Scheduling...

Breakdowns complete. I emphasize breakdowns (plural) because I have a character breakdown, assigning a number to each of our 67 named characters in the scripts; a location breakdown, which enumerates the number of locations we need and how many scenes occur in each space; the full script breakdown, in order, designating the characters, locations, page lengths, wardrobe and props for each scene; and the tentative shooting schedule, which takes all of those breakdowns and tries to synthesize the information so that shooting days can be assigned to shooting dates. And they're color coordinated.
This is where the scheduling process gets complicated. Like really complicated. Imagine trying to sync up 67 different schedules, not to mention crew, weather, day/night requirements. Then ensuring you have the locations for the right amount of time, uninterrupted, on the same days that your actors are available. Then you have to ensure you have equipment, wardrobe, and props for all the scenes you plan to tackle on a particular day, while trying to minimize all the stuff you have to haul around with you.

The hardest part is trying to minimize the number of times you have to call in a particular actor. We all have lives and I would hate to ruin your day by having you show up for a shooting day when it turns out you only have one line for the entire 7 pages we're trying to shoot. Big scheduling No-No.
You also have to try and keep your cast and crew in a single location on a shooting day and avoid company moves at all costs. Company move: in the middle of a shooting day you have to pack up all of your people and your sh!t and haul it across town to a second space. Not a good use of time, or resources. Plus it always takes longer than you expect to get shooting again. This is why films and shows are shot out of sequence.
Example: Let's say I have a script that jumps from the pool in real time to a studio in the city in flashback, then back to the pool in flashback, then returning to real time in the same location and the flashback scenes involve the main characters to be in the pool and wet, but the real time scenes they're dry. Confused yet? Other things to take into account, your pool location is only available for the first month of shooting. Solution: you film the real-time, dry pool scenes first even though chronologically it occurs after the flashback, followed by the flashback pool scene, so you don't have to wait for the actors to dry off. Then schedule a completely different shooting day in the city possibly months later and hopefully with other scenes from other episodes in the same location. This will give you the most efficient shooting schedule, but now you're shooting completely out of order. Yet another reason why a script supervisor is important. A scripty keeps track of what was worn when, who was in each scene, and which props need to be carried to the next location etc. But I digress.

You also don't want to try and tackle too much in a single day. Remember in my last post we talked about 1/8ths of a page? That's where this comes in. If there are 18 scenes happening on the pool deck, chances are you need multiple days in that location. Unless, each of those scenes are each one-line or a single action and only 1/8th of a page. You can totally knock-out 2 2/8ths of a page, provided there aren't major lighting/make-up/wardrobe changes. Hence the reason your breakdown includes a Day/Night (major lighting changes), wardrobe and props columns. Luckily, or maybe not so luckily depending on how you look at it, we aren't doing any crazy lighting. From a safety perspective you just can't have that much electricity near that much water. Pools and power don't mix. So we've deliberately chosen a more natural style, and thus can get a whole lot more pages done in a single day.
So I think I've managed it... I think. My head is throbbing and I've only gotten into the nuts and bolts for the first six shooting days but that basically includes 50 of our 67 characters, our most complicated location and about half the entire script. So provided all goes well (it probably won't so I'm prepared with multiple back-up plans) I'm pretty sure the schedule will stand without too much editing. I would just ask that anyone in any way connected to anyone involved in this project not schedule any important events like weddings, babies, birthdays, vacations, etc, that may change my actors' schedules. I just can't take any more. Seriously, though.