Appendix I: Pre-Production Templates
This is a template library, not a chapter — a set of blank, ready-to-copy documents you fill in before a shoot. Every one of them is taught, with a worked example, back in the chapters: the treatment, script, storyboard, shot list, schedule, and budget in Chapter 16; the call sheet and the shoot-day gear pass in Chapter 18; the model and property releases in Chapter 38. Those chapters point here whenever they say "a blank template lives in Appendix I." Come to this appendix when you already know why each document matters and just need the form to fill in.
These templates are the paper trail of your Three-Project Portfolio — the documents your documentary short (Project 2) and branded piece (Project 3) are actually built from. They are also the cheapest insurance you will ever buy. Almost every disaster in production is a planning problem wearing a costume: the missing cutaway, the echoey room, the customer who won't sign, the battery that died at hour three. Fix it in pre, not in post. A filled-in template is that fix, made on paper where it costs nothing.
How to use this appendix. Copy the text block you need into your notes app, a doc, or a printed page, and replace everything in <angle brackets> and every ____ blank with your project's specifics. Nothing here is sacred formatting — add a column, drop a row, rename a field. Each template is a starting point to adjust, not a recipe. What matters is that the decision gets made before the day, not discovered during it.
I.1 The treatment
The treatment is the whole video described in a paragraph, before any gear appears — the north star every later document is checked against (Chapter 16, §16.1). Write it to describe the experience, not the topic.
TREATMENT — "<working title>"
LOGLINE <One or two sentences: who, the situation, the tension or point.
If you can't say it in two sentences, the film isn't decided yet.>
AUDIENCE <Who is this for, where will they watch it, and in what frame of mind?>
TONE / LOOK <Three or four adjectives that COMMIT: warm/cold, fast/slow, funny/serious,
polished/raw. Name the feeling and the visual world, not the subject.>
SO WHAT <What should the viewer think, feel, or DO when it ends? The one change
this video exists to make.>
THE STORY
<One to three paragraphs describing what the viewer SEES and HEARS, in order. Open on a
specific FIRST IMAGE. Move through the story's shape (Ch.17). Close on a specific LAST
IMAGE. If this paragraph could be swapped onto a different subject without changing a
word, you've written a topic, not a treatment — keep writing until it commits.>
FIRST IMAGE <the shot we open on>
LAST IMAGE <the shot we close on>
DELIVERABLES <Runtime ~_:__ | aspect ratio __:__ (16:9 / 9:16 / 1:1) | where it lives
(web / social / broadcast / event) | any alternate cut (e.g. a 9:16
teaser — Ch.23) | caption/subtitle file>
How to use it. Write this first, before anything else, and rewrite it until a stranger could read it and tell you correctly what your video will feel like. The two hardest lines are TONE / LOOK (beginners describe the subject instead of committing to a feeling) and SO WHAT (if you can't name the change the video makes, you don't have a film yet — you have footage). The FIRST IMAGE / LAST IMAGE pair forces the piece to have a shape: a bookend it opens and closes on. When you pitch to a client, the treatment is how you sell the idea and align on it; when you shoot for yourself, it's the thing you check every later decision against. One page, and the whole production gets easier.
I.2 The two-column (A/V) script
For anything with words written in advance — narration, a cold open, an explainer, a corporate or promo piece — the two-column script pairs each picture with its sound so you plan them together (Chapter 16, §16.2). Real-person interviews use an outline script instead (beats and questions, not scripted lines); most documentaries use both.
TWO-COLUMN (A/V) SCRIPT — "<title>", <section, e.g. cold open> page __ of __
VIDEO (what we SEE) | AUDIO (what we HEAR)
---------------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
1. <shot size + subject / action; any | <VO / narration / dialogue / SFX / music.
