Breaking Down a Script

I would say that the scripts for our 12 episodes are approximately 92% complete/finished/edited. And we're about 85% cast for our 60+ roles. Call backs next week! Woot woot! We've also registered the series with the Writer's Guild of America and have applied to be a SAG/AFTRA union production. Sounds fancy, right? This is neither as fancy nor as glamorous as it sounds. It is a lot of paperwork with the primary goal of covering everyone's asses. This in itself is a ridiculous accomplishment. I have no idea how we've done it, especially when you take into account all the other stuff we have going on in our lives.


So I've taken off my writer's hat and my casting hat, for now, and I'm moving on to breaking down the script. So I've donned my scripty/production coordinator/line producer hat.
The combined scripts are over 100 pages and some have as many as 12 scenes. Granted some only last an 1/8th of a page but it still requires a location and a shotlist. Note: the industry standards are that script pages are broken down by 1/8ths of a page. So it's not 1.5 pages it's 12/8s or 1 4/8s. This helps with scheduling later. Breaking down the script means you are searching for the nuts and bolts. The scenes, the locations, the time of day, the characters, the page lengths, the props, wardrobe, sound effects.....

Basically, I read the scripts 6 or 7 times, each time focusing on something different in order to make sure every detail is accounted for and nothing is missed. I make copious notes in the margins of the script and translate that into reports for different department heads: 1st AD, Wardrobe, Set decoration, Props etc. The more diligent you are in breaking down the script, the better chance you have of being fully prepared on set. I'm super OCD so I love this. I even have to read/act out the script (somewhere quiet and secluded so people don't think I've cracked from the pressure) and time the duration of the script. This is most important for moments with Voice Over dialogue because you have to make sure you shoot enough footage to cover how long the lines will last. Think about it. Most VO will be recorded in a studio of some kind (professional or otherwise) and it probably won't happen for weeks after the shooting is over. How terrible would it be if it turns out the dialogue lasted 90 seconds and you only have 37 seconds of footage? What a waste of time and effort to do a reshoot, when you could've spent the time timing it months before!

If you look at my binder right now you will see colored pencil marks, arrows, circles, highlights, underlines... Everything has a meaning. Most of the time the notations are just to call attention to a particular part of the script. I circle the names of characters that appear so that we make sure to schedule them for those shooting days. Other times, they're more detailed. If a prop shows up in the last line of the scene, then I make a note of it in the beginning to make sure it is either placed in the setting by set decoration, given to the actor responsible for it to bring into the scene, or given to wardrobe to make sure the character is wearing it throughout the scene. You can't just have a prop appear out of nowhere at the end of the scene, cause you forgot. That's shoddy.

I worked on a movie where the actor's wrist watch was an integral part of the story's plot line. I needed to write on every scene where the watch was found, if he's wearing it or not, and what time the watch was supposed to read. Fun fact: most of the time the only reference to the watch is "ACTOR looks at watch". So I have to make it up using context clues. Is the character lefty or righty? Does this scene happen in the morning, evening, night? Are their other scenes that happen before or after? Did we already set the watch to a particular time in an earlier or later scene?
So when I break down the script I will sometimes make up arbitrary times in the margins of the scene. We may never refer to the time at all. But if there's a clock anywhere in the scene, it has to be correct. Note: clocks and time are the #1 screw up in rookie filmmaking, mostly because they don't hire scripties. Just saying.

It's a labor of love. I'll eventually circle back to editing the scripts with all the typos, formatting errors and continuity issues I find but right now I can't allow myself to get distracted by story arcs, through-lines and dialogue. Once I have all my reports written, I can start to combine scenes with similar characters and locations to create a shooting schedule. That's a whole other can of worms... I'll tell you about it next time. For now I have to get back to my 4th time through the scripts... Only three left! (Or six if I'm being super OCD.)