For directors, producers and artists planning a music video

A music video planning board: the treatment, one list per section of the song, a name on every shot

We make Instaboard, a free online board. This page gives you a music video plan already laid out on it: the idea, the look and the open questions in four lists, then one list for each section of the song, from intro to outro, with three shot ideas under each and a first name on every card. The song, the town and the cast are invented. Open it, swap in your own track and send one link to the director, the producer or the artist. It is a plan, not a storyboard tool: it plays no audio, has no timeline and makes no call sheets, and the free plan holds 3 pictures per board. For frames with pictures, Boords, StudioBinder and Milanote are built for that.

Opens in your browser. Anyone can view; a free sign-in lets you edit.

Updated November 15, 2026

An Instaboard music video planning board for an invented song called Paper Boats: lists for how to read the board, the treatment, locations and open questions, then eight lists for the sections of the song from Intro 0:00 to 0:18 to Outro 3:12 to 3:24, each with three shot cards that name an owner, four captioned arrows between sections and a pen sketch of a paper boat — Four planning lists and eight song-section lists: 12 lists and 41 cards, 53 items, with four arrows and a pen sketch. Open it, replace the song with yours, and it's yours to edit once you sign in for free. Swipe to see the whole board.

The short answer

Song sections are lists, shot ideas are cards. Each section list carries its start and end time in the title, and each shot card starts with a short name and says Owner: and a first name. Move a card to another section when the idea belongs there.
Count the items before you copy it. Each list and each card is one item; arrows and pen strokes aren't. The example is 12 lists and 41 cards, 53 of your 150 free items (our arithmetic). StoryBirdie says a 3-minute video ends up with 25 to 50 frames; at 50 shot cards plus the other 29 items that is 79. Two boards like the example are 106, and a third passes 150.
What it doesn't have: no audio, waveform or beat markers, no timeline axis (times are text in the list titles), no call sheet, no shoot schedule and no budget sums.
Pictures: the free plan allows 3 per board. References go in as words or as links, so this is not a mood board; for a pitch led by images use Milanote or Storyflow.
Pro lifts the limit: $5 a month billed yearly ($59.99 a year), or $7.99 monthly. The free plan keeps 5 boards, 150 items and 3 pictures per board.
Anyone with the link can read it, with no account; writing takes a free sign-in. New boards start view-only, so the artist or label can read the plan without joining. Set "Anyone with the link can edit" if a producer or director should add cards.

Treatment, storyboard and shot list: which one is this board?

In a music video the treatment does the job a script does in a film. One commenter in r/Screenwriting (u/vfx_lee) described it as usually a two-column AV script, with the visuals beside the lyrics and sometimes a third column for running time. The board turns those columns into lists: one list for each section of the song, with its time range in the title, and a card for each thing the camera sees. The idea, the look and the references sit in the Treatment list at the start.

This board: the plan for the whole video on one screen, with an owner on every shot idea. Use it when the director, the producer and the artist need to agree on what gets shot, where and by whom.
[Hand-drawn storyboard board](/hand-drawn-storyboard-board): pen sketches in frames, one section per frame. Use it when a few shots are too hard to describe in words.
[Short film pre-production board](/short-film-pre-production-board): a list for each job (script, cast, crew, gear, permits, locations, shoot days). Use it when the video has a cast and crew to organise as well as shots.

How to fill in a music video board

Name the sections from the final mix. One list for each part of the song, with its start and end time in the title. StoryBirdie advises against boarding a demo or rough mix, since tempo, drops and structure can change; that is one vendor's advice, but the lists are only text and easy to rename.
Write the idea in one line, then the look. The Treatment list has five cards: the idea, the look in words, performance against story, the pace and the references. The example names its references in words and leaves pictures to a pitch deck.
Decide which sections are performance and which are story. The example sings the choruses to camera in a laundromat and tells the story in the verses. Filmmakers disagree on how much to plan: in an r/Filmmakers thread (September 2022) u/samcrut said music videos are usually a free-for-all of shooting the performance and plenty of b-roll, while u/TheGreatMattsby said impromptu videos tend to have a better vibe than storyboarded ones. In another thread (May 2022) the poster described real videos as a mix of three to five key moments. Those are single accounts, not a measurement.
Add shot ideas under each section and put a name on each. Start with three. A list with no cards is a gap you can see. A card is a title, the owner and a line on what the camera does.
List the locations and what each one waits on. In r/cinematography (February 2021) u/Cheque_Mate suggested a shot list for each location and visiting each place beforehand, and u/instantpancake suggested also shooting the whole song once or twice at each location so the edit has spare footage. Both are single accounts. A location card can say that.
Draw an arrow when a shot carries over. An arrow joins a card in one section to a card in another, takes a caption such as "match cut" and its own colour, and stays attached when you reorder cards. The example has four, between neighbouring sections.
Share it. Send the link; the artist or label reads it without an account. For a producer or co-director to write on it, set "Anyone with the link can edit"; they sign in free and see changes live. If each person owns their own cards, nobody types in the same card.

