Breaking down your script

A breakdown goes through the script scene by scene and records what each scene needs to be shot.

This is the step most people want to skip, and it is the one everything after it reads from. A scheduled day knows which actors it needs because the scenes in it were tagged. A call sheet knows who to list for the same reason. Skip the breakdown and every later stage goes back to being manual.

Tagging a scene

Open a scene and tag its elements. There are ten categories:

• Cast — who appears
• Prop — anything handled
• Wardrobe — costume requirements
• Vehicle
• Location
• Stunt
• SFX — practical effects on the day
• VFX — anything to be added later
• Animal
• Greenery

Tag the same element in every scene it appears in. That repetition is the point: it is how the schedule knows that three scenes share a location, or that an actor is needed on days four, nine and eleven.

What the breakdown produces

Once scenes are tagged, you get:

- Element lists — every prop, every costume, every location, and which scenes each is needed for. - A schedulable script — scenes can be grouped by what they share. - Accurate day counts — because scene lengths are measured in eighths.

How much to tag

Tag what affects who or what has to be somewhere on a given day. A scene that mentions a newspaper in passing does not need the newspaper tagged unless the art department has to supply one.

The test: would someone have to bring this, be this, or build this? If yes, tag it.

What to do next

With scenes tagged, move to scheduling and the stripboard.