Short Film Shot List Board

A complete one-scene coverage plan: shot sizes with visual examples, a lettered shot list with lenses, the 180-degree rule, and movement notes — on one canvas.

A working shot list for a two-person dialogue scene, built the way a director and DP would board it: the full shot-size ladder from extreme wide to extreme close-up with a visual example of each, a lettered coverage plan (master, over-the-shoulders, clean singles, inserts) with lens choices, and the craft notes that keep a set moving — the 180-degree rule, shooting wide to tight, and matching eyelines. Copy the structure, swap in your scene, and walk on set with a plan. Made with Soleil Clusters.

  • Lenses and Movement What the glass and the dolly are saying

  • Scene 1 — Kitchen Argument Two actors, seven setups, half a day

  • THE SHOT LIST One scene · full coverage · every setup planned before call time

  • The Shot-Size Ladder Learn the vocabulary once — every list is written in it

  • A shot list is a schedule, a budget, and a style guide in one

    Plan the day, then shoot the plan

    A shot list is a schedule, a budget, and a style guide in one

  • The face is the scene; save it for the beats that earn it

    CU — Close-Up

    The face is the scene; save it for the beats that earn it

  • The camera is a character with opinions

    Motivated movement

    The camera is a character with opinions

  • Detail as punctuation — an eye, a trigger, a ring

    ECU — Extreme Close-Up

    Detail as punctuation — an eye, a trigger, a ring

  • Geography and scale; the character belongs to the world

    EWS — Extreme Wide

    Geography and scale; the character belongs to the world

  • Waist up; the conversational workhorse

    MS — Medium

    Waist up; the conversational workhorse

  • Full body; blocking and body language read clearly

    WS — Wide

    Full body; blocking and body language read clearly

  • The 180° rule Draw a line between your two actors and keep the camera on one side of it. Eyelines stay opposed, screen direction stays constant, and the audience always knows who is looking at whom.

  • Coverage logic Shoot the master first while energy and light are fresh, then work wide to tight — makeup, continuity, and performance all degrade gracefully in that order. Inserts and cutaways go last; they forgive everything.

  • Image credits — Unsplash: Avel Chuklanov, Simone Impei, Indra Projects, Jack Chen, SAJAD FI, Yoad Shejtman, Mustafi Numann · Pexels: dp singh Bhullar, Kyle Loftus, Ron Lach, El gringo photo, Benoit Vacherie, Amar Preciado

  • Lens language 24mm — context and energy, space stretches. 35mm — how the eye sees a room. 50mm — honest, neutral, documentary. 85mm — intimacy and compression; backgrounds melt.

  • Move with a reason Static — observation. Push-in — realization. Handheld — instability. Dolly — grace and inevitability. If the move has no motivation, lock it off.