SANS TITREA shot list is a working plan for what a film needs to show. It helps a brand and a production team agree on the moments that matter before a shoot begins. It also makes space for what cannot be scripted: a real interaction, an unexpected detail, a person using something in their own way.
Start before the shot list. If you have not written a project brief yet, use our creative studio briefing guide to define the audience, message, deliverables and approvals. Then use those answers to decide what belongs on camera.
Begin with the viewer's question
What should someone believe after watching? If the film introduces a product, a viewer might need to see its scale, how it works, and how it fits into an ordinary moment. If the film introduces a brand, they may need to meet the people and places behind it. Write down the question the viewer has before writing down the shot.
Make the feeling equally concrete. “Premium” does not tell a crew what to capture. “Quiet concentration while someone finishes the object by hand” gives the team a scene to discuss, light and frame.
Build the shot list in layers
Place: Show where the story happens. Include an establishing view and details that make the location recognizable. Ask whether the place reflects the customer's actual experience.
People and action: Identify who should appear, what they do, and what can be observed naturally. Plan for hands, expressions, transitions and the pauses between scripted actions.
Product truth: Capture the details a customer would check in person: size, texture, use, movement and context. Decide which product views must be accurate and approved.
Atmosphere: Identify what the light, sound and pace should communicate. A direction like “the workshop at the start of the day” gives the camera and lighting team a moment to create around.
Delivery: Note whether the edit needs room for text, a horizontal hero, a vertical version, or a shorter sequence. Plan those frames during the shoot rather than hoping every crop works later.
A simple shot-list entry
Write each must-have moment in a format your team can discuss. For example:
Customer opens the package at home. Show the object's true size beside their hands. Capture the first use in natural movement. Keep a clean frame for the product-page edit.
For that entry, add location, talent or permissions, product version, approximate time of day, sound needs, framing notes, and the person who approves its accuracy. Separate essential moments from ideas to capture if the day allows. This turns a list of attractive images into a plan that can support the edit.
Plan the light for the real experience
Lighting affects what a surface, a face and a space actually feel like. Before selecting a lighting approach, decide what the customer should recognize. Should the product look like it does in a person's home? Should the founder feel present in their working environment? A camera and lighting plan can then serve that moment instead of making every frame look generically polished.
Sans Titre approaches this as a live-action studio led by a union camera operator in Los Angeles. Camera and lighting choices are part of how we make the experience legible—not a substitute for knowing what the audience needs to see.
Leave space for what happens on set
A shot list protects the story, but the crew still needs room to notice something true. Make time for alternate actions, ambient sound, details between the planned moments, and a second take when an interaction feels forced. Ask the editor what connective material will help the sequence breathe.
If a location, person, claim or product detail needs approval, agree on it before the shoot. Give one person responsibility for final decisions so the team can act while the scene is still available.
What to send a production studio
Bring the intended audience, a short story outline, examples of where the film will appear, the must-show details, available locations and people, a target launch date, an approximate budget range, and the person who approves the work. The studio can then turn those inputs into a treatment and production plan. If you want to see the range of the studio's work before you write, visit the Sans Titre portfolio or browse other Journal production notes.