Pre-prod. Shotlist

SHOTLIST

So for this pre-production packet i've taken up the responsibility of putting together a shot list. Within this shot list is basically a compiled set of shots & instructions of how the shoot would go, this would enable myself and the hypothetical 'crew' to work as effective & efficiently as possible. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF A SHOT LIST 

It forces you to make choices - 

I've learn that any set is pretty chaotic beast, and not necessarily the best environment to be making tough choices.

Shot listing forces you to think about what you want and what is needed to finish a project. If you want close ups, long shots, aerial shots, tracking shots, quickly that list grows beyond the possibility of what can and cannot be filmed. That forces me to ask what I actually need to tell the story. I can then cut the shots down in the safety of my own space, without the pressure of others on my case. You want that freedom, that everyone is on the same page, because you've created this shot list for everyone to see. 

It helps you decide what comes first - 

Now that I have a shot list, I know everything I need to tell the story. The next step is to decide on a shooting order. This is often an overlooked but important step. When you’re on set every minute is precious, and the more you know beforehand the more shots you can get processed.

It helps you invest time where it counts -

The next step is to estimate how long each shot is going to take. Some shots are easy and some are quite complex. This step is most crucial, because it makes sure I don’t run out of time for things that matter most. Knowing I have a really important shot at the end of the list, prevents me getting precious at the beginning. I rush the unimportant stuff, rather then run out of time on what I care about most.

Here is the completed shot list - 

Within this shotlist, i've made sure it's as effect as possible in the sense that it has everything on it that would be of use to us come the shoot dates. It's been written as efficiently as possible, making sure nothing has been left out, that's why on completing the shotlist, i had my storyboards there to aid my decision making throughout this process. This is an essential part of what a D.O.P has to complete for this is what guides the person through the shoot days. Obviously on the day of shooting, regardless of this being a hypothetical pre-production package, there may potentially be certain aspects that may change due to timing constraints, or lighting if out on location, so this is just set in place for a rough guide. This would be the bones/structure of the shoot day, with an option to go off key, if we felt that there were more shots to gather for the edit.