on-screen text or graphic> | Mark MUSIC IN/OUT, SFX, and (VO) vs. sync.>
|
2. <...> | <...>
|
3. <...> | <...>
|
... | ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OUTLINE-SCRIPT NOTE (for the interview body — words you can't script):
BEAT 1 — "<theme>" Question: <open, conversational — Ch.19> B-roll: <what covers it>
BEAT 2 — "<theme>" Question: <...> B-roll: <...>
BEAT 3 — "<theme>" Question: <...> B-roll: <...>
How to use it. Read it top to bottom — each row is one beat that marries a shot to its sound. The discipline the form enforces is the book's second theme, sound is half the picture: the AUDIO column sits there empty until you fill it, so you physically can't forget the room tone, the music cue, or the sound effect. Mark clearly whether a line is voice-over (VO — recordable at the interview and laid over B-roll later) or sync (spoken on camera), because that decision shapes your edit. For interview-driven work, don't script the subject's words — use the outline note at the bottom to reserve each beat with a question and the B-roll that will cover the answer.
I.3 The shot list
The single most valuable page a shooter carries: every shot you must get, with a priority so a short day still yields a cuttable film (Chapter 16, §16.3). This is where "shoot for the edit" stops being a slogan and becomes a line you cross off.
SHOT LIST — "<title>" Date ______ Page __ of __ (P: 1 = must-have, 2 = want, 3 = if time)
# SETUP SIZE MOVE SUBJECT / ACTION AUDIO LENS P NOTES
--- ------------ -------- ---------- ----------------------------- ------------- ------- --- ----------------
01 ____________ ________ __________ _____________________________ _____________ _______ __ ________________
02 ____________ ________ __________ _____________________________ _____________ _______ __ ________________
03 ____________ ________ __________ _____________________________ _____________ _______ __ ________________
04 ____________ ________ __________ _____________________________ _____________ _______ __ ________________
05 ____________ ________ __________ _____________________________ _____________ _______ __ ________________
.. .... .... .... .... .... .... .. ....
__ ROOM TONE — — 30–60 sec, location silent room tone — 1 ALWAYS (Ch.15)
SIZE codes: ECU · CU · MED-CU · MED · WIDE · EST (establishing)
MOVE codes: locked · pan · tilt · push · pull · track · handheld · gimbal
How to use it. Fill a row for every shot the edit will need, then set the priority column honestly. Priorities do the quiet, essential work: if the day runs long you shoot every 1 before any 2, so you leave with the shots the edit cannot live without and let the "want" shots go. The test of a good list — if you had to walk out after your priority-1 rows only, would you still have a cuttable film? If not, your priorities are wrong; fix them on paper, where it's free. Tape the finished list to the back of the monitor and cross off each shot as you get it. A crossed-off row is the sound of a problem not happening in the edit.
I.4 The storyboard frame
For designed moments — staged action, a move that hits a mark, a reveal, a precise commercial shot — draw the framing before you shoot it (Chapter 16, §16.3). The point is not to draw well; stick figures and boxes are the professional standard.
STORYBOARD — "<title>", <sequence> (frames left → right = cut / screen order)
Each box = one __:__ frame. · = a rule-of-thirds intersection. Draw badly; that's fine.
1 <SIZE / shot type> 2 <SIZE> 3 <SIZE>
+--------------------------+ +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+
| · · | | · · | | · · |
| | | | | |
| ( ) | | ( ) | | ( ) |
| · · | | · · | | · · |
+--------------------------+ +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+
<shot size + action; <action; camera move; <what we cut TO, and why;
camera move> eyeline / screen direction> the transition>
How to use it. Sketch the subject inside each box using the framing you already know — placed on the thirds, headroom and lead room considered (Chapter 6) — and caption each panel with the shot size and action. Laying the panels side by side is a free continuity check: put the interview frame next to its reverse and you can verify screen direction and the 180-degree line (Chapter 9) on paper, before the shoot, instead of discovering a broken cut in the edit. Board only the two or three designed moments — the cold open, a specific reveal. Do not storyboard a plain talking head; an outline script and a good shot list carry it.
I.5 The call sheet
The one page everyone on the production gets: where to be, when, what's being shot, who to call, and the day's vital details — the public face of your schedule (Chapter 18, §18.2). Even a solo shoot deserves one; a call sheet addressed to a crew of one is a promise you make to yourself about how the day will go.
