Free Prop List Template for Film (PDF and Google Sheets)
A missing prop can stop a shoot as fast as a missing actor. The prop list tracks every object your cast touches, scene by scene, and who’s bringing it. This free prop list template gives you a fillable PDF in US Letter and A4 and a Google Sheet you can copy, plus a filled-in example from a short film.
TL;DR: List It, Source It, Back It Up
Go through the script and list every prop by scene. Mark which ones are hero props, the ones the camera sees up close. Note where each one comes from, what it costs and who has it. Then get a backup of anything that can break, spill, get eaten or get lost.
Download the Free Prop List Template
The PDF is a fillable prop list with 16 rows. The spreadsheet has the same columns with 60 rows, plus the Dead Air example on its own tab.
What Is a Prop List?
A prop list is a scene-by-scene list of every object an actor handles or the story needs. The props master builds it from the script breakdown, where props are marked in purple.
- Hero props: the ones the camera sees up close or the story depends on. A letter someone reads on screen, a phone with a text on it
- Background props: things in the scene that nobody focuses on
- Set dressing is separate: furniture and decor belong to the set decorator. If an actor picks it up, it becomes a prop
The prop list feeds your film budget, since every buy, rental and build costs money.
What’s in the Prop List Template
- Header: production, props master, art director, and a version and date box
- 16 rows: scenes, prop, description and continuity, hero or background, quantity, buy, rent or make, cost, who has it, and status
- Google Sheet: the same columns, with 60 rows and a filled-in example tab
Prop List Example: Dead Air
Here’s the template filled in for Dead Air, the made-up short film about a late-night radio host from our screenplay template.
- Six coffee cups for one scene. Nora carries a full cup in scene 2. Every take spills a little, so props buys six and fills each one to the same level.
- The phone is a build. Its red line light has to blink on cue in scenes 4 to 6. That’s a make, not a buy, and it gets tested before the shoot day.
- Some props belong to the location. The fader desk is the radio station’s own. The note tells the crew not to move the faders between takes.
- Two sets of car keys. Keys are small and easy to lose. A spare keeps the scene 9 shoot on track.
Here’s a rule worth stealing for your props table.
Anything an actor eats or drinks on camera gets at least three times what one take needs.
You’ll do more takes than you planned. You always do.
How to Make a Prop List
- Break down the script. Mark every prop in every scene. If a character “checks the time,” someone needs a watch or a phone.
- Merge repeats. One row per prop, with every scene it appears in.
- Decide hero or background. Hero props get more money, more care and a backup.
- Pick a source. Buy, rent, make, borrow or use what the location already has.
- Add costs and owners. Every prop has a price and a person responsible for it.
- Track status. Ordered, ready, on set, returned. Rentals have due dates.
If your film has anything that looks like a weapon, read our guide to whether movie prop guns are real before you source it.
Why Hero Props Need Backups: Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane opens and closes on two hero props: a snow globe that drops from Kane’s hand, and a sled called Rosebud. The sled mattered so much that the production made at least four identical ones, and one was burned during filming, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Those duplicates became some of the most valuable props ever made. One sold for $14.75 million in 2025. Your backups won’t be worth that, but the principle is the same. If a prop gets destroyed, broken or worn out on camera, you need more than one.
One more thing to add to your list.
Take a photo of every hero prop the first time it’s on camera.
When you shoot the next scene a week later, you’ll know exactly how full the cup was and which way the label faced.
For how props, wardrobe and makeup stay consistent between shots, see our script supervisor template.
More On-Set Paperwork
This template is part of a free set of on-set forms. Use them together and your whole crew works from the same paperwork.
- Cast list template: every actor, role and contact on one page
- Camera and sound report templates: a log of every take, card and track
- Script supervisor template: take notes and a continuity sheet for every scene
- Call sheet template: who needs to be where, and when, for each shoot day
FAQs About Prop List Templates
Who Makes the Prop List?
The props master, working from the script breakdown. On a small shoot, it’s often the producer or the production designer. The art director and the 1st AD review it.
What’s the Difference Between a Prop and Set Dressing?
A prop is something an actor handles or the story needs. Set dressing is what fills the space, like furniture, curtains and pictures on the wall. A book on a shelf is set dressing until an actor pulls it down.
Do I Need a Props List for a Short Film?
Yes. A short film might only have 10 or 15 props, but forgetting one still costs you a setup. The list takes an hour to make.
The Final Cut on the Prop List Template
A prop list template turns “someone bring a coffee cup” into a plan with a name, a quantity and a backup.
List every prop by scene, mark your hero props and buy spares of anything that can break or spill.
What’s the one prop your film can’t be shot without?
Jay Neill
Jay Neill is the founder and managing editor of iFILMthings and believes everyone should have access to the film resources they need to plan their filmmaking project, which is why he’s dedicated iFILMthings to helping all filmmakers.