs to
- Size — wide, medium, close-up, insert and the rest
- Angle — eye level, high, low, over-the-shoulder, POV
- Movement — static, pan, tilt, dolly, handheld, crane, gimbal
- Lens, frame rate and any special equipment
- Action description and captured status
Is free shot list software good enough?
Almost always. A shot list is a numbered list of setups with size, angle, movement, lens and a description — free tools handle that completely. What separates a tool from a spreadsheet is on-set behaviour: whether the list is tied to scenes, whether marking a shot complete tracks the day’s progress, and whether the camera department sees the same list you do.
The options, honestly
Every option below, answering the same three questions. Ours is one row among them.
| Option | What's free | Where it stops | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ScenePaperOurs | Shot lists with real camera metadata — shot size, angle, movement, lens and frame rate — attached to scenes, with storyboard frames per shot, on-set progress tracking, department views and bulk actions. No limit on how many. | Web-based, so a set with no signal wants an exported PDF as backup. Storyboard frames are uploaded rather than drawn in the app. | Directors and DPs who want the shot list tied to the scenes and tracked as the day runs. |
| StudioBinder | A genuinely good shot list builder with storyboard attachment on a free tier, and a widely used layout. | The free tier caps how many shots and storyboards you can create, across one project. | Planning a commercial or a short scene that fits inside the caps. |
| A spreadsheet | Free, instant, and used on a great many professional productions without apology. | No link to scenes, no progress tracking, and images live somewhere else. Reordering shots renumbers everything by hand. | Small shoots, and DPs who already have a template they like and trust. |
| Free downloadable templates | Completely free, no account needed — document and spreadsheet shot list templates are widely available, including from us. | Same limits as any spreadsheet, but at least the columns are already right. | A first shot list, where the hard part is knowing which columns to have. |
What you actually get free
The shot list is one link in the chain, and the rest is free too:
- Fountain screenplay editor with revision colours, opening and saving Final Draft files
- Scene-by-scene script breakdown that feeds the schedule
- Colour-coded stripboard scheduling with what-if scenarios
- Day Out of Days, generated from the schedule
- Shot lists with camera metadata and storyboard frames
- Call sheets with revisions, read receipts and turnaround checks
- Budgets with cost reports and change orders
- Verified crew marketplace — hire at zero commission
All of it free — see what that means.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between a shot list and a storyboard?
- A storyboard is a visual sequence of drawings showing how shots will look. A shot list is a written, ordered breakdown of every setup with technical detail like lens and movement. Storyboards explore intent; shot lists get scheduled and tracked. Most productions use both together.
- Can I attach storyboard frames to shots?
- Yes. Any shot entry can carry a storyboard frame, so the visual reference and the technical spec stay attached to each other.
- Can I track shots on set?
- Yes. Shots are marked as captured during the day and the remaining count is visible in real time to everyone with access to the project.
- Do shot lists link to scenes?
- Yes. Lists attach to broken-down scenes, so the shot list for a given shoot day is filtered from the call sheet rather than assembled separately.
- What camera details can I record?
- Shot size, angle, movement, lens, frame rate and special equipment, as structured fields rather than free text — which is what makes the list filterable by department.
- Is shot list software free?
- Yes, on the free tier, including storyboard frames and on-set tracking. Zero commission on anything you do on the platform.
- What is the best free shot list software?
- ScenePaper if you want uncapped shot lists tied to scenes with on-set progress tracking. StudioBinder’s free tier is excellent within its caps. And a spreadsheet is a genuinely respectable answer for a small shoot — this is one area where free tools are close to sufficient across the board.
- Is shot list software free on ScenePaper?
- Yes, and uncapped. You can build unlimited shot lists with camera metadata, attach storyboard frames, track progress on the day and give each department its own view, without paying.
- What should be on a shot list?
- Shot number, the scene it belongs to, shot size, camera angle, camera movement, lens, frame rate where it matters, a one-line description of the action, and whether it is complete. Many productions also record estimated setup time so the AD can plan the day realistically.
- Is a spreadsheet good enough for a shot list?
- For a small shoot, yes. It stops being enough when you need the list linked to scenes so it reorders with the schedule, when the camera department needs its own view, or when you want to see at a glance how much of the day is actually in the can.
- Can I attach storyboards to a free shot list?
- On ScenePaper, yes — storyboard frames attach to individual shots at no cost, and you can open the board full screen to step through it. Several other free tiers allow storyboards but cap how many you can create.
- Will ScenePaper start charging for shot lists?
- Everything is free right now. If paid plans arrive they will be aimed at funded productions with large teams, you will hear about it first, and nothing you have already planned will be taken away.
Terms explained
- Shot list
- A shot list is the ordered list of individual camera setups planned for a scene or a shooting day, each entry specifying the shot size, angle, movement, lens and what it covers. It is the director and cinematographer's plan for how a scene will be assembled.
- Coverage
- Coverage is the set of different angles and sizes shot of the same scene so that it can be assembled in the edit. A conventionally covered dialogue scene includes a wide master, matching mid shots or singles of each performer, and often close-ups and cutaways.
- Shot size
- Shot size describes how much of the subject the frame contains, from extreme wide through wide, medium, close-up and extreme close-up. It is one of three properties that define a shot, alongside camera angle and camera movement, and it is the one that carries most of the emotional distance.
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Plan the coverage, attach the frames, track it on the day.