A pen is on the board too: a thumbnail for a hard shot can be drawn straight onto it, and pen strokes don't count toward the 150 items. The example has one sketch, a paper boat.

Music video planning tools, side by side

Each row is from the tool's own pages, read on November 15, 2026. Features and prices change, so check the page before you choose.

Tool	What its page says	Where it beats a shared board	Where a shared board fits
Instaboard board	Free: 5 boards, 150 items, 3 pictures per board. Pro $5 a month billed yearly	Nothing in this table on frames, shot specs, timing or scheduling	The whole plan on one screen, an owner on each card, a link the artist can read with no account
Boords	Free: 5 active storyboards and 3 active scripts. Solo $39 a month billed monthly. Free music video storyboard templates as PDFs, with fields for scene, shot, camera, lyrics and timing	Storyboard panels with pictures, animatics, version history, clients reviewing and commenting without an account	No pictures needed, nothing to download, a plan beside the frames
StudioBinder	Free plan, "free forever". Its music video shot list guide covers floor plans, grouping shots into setups, a PDF to print and ticking off shots on set	Shot specs (lens, angle, size), setups, floor plans, PDF export, call sheets and scheduling	A looser plan that the artist can read without learning a production app
Milanote	Free: 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads, no time limit. $9.99 a month per person billed annually, or $12.50 monthly. Its video storyboard template says it also suits music videos	Image-led boards, unlimited images on paid plans, export to PDF	Free text planning past 100 notes, with 150 items and no per-person price
Storyflow	Paid during early access; a Free plan is announced for before the end of 2026. Plus $9.99 a month, or $7.99 on yearly billing. Its music video page lists an AI-drafted treatment, storyboard, shot list and moodboard on one canvas	AI drafts, moodboards, a pitch PDF	A free board today, with nothing to draft by AI
StoryBirdie	Free PDF template with timestamp, lyric and beat-marker rows, three panels a row. AI board generation, with free credits on signup	A printable boarding sheet with beat markers; frames generated from a treatment	An editable plan on a link, not a page to print

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

From each tool's own pages, read November 15, 2026. Boords, StudioBinder, Milanote and Storyflow pricing pages were read in full; StoryBirdie's page is its template page.

When another tool is the better choice

You want storyboard frames with pictures. Boords, StudioBinder and Milanote are built for panels, and this board holds 3 pictures on the free plan.
You plan to the beat. StoryBirdie's template has beat-marker rows. Here a time is text in a list title and nothing is tied to the audio.
You need shot specs, setups, a floor plan, call sheets or a schedule. StudioBinder covers those. This board has none of them.
Your pitch leads with pictures. The treatment on this board is words. A pitch of references, colour and stills suits Milanote or Storyflow.
You want a draft written for you. Storyflow and StoryBirdie offer AI drafts. This board is empty until you fill it.
You want a printed boarding sheet. Use a PDF template from Boords or StudioBinder. On this board you can copy a selection as an image or take a screenshot.

Limits of the free plan for a music video board

Items. Each card and each list is 1 of your 150 free items, across all your boards. The example is 41 cards and 12 lists, 53 in all. Arrows and pen strokes don't count.
Boards. The free plan includes 5 boards. Keep the whole video on one board.
Pictures. 3 per board. The example has none. A link card's preview picture doesn't count toward the 3.
No audio, timeline axis, call sheet or schedule. Times are text. Nothing checks that your sections add up to the length of the song.
Writing needs a free sign-in. A producer who joins by link or code can add cards and arrows, and the board counts as one of their 5 boards.
Under 18? Check with a parent or your school before putting a school project on a shared board.

Start from the ready board

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Questions

Is there a free music video planning template?

Yes. Open the board, replace the example song with yours and turn on "Anyone with the link can edit" if a producer or co-director should write on it. It is a board of lists and cards, not a printable sheet. Boords and StudioBinder offer free PDF storyboard templates, and StoryBirdie's has beat-marker rows.

How many shots should a music video plan have?

It depends on the cutting style. StoryBirdie says a 3-minute video ends up with 25 to 50 frames, more for fast cuts and fewer for long takes. In an r/Filmmakers thread one poster described music videos as a mix of three to five key moments. The example has 24 shot ideas for 3:24 and the board takes as many as you add.

What is the difference between a music video treatment and a storyboard?

A treatment is the written plan: the idea, the look and what happens in each part of the song. A storyboard draws the shots. Storyflow describes a treatment as a director's pitch built on references, colour and tone. This board holds the treatment as words and the plan as cards. The pen can sketch a hard shot, and the storyboard page has a board for frames.

Can the artist or label see the plan without an account?

Yes, to read it. Anyone with the link can view the board, and new boards start view-only. Writing on it takes a free sign-in.

How many items does a music video board use?

Each card and each list is one item of the 150 across all your boards. The example is 41 cards and 12 lists, 53 items. 50 shot ideas with the same planning lists would be 79. Arrows and pen strokes are free. That is our arithmetic.