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Plan shots

You can plan the shots for every scene of your screenplay on the Shots page. Each shot records its angle, size, and camera movement, plus free notes for camera and sound. On set, the takes you log are attached to these shots.

The Shots page, with planned shots for scene 1 and their angle, size, and move.
The Shots page, with planned shots for scene 1 and their angle, size, and move.

The Shots page lists the scenes of every screenplay in the project, in script order. Omitted scenes are marked omitted. If a scene is deleted from the screenplay, its shots stay on the page, marked deleted, so no planned work is lost. Shots whose scene can't be found appear under Unknown scene.

Add a shot

  1. In a project, click Shots in the sidebar.
  2. Under the scene, click Add shot.
    A new, numbered shot appears at the end of the scene's list.
  3. Describe the shot:
    • Angle: Click Angle, then choose a camera height or angle, such as Eye level, Low angle, Dutch angle, or Overhead.
    • Size: Click Size, then choose a framing, from Extreme long shot (XLS) to Extreme close-up (XCU).
    • Move: Click Move, then choose a camera movement, such as Pan, Tilt, Dolly, or Zoom.
    • Camera: Enter notes for the camera team, such as the lens or rig.
    • Audio: Enter notes for sound, such as wild lines or room tone.

    Your changes are saved as you make them. To clear a setting, choose — in its menu.
A planned shot with its Size menu open.
A planned shot with its Size menu open.

You can also create a shot from a storyboard panel, and choose which shots to film when you schedule a scene. See Draw storyboards and Build the shooting schedule.

Reorder, duplicate, or delete shots

Do any of the following:

  • Move a shot earlier or later in the scene: Click the up or down arrow next to the shot's name.
  • Duplicate a shot: Click in the shot's row.
  • Delete a shot: Click in the shot's row, then click Delete to confirm.
  • Restore a deleted shot: In the sidebar, click Trash, then click Restore next to the shot. The shot comes back with its original number and take history. See Restore deleted items from the Trash.

Merge a deleted scene into another scene

If a scene is replaced in the screenplay, for example when you delete its heading and write a new one, its shots, takes, and storyboards stay with the deleted scene. You can move all of them to the scene that replaced it.

  1. On the Shots page, find the scene marked deleted, then click Merge into scene….
  2. In Target scene, choose the scene to move everything to.
    FilmKit shows how many shots, takes, storyboards, and events will move.
  3. Click Merge.
    The shots are added after the target scene's own shots, and the deleted scene disappears from the page. Storyboards, scheduled events, beats, to-dos, and bookmarks move with it.

You can do the same from the Storyboards page, and for shots under Unknown scene.

Check takes for a shot

Below each shot, FilmKit shows how many takes have been logged and how many of them are circled — for example, "3 take(s) · 1 circled". To log takes, click On Set at the top of the page. See Log takes.

Publish the shot list

You can publish the shot list as a PDF that the crew can download. Each publication is a new, numbered revision that doesn't change afterwards.

  1. At the top of the Shots page, click Publish shotlist PDF.
  2. Click Publish shotlist PDF to confirm.
    FilmKit renders the PDF. To find it, click Open publications.

See Publish and distribute documents.

See also