CALL SHEET — "<production>" DAY ___ of ___
(model: FIGURE 18.2 — the published version of the schedule you built in Ch.16)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
DATE: __________ CREW CALL: ______ MEAL: ______ EST. WRAP: ______
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
LOCATION: ________________________________________________________
PARKING / LOAD-IN: ________________________________________________________
WEATHER: ____________________ SUNRISE ______ SUNSET ______
NEAREST HOSPITAL: ______________________________ ( __ min )
route: ___________________________________________________________________
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KEY CONTACTS ( name — mobile )
Producer / Director ... __________________________________________________
Camera / DP ........... __________________________________________________
Sound ................. __________________________________________________
Subject(s) on camera .. __________________________________________________
Location contact ...... ____________________ ( has keys? opens __:__ )
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SCHEDULE ( time — what happens )
______ ____________________________________________________________
______ ____________________________________________________________
______ MEAL ( __ min — non-negotiable )
______ ____________________________________________________________
______ Wrap: pack, thank everyone, BACK UP CARDS before leaving
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
MUST-GET ( do not leave without ):
1) ____________________ 2) ____________________ 3) ____________________
RELEASES TO COLLECT: ________________________________________________________
NOTES / SAFETY: _____________________________________________________________
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
How to use it. Build it from the schedule you already made, then add the details a bare schedule leaves out: individual call times, the address and parking, the full contact list, the weather and sunrise/sunset, a meal, an estimated wrap, and — most important — the must-get list of the two or three things you cannot leave without. Do not skip the NEAREST HOSPITAL line; if someone gets hurt, nobody should be googling with shaking hands. Note on the sheet which releases (§I.8, §I.9) must be signed on the day and when. Send it to everyone the night before. Every field you fill is a moment of on-set anxiety removed in advance.
I.6 The shoot-day gear checklist
Pack it and tick it the night before, not in the car (Chapter 18). The most expensive item on any shoot is the one you left at home — usually a charged battery, a formatted card, or the headphones.
SHOOT-DAY GEAR CHECKLIST — pack and tick the NIGHT BEFORE
CAMERA [ ] body / phone [ ] backup body / phone [ ] settings preset (Ch.5)
[ ] lens / screen cloth [ ] rain cover / bag
LENS [ ] lens(es): ____________________________ [ ] ND / filters [ ] step rings
SUPPORT [ ] tripod / clamp [ ] gimbal (balanced) [ ] sandbag / counterweight
[ ] monopod / brace [ ] quick-release plate (on the camera!)
LIGHT [ ] key light / panel [ ] bounce / reflector [ ] diffusion / flag
[ ] light stand(s) [ ] gels (CTO / CTB) [ ] clamps / clothespins
AUDIO [ ] mic (lav / shotgun) [ ] recorder / mixer [ ] HEADPHONES (do NOT forget)
[ ] boom pole [ ] windscreen / deadcat [ ] backup mic [ ] cables
POWER [ ] camera batteries ×___ (CHARGED) [ ] mic / light batteries + spares
[ ] chargers [ ] extension cord / power strip [ ] AA / AAA spares
MEDIA [ ] memory cards ×___ (FORMATTED, room to spare) [ ] card reader
[ ] backup drive (empty, tested) [ ] laptop / offload device
MISC/SET [ ] gaff tape [ ] multi-tool [ ] first-aid kit
[ ] water + snacks [ ] marker + slate (or slate app)
[ ] SIGNED RELEASES + pens (Ch.38) [ ] printed call sheet + shot list
How to use it. Walk it top to bottom the evening before and physically place each item in the bag as you tick it — reading the list is not the same as packing the item. Two lines save the most shoots: batteries charged and cards formatted, both with more margin than you think you need. Two more save the most edits: headphones (you cannot judge audio without them) and the signed releases and pens (footage you can't clear is footage you can't cut). Trim the list to your kit — a phone-and-window shooter deletes half of it — but keep the discipline. Crossing off gear the night before is how you sleep the night before.
I.7 The budget skeleton
Every shoot has a budget, even the ones with no money — because cost comes in three currencies: money, time, and favors (Chapter 16, §16.5). Naming all three is what keeps a "free" shoot honest.
