Shooting Schedule Template: How to Build and Format Your Production Schedule

A shooting schedule template gives you a structured format for organizing your film's scenes into an efficient sequence of shoot days. The goal is to shoot every scene in the most logical, cost-effective order — not the narrative order of the screenplay.

This guide covers the exact format professionals use, the data each section requires, and how to fill in the numbers accurately for your production.

The Stripboard: Core Format

The stripboard is the visual representation of the shooting schedule. Each strip represents one scene from the screenplay. The strips are arranged in shooting order across a grid of shooting days.

Every strip captures the same key data:

The color coding traditionally used:

• White — INT. DAY
• Yellow — EXT. DAY
• Blue — INT. NIGHT
• Green — EXT. NIGHT
• Red — Non-shooting day (travel, prep)
• Black — Day off

The Day Header

Each shoot day begins with a header strip that captures:

The header is the anchor for all the scene strips below it.

Scene Strip Format: Full Detail

Each scene strip in a professional schedule shows:

[Scene #] | [INT/EXT] [LOCATION] [D/N]
Cast: [Character numbers, e.g. 1,3,5]
Pages: [X X/8]
Synopsis: [One sentence]
Special: [List any special requirements or leave blank]

Example:

47 | INT. SARAH'S KITCHEN — DAY
Cast: 1, 3
Pages: 2 4/8
Synopsis: Sarah and David argue over the letter.
Special: —

Day-Out-of-Days (DOOD) Template

The Day-Out-of-Days report is generated from the schedule and shows, for each actor, which shoot days they work. The standard format:

Status codes:

• SW — Start/Work (first day on payroll)
• W — Work
• WF — Work/Finish (last day on payroll)
• SWF — Start/Work/Finish (one-day engagement)
• H — Hold (on payroll, not working)
• T — Travel
• — — Not on payroll

The DOOD is used by the production accountant for payroll and by the UPM/line producer for cast deal negotiations.

Production Board Summary

At the end of the schedule, a summary page provides totals:

Comparing total pages in script to total pages scheduled should equal zero variance. If they don't match, scenes are missing from the schedule.

How to Fill In the Template

Step 1: Import Your Scene Data

Before the schedule template is useful, you need a complete scene list from the script breakdown. Every scene needs:

• Scene number (from the script)
• Location name (from the script header, exact)
• INT/EXT designation
• D/N designation
• Page count (in eighths)
• Cast present (by character number)
• Any special requirements

If you're building this manually from a script, plan for 1-2 days of data entry for a 100-page feature. With Storiara, this extraction is automated from the script upload.

Step 2: Sort Scenes Into Logical Groups

Before touching the schedule template, sort your scenes by:

1. Location — All scenes at the same location should be shot together
2. Cast — Within each location group, further sort by which cast members are needed

This initial sort gives you a rough "efficiency order" — not the final schedule, but a starting point.

Step 3: Apply Constraints

Now introduce your constraints. These are the non-negotiables:

• Cast hard availability windows
• Location-only-available-on-these-days windows
• Permit windows (city permits are often issued for specific date ranges)
• Seasonal or weather requirements
• Any scenes that must be shot first (for continuity reasons) or last

Each constraint forces a scene or group of scenes into a specific position on the schedule.

Step 4: Build the Day Structure

Start populating the day headers. For each day:

• Set the location (or multiple locations if there's a company move)
• Estimate the pages based on the scenes you're placing in that day
• Aim for 3-5 pages per day for a standard feature (3 pages for complex days with stunts, VFX, or large cast; 5 pages for simpler dialogue-heavy days)

Under-scheduling is almost always better than over-scheduling. A day that completes early can add a scene. A day that runs over affects the entire production.

Step 5: Validate the Schedule

Once all scenes are placed, verify:

• Page count check: Total scheduled pages = total script pages
• Cast continuity: No actor has an impossible combination of calls and wraps (accounting for turnaround)
• Location efficiency: You're not returning to the same location twice after leaving (unless unavoidable)
• Day/night mix: Each day is predominantly day or predominantly night — not split
• Hold day minimization: Each actor's hold days are minimized
• Cover set identified: One interior scene is designated as the cover set for each outdoor-heavy day

Step 6: Generate the DOOD

From the locked schedule, generate the Day-Out-of-Days report. Share this with:

• The production accountant (for payroll calculation)
• The casting director (for final deal negotiations with agents)
• The 1st AD (for final review)

Common Scheduling Template Mistakes

Using narrative scene order as a starting point. The schedule is not the screenplay. Start from efficiency, not story order. A location-first sort is almost always more efficient than a story-order sort.

Forgetting to count setup and wrap time for each day. The first setup of the day (getting the camera, lights, and sound ready for the first shot) takes 45-90 minutes. The last setup of the day takes the same. Factor this into your daily page estimates.

Not accounting for department prep days. The art department needs 2-5 days to dress a location before shooting begins. The camera department needs a day for equipment checks. These are not shooting days, but they are payroll days — they belong in the schedule (on red header strips) and in the budget.

Building a schedule without consulting department heads. The 1st AD builds the schedule with input from every department head. A costume department that needs 2 hours per actor for a period drama will blow up a schedule built by someone who assumed 30 minutes. Get real numbers before you lock.

Locking the schedule too early. The schedule affects casting (availability), locations (booking), and equipment (reservation). Lock it as early as possible — but not before casting and location decisions are made. A schedule built around actors who aren't cast yet is theoretical, not real.

Digital Schedule Templates

Most productions today use scheduling software rather than a physical board. The standard professional tool is Movie Magic Scheduling (MMS), but equivalent templates exist in spreadsheet format and several production apps.

Storiara generates a complete stripboard schedule automatically from your script breakdown — no manual scene entry required. The schedule is immediately linked to your budget, so changes to scene count or shooting days flow through to cost estimates automatically.

Whatever format you use, the underlying data structure is the same. The template above works whether you're on paper, in Excel, in Movie Magic, or in an automated platform.

Build your shooting schedule automatically with Storiara