16:9 is the shape of almost every screen people watch video on: TVs, laptops, YouTube, and streaming services. If you are planning a YouTube video, a short film, a corporate piece, a tutorial, or an explainer, this is the template to start from. Each US Letter landscape page holds six 16:9 frames in a 3 × 2 grid, which is enough to see a whole short scene at once while leaving room to draw.
What's on the page
Under every frame is a notes box with the shot number, a shot-type and camera-move field, a duration in seconds, and two writing areas: one for action and one for dialogue or sound. Shot numbers continue across pages, so shot 7 is always the first frame of page two. If you need more room to write, switch the board to 3 frames, notes beside; for a quick first pass, switch to 9 thumbnails.
Tips for 16:9 boards
- Use the width. 16:9 rewards horizontal staging: put two characters on opposite thirds of the frame instead of stacking them in the middle.
- Plan for vertical cut-downs. If the video will also be posted as a Reel or Short, set the Matte to the 9:16 crop guide and keep key action inside the unshaded middle band. Our guide to aspect ratios and crop guides explains why the middle third matters.
- Keep text inside title safe. Turn on safe areas to see where lower thirds and captions will sit comfortably.
- Note your durations. Adding up seconds per shot is the quickest way to see whether a 60-second video is really 90.
Working in widescreen film instead? Try the 2.39:1 CinemaScope template.