There are those specific aspects of filmmaking that are much harder to learn outside of a film school environment than some of the hands-on “technical” aspects of filmmaking. This things are equally important to the filmmaking process. Set etiquette, protocols, paperwork, and pre-production are a few of the areas that are hard to learn as an indie filmmaker outside of actually working set or taking a class at film school. However the process of preproduction is as critically important as selecting the right film stock or camera. One process is that of breaking down, or de-constructing, a script, Ill Machinima Productions has written a great little tutorial that walks a new director or assistant director through the process of how to break a script down and prepare for scheduling. Below are a few excerpts, to read the full article and download forms for script breakdowns click here.

How
There are two major considerations to breaking down a script: one is isolating components into easily digestible chunks, separating out and then grouping scenes. The second is to figure out what the necessary elements are for each scene and who will be responsible for them.

First, go through the script and draw a horizontal line to separate each scene. The reason for doing this boils down to efficiency. A script is rarely shot in sequence, which means you don’t shoot scenes in order. If you have a serious of scenes that take place on Main Street, but they alternate between day and night, it makes sense to shoot all the day exteriors at the same time and then the night exteriors.

What denotes a new scene generally is a new location or some change that greatly affects your ability to shoot in sequence (defined by a new scene heading–Day INT Living Room, Day EXT Main Street). In Ralph Singleton’s book Film Scheduling he defines a scene change as, “…a unit of action which takes place in the same location over the same period of time. If either the location or the time period changes, then the scene ends and a new one begins.” He also adds that if the number of characters changes significantly then a new scene may be in order. Remember that breaking down a script is about coordinating a production efficiently, not about following hard rules. Base your decisions on what affects your actual production schedule. In a machinima shoot, it may not be that hard to set up a scene in which a large number of extras enter as two main characters stop to talk in a town square. Depending on your engine, it could be as easy as setting up bots with paths and therefore not need the scene to be split up.

Now go through the script again and mark every element that will affect each scene. This is important. This is where you find out what will be needed in front (and behind) the camera in advance. In the film biz, they’re looking for the following: Cast, stunts, extras/atmosphere, extra/silent bits, special effects, props, vehicles/animals, wardrobe, make-up/hair, sound effects/music and special equipment. Head spinning yet? (If you ever meet an assistant director or production manager in your travels, shake their hands, as well as any member of the production team; they deserve it.)