How to Use & Create a Script Breakdown

Learn how to create a Script Breakdown to reduce your production costs, plan how many days are needed for principal photography, and determine what order each scene should be filmed in.
You can download a free Script Breakdown Template and find more information on how to use it at www.filmhandbook.com/pre-produ...
Visit www.filmhandbook.com to learn about production, audio, camera, lighting, