Beyond Continuity

Chapter 3

Preproduction

Breaking Down the Script

OVERVIEW

In order to supervise the script, you need to know the script really well, better than anyone else on the crew. But here you are on your first day. Other people have been working with the script for months, sometimes years. How do you catch up? You read the script again and again, analyzing every element that you think is important. This is called breaking down the script.

Breakdowns for Every Movie

Here are the breakdowns I do for every movie. I change the format a bit from project to project but the essential form and information remain the same.

– Page/time/scene tally

– Master breakdown

– Story beat breakdown

– Day breakdown.

Special Breakdowns

I make other, special breakdowns for ...