Most shot lists are written for photographers and read like an inventory. This one is written for vertical video, which means it favours movement, sound and reaction over composition. Send it to whoever is filming your day.
Getting ready (seven)
- The dress on the hanger, in the room, before anyone touches it
- Hands: the zip, the buttons, the cufflinks
- The mirror moment, filmed from behind
- Whoever cries first (and it is never who you expect)
- The room itself: bottles, shoes, chaos on the bed
- Walking out of the room, from behind, one continuous take
- The first look between you and whoever helped you dress
Ceremony (five)
- The wait: your partner’s face before you appear
- The walk, filmed from the aisle, low and moving
- Hands during the vows, not faces
- The kiss, and then two seconds after the kiss, which is the better shot
- The walk back out, with the noise
Cocktail hour (six)
- The first drink, in your hands, on the move
- Reunions: people who have not seen each other in years
- Children doing anything at all
- The venue empty, before the guests arrive at it
- Details with a hand in frame: a table alone is a photograph, not a reel
- Golden hour, twenty minutes, just the two of you walking
Dinner and dancing (nine)
- The entrance, filmed from inside the room looking at faces
- The speech nobody rehearsed
- Reactions during the speeches, not the speaker
- Cutting the cake, from low
- The first dance, one full circle around you
- The moment the floor fills
- The grandparents dancing
- Sparklers, fireworks, whatever the exit is
- The last song, from the middle of the floor
One rule that beats the list
If you have to choose between a beautiful frame and a real reaction, take the reaction. Nobody has ever rewatched a reel for the composition.
UnposedCheck your date