How To Make Script Breakdown Sheets? (2 STEPS)
STEP 1: UNDERLINE
First you spot in your screenplay the following elements and circle or underline them with their specific colour. Here is a table for reference:
Your Preproduction Script should look more or less like this:
STEP 2: FILL IN THE GAPS!
What is a script breakdown sheet?
It is a piece of paper in which you write every element you need in order to film that particular scene. It looks like this:
We’ll start from the top and we’ll go down:
- Top- left: (Day EXT= Yellow / Night EXT= Green / Day INT= White / Night INT= Blue) The whole page will be yellow, green, white or blue depending if it is interior or exterior, day or night.
- Top-right: Date, EXT/INT, Day/Night. You choose which one fits your scene.
- Top-center: Production No, Production Title, Breakdown page No, Scene No, Scene name, Script page No (Ex: 11-16 pages), Description (brief), Page Count (the duration in pages of the scenes, usually measured in 1/8 of a page) and Location name… fill in the gaps.
- Centered box: Cast, Stunts, Extras, Special Effects, etc. In here you write every element you have found in your script and that you have previously underlined or circled.
WHY BOTHER?
The preproduction stage is about planning. That means simplify to its fullest your future tasks for when you film, in the production stage, because you will be SO BUSY you couldn’t have ever imagined. More if you are an independent filmmaker that has to do several tasks at once…
If you do your preproduction accurately you have better chances of making and actually finishing the movie. The better the prepoduction and the preparation, the better production, therefore the better film you’ll make!
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