A Step-by-Step Guide for Breaking Down a Script.

A Step-by-Step Guide for Breaking Down a Script.

“Time is a money” and the one who understands this can achieve much more than he expects. Let’s check to A Step-by-Step Guide for Breaking Down a Script.

Just like other works film making is also a time-based process, everything should be on time is the key ingredient for film making. Here is A Step-by-Step Guide for Breaking Down a Script.

In filmmaking, scheduling can be an art of its own. Balancing need and availability of cast, crew, and assets – along with the fickleness of weather – can be challenging to say the least. Fortunately, Celtx simplifies the process by automatically populating and updating essential information from Script, Breakdown, and Calendar – all in one place: the Stripboard.

With the Stripboard’s simple drag-and-drop editing and advanced filtering, you can get the most out of your shooting days and, when necessary, reschedule and rebalance your production with considerable ease.

1. Read the Script Like it’s Your First Time:

Before you mark anything on the script, always read it with an audience member’s perspective. You only have one first impression of the story, so give yourself a chance to connect to it. Beyond the emotional connection, the more familiar you are with the story, the more likely you will be to identify all the elements once you begin marking the script.

2. Look Out for Potential Formatting Issues:

After reading your script properly, read it once more, but this time keep an eye out for any formatting errors that may cause issues when scheduling or importing the script file into software such as Movie Magic Scheduling.

3. Begin Breaking Down Your Script into 8ths (Don’t forget Scene Breakdowns):

Divide every page into eight, 1-inch parts. This measurement is used to estimate the screen time and shooting time for a scene. Just make sure that you and your script supervisor are on the same page. Sounds funny, but, it’s important that both of you measure scenes in exactly the same way. On a typical dialogue-heavy indie production, you can expect to shoot roughly 5 pages per day where one page equals one minute of screen time.

4. Use Colored Highlighters and Pens to Mark You’re Script:

The purpose of marking is to identify select elements in every scene so they can be included in the script breakdown sheet and shooting schedule. The best method to achieve this is to use highlighters and pens. It could be a time-consuming process, but it’s extremely important.

Script breakdowns have a specific set of colours which you can follow, however, it’s not essential. If you’re using custom colours, be sure to create a legend on the script and breakdown.

5. Use a Script Breakdown Template:

Once you’ve finished marking your script, you’ll need to input the elements into a Script Breakdown Sheet. This is the summary list of all the elements in a specific scene. Scheduling software like Showbiz Scheduling can be expensive, so we’ve created a free script breakdown sheet template. Don’t forget to review and approve the script together with your team.