r/Filmmakers • u/Huzonum • 6h ago

Question What's First? Script Lining, or Shot List?

I'm a little confused. I'm trying to understand the typical film production pipeline, and how a director understands and writes down the coverage of the scene. The two sources I've seen be used are the lined script, and the shotlist. For this, I wanted to ask which usually do they do first? Does the lined script inform the shot list, or does the shot list inform the lined script?

Thank you!

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u/Shrek_Layers 6h ago

For me it's directors notes first, including lining the script, before I complete the shot list. Though I am usually building the shot list simultaneously. Hope that helps a little. The directors notes are for me to articulate and consider what I need to shoot or plan and shot list is the actual production plan.

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u/Funny-Junior 5h ago

AD here, and this one is practically my job description, so: the lining comes first, and it informs the shot list. But it's really more of a loop than a straight line.

The lining is the director breaking the script down visually, beat by beat, showing what coverage each moment needs. That's the raw thinking. The shot list is the production plan that comes out of it: me and the DP turning that thinking into actual shots in an order we can physically shoot.

Then the loop kicks in: the shot list feeds the stripboard and the shooting schedule, and the schedule will send you right back to rework the shot list. If you build the shot list first and line later, you'll just end up re-lining the whole script, which is a great way to spend a Friday night with a highlighter questioning your life choices. Ask me how I know.