Script & Shot Planner

Knowledge Base

How to Use the Video Script Planner

The Video Script Planner helps you structure video scripts by breaking them into sections (intro, main content, call-to-action), with timings and shot descriptions. Organize visuals and narration together so they sync perfectly.

Structure of a Strong Video Script

• Hook (0:00-0:15): Grab attention immediately. Pose a question, show surprising footage, or state the benefit.
• Intro (0:15-0:45): Establish credibility, explain what viewers will learn. Use B-roll for visual interest.
• Main Content (0:45-4:00): Deliver your promise. Break into 2-4 clear sections. Use visuals to support narration.
• Call-to-Action (4:00-4:30): Subscribe, like, click link, join mailing list. Make it clear and specific.
• Outro (4:30-4:45): Suggest next video. Maintain momentum to keep viewers in your content.

Matching Visuals to Narration

Avoid talking about something you're not showing. When narrating "the compression ratio determines how much the output changes" show your compressor plugin or diagram. Visual + audio together = 70% better retention than either alone.

Pacing & Timing

Fast cuts (every 2-3 seconds) keep high-energy content punchy. Longer shots (5+ seconds) allow viewers to absorb information. Mix pacing: faster for exciting sections, slower for detailed explanations.

FAQ

Q: Should I look at the camera or read the script?
A: If using a teleprompter, position it behind or next to the camera so you appear to make eye contact. Avoid looking down at notes.

Q: How do I sync audio and video in post?
A: Record narration separately in a quiet room, then edit it to match your video cuts. This gives you maximum flexibility.

Turning a script into a shooting plan

A script is written in the order an audience watches. A shooting plan is organised in the order that wastes the least time, and the two rarely resemble each other. The work of planning is mostly regrouping: every shot at one location together, everything needing a particular lens together, every scene with a specific performer together.

Group by setup rather than by scene. A setup is one camera position with its lighting, and moving it is the slowest thing that happens on a shooting day. Shooting every angle from one position before moving, even where those angles belong to scenes an hour apart in the finished film, is where most of the savings are.

Plan coverage rather than shots. Coverage means having enough angles to cut the scene together in whatever way the edit needs, which usually means a wide establishing the geography, something closer on each performer, and inserts for anything the audience must see. A scene shot in one perfect take with no coverage leaves an editor no options when part of it fails.

Mark what the scene genuinely requires against what would be nice. Shooting days overrun, and the difference between a good day and a bad one is usually whether the person in charge knew in advance which shots to drop. Deciding that under pressure at four in the afternoon produces worse choices than deciding it calmly the week before.

Keep the script and the shot list beside each other. A shot list divorced from the text loses the reason each shot exists, and a script with no plan attached leaves everybody guessing. Seeing both together is what lets somebody notice that the emotional turn of a scene has no close-up planned for it.

Vocabulary

Setup. One camera position with its associated lighting. Changing setup is the slowest activity on a shooting day, so scheduling to minimise the number of changes saves more time than anything else.

Coverage. The set of angles shot for a scene, giving the edit enough material to assemble it in different ways. Insufficient coverage limits the editor to the one version that was planned, whether or not it works.

Insert. A close shot of a detail, such as a hand on a door handle or a message on a screen. Often shot separately from the main scene because they need no performers and can be picked up at any point.

Shot list. An ordered list of every shot to be captured, with its size, movement and the scene it belongs to. The working document a shooting day runs from, distinct from the script it derives from.