BUDGET — "<title>" ( three currencies: money · time · favors )
LINE ITEM MONEY ($) TIME FAVOR / DIY PATH
------------------------ ------------ ---------------- ----------------------------------------
Pre-production __________ ________ <planning, scout / recce, permits>
Crew __________ ________ <who — and what you owe them>
Talent / subject __________ ________ <fee or favor; send them the film>
Camera + lenses __________ ________ <own / rent / borrow>
Audio __________ ________ <own / rent / borrow>
Light + grip __________ ________ <own / rent / borrow>
Location __________ ________ <fee / permit / favor; access + power>
Art / props / wardrobe __________ ________ <small for doc; real for commercial>
Transport + logistics __________ ________ <people + gear there and back>
Food __________ ________ <NOT optional — you feed your crew>
Post: music license __________ ________ <licensed or library track (Ch.38)>
Post: storage / backup __________ ________ <drives; 3-2-1 backup (Ch.37)>
Post: editing time __________ ________ <your hours — the most-forgotten line>
Contingency (10–20%) __________ ________ <held back for the thing that breaks>
------------------------ ------------ ---------------- ----------------------------------------
TOTAL __________ ________ + ____ favors owed
How to use it. Fill all three columns, even when the money column reads zero on most lines — because a "free" shoot just moved its cost into time and favors, and that's how nearly every first film gets made. Two lines are load-bearing. Food is never optional: if someone gives you their day, you feed them, and beginners' goodwill quietly dies on this line. The favors column is a ledger of debts, not gifts — feed people, credit them, send the subject the finished film, and repay the favor when they call. Your reputation is the real budget, and it's the only one that compounds. When the money becomes a client's money, this skeleton becomes a quote (Chapter 38): add your rate, mark up the rentals, and a personal budget turns into a professional bid.
Releases — read this first
⚠️ These release templates are NOT legal advice. They are deliberately plain, generic starting points to help you build the habit of getting consent in writing, on the day. Laws governing image rights, publicity, privacy, minors, and property vary widely by jurisdiction and change over time, and no single form is valid everywhere or for every use. Before you rely on a release for any commercial, published, or significant project, adapt it with qualified legal counsel licensed where you work. Nothing here creates an attorney–client relationship, and none of the wording should be treated as authoritative. When in doubt, get the release — and get a lawyer to check the one you use.
The idea underneath both templates (Chapter 38, §38.4): consent to film is not consent to publish. Someone letting you point a camera at them has not, by that act, agreed to appear in an ad, be posted forever, or be edited into a story they never saw. Those are different permissions, and in most commercial contexts you need them in writing. Get the signature every time, as routine, on the day, while the person is in front of you — "I'll get it later" is how footage becomes unpublishable.
I.8 The model / appearance release
For every identifiable person on camera. A release the signer can't understand is doing half its job — keep it plain.
MODEL / APPEARANCE RELEASE (adapt for your jurisdiction; NOT legal advice)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Project / production: ______________________________________________________
Producer / company: ______________________________________________________
I, ____________________________ ("I" / "me"), grant [Producer] and its assigns
the right to record my name, image, likeness, and voice, and to use, edit,
reproduce, and distribute that material — in whole or in part — in the
production named above and in related promotion, in any media, worldwide.
I understand this material may be used for:
[ ] commercial [ ] editorial [ ] internal [ ] other: ____________
and I waive any right to inspect or approve the finished use.
I am doing this: [ ] for good and valuable consideration [ ] as a volunteer.
I am 18 or older: [ ] Yes [ ] No — if No, a parent / guardian signs below.
Signature: ____________________________ Date: ________________
Printed name: _________________________ Contact: _____________________
IF THE PERSON IS A MINOR — parent / legal guardian:
I am the parent / legal guardian of the above minor and grant the rights above
on their behalf.
Signature: ____________________________ Date: ________________
Printed (guardian): ___________________ Relationship: ________________
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
How to use it. Carry a small stack (or a phone form) and get it signed on the day, before anyone leaves — a friendly verbal "sure, that's fine" evaporates the moment someone changes their mind, and a release you meant to get "later" means chasing a signature from someone who has since gone quiet. Tick the correct purpose box, because commercial and editorial uses are treated very differently, and the signer is entitled to know which they're agreeing to. For anyone under the age of majority, a parent or guardian must sign the lower section — treat filming minors with extra care and extra documentation. File every signed release in that project's 08_DOCS folder (Chapter 37); a video you can't prove you have the rights to is one you can't safely publish, sell, or put on your reel (Chapter 39).
I.9 The property / location release
For recognizable private property or a controlled location — signed by the owner or authorized manager, who is a different person from the model release's signer.
PROPERTY / LOCATION RELEASE (adapt for your jurisdiction; NOT legal advice)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Production: _________________________________________________________________
Producer: _________________________________________________________________
I, ____________________________, am the owner or authorized manager of the
property at __________________________________________________________________.
I grant [Producer] permission to film on / at this property on the date(s)
__________________, and to use the resulting footage — including recognizable
features of the property — in the production named above and its promotion,
in any media, worldwide.
Conditions (areas off-limits, hours, restoration, credit, insurance): ________
______________________________________________________________________________
Signature: __________________________ Printed: ______________________
Title / role: _______________________ Date: ________________
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
How to use it. Use it for any recognizable private space — a shop interior, a home, a distinctive building — and get it signed by whoever actually controls the space, confirming their authority in the Title / role line. Fill in the Conditions line honestly: the off-limits areas, the hours you're allowed, whether you must restore the space, and any credit or insurance the owner asks for — those are the terms that keep you welcome back. Note that some public-seeming places (museums, landmarks, transit systems, private plazas) restrict commercial filming and require a permit instead of, or on top of, a release; and for crowds you generally rely on clear notice (signage that filming is happening) plus individual releases for anyone featured or identifiable. As with §I.8: when the use is commercial or the project matters, have counsel check your wording.
I.10 The B-roll & coverage checklist
Before you wrap any setup, run this list so the editor has something to cut to (Chapter 7 for coverage, Chapter 20 for B-roll). The talking head you can't shorten without a jump cut is the disaster this page prevents.
B-ROLL & COVERAGE CHECKLIST — tick per setup / scene
COVERAGE (so the edit can cut — Ch.7)
[ ] WIDE / establishing — where are we?
[ ] MEDIUM — the action, the person working
[ ] CLOSE-UP / detail / insert — hands, the object, the texture
[ ] REVERSE / second angle — mind the 180° line (Ch.9)
[ ] CUTAWAY — something to cut TO; hides trims in the interview
[ ] REACTION — a listener, a face, the effect of the moment
[ ] MATCHING ACTION — the same move in two sizes, for a seamless cut
B-ROLL (the visual vocabulary — Ch.20)
[ ] Hands doing the work / the process, start to finish
[ ] The place — signage, exterior, the room, the light
[ ] Details and textures that carry the tone
[ ] People in the space (get releases — Ch.38)
[ ] Bookends — a deliberate opening image and a closing image
ALWAYS
[ ] ROOM TONE — 30–60 sec of the location, everyone silent (Ch.15)
[ ] A safety WIDE of every setup — for scale, and to rescue a bad cut
[ ] Hold each shot ~10 sec — give the editor handles to trim into
How to use it. Work it per setup, not once per day: at every location, ask "what will I cut to here?" and shoot the wide, the medium, the detail, and the reaction even when they feel boring — boring on set is gold in the timeline. The three lines under ALWAYS are the ones beginners skip and editors beg for: room tone (you can't build a clean soundscape without it), a safety wide (your escape hatch when a cut won't work), and long holds (an editor can trim a ten-second shot a dozen ways; a two-second one, not at all). Cross the interview off the list last — the coverage around it is what makes it usable.
These ten templates are the difference between a shoot you run and a shoot that runs you. None of them is the point; the point is the video and the judgment behind it. But judgment is easiest to exercise on a page, in advance, when a change costs a line of text instead of a lost morning or an uncuttable edit. Copy them, fill them in, adapt them to your project and your jurisdiction — and then go make something. The plan you fill in is the first real artifact of a real production.