How to Get Your Video Message – The Shot List

As mentioned in a previous article, the most important component of any video or DVD production is the script.

We would like the importance of the scenario to the importance of the foundation of a house. Build on sand and you end up with an inferior product.

Once you’re happy with the words “sell the story” to your target audience in a clear and concise way, the next step is to think about what images need to be captured to “tell the story” visually… A shot list.

As you think about your shot list, you should first consider how best to “treat” the presentation, in other words, how the final product will look. To communicate with your target audience, you’ll need a short, sharp, edgy feel to arouse and motivate. Or perhaps your target audience would prefer a slower, more conservative and balanced presentation. But even somewhere in the middle!

An easy way to prepare your shot list is to divide the script into two columns; one column is “We hear” and the other is “We see”.

Your prepared script is obviously placed in the We Hear column while the required vision is placed under We See.

You have to figure out in your mind which take will best represent that sentence that appears in the script, the sentence that is being said.

The list will become “your recipe” that can be followed on location when filming begins.

Remember that the finer the detail, the better prepared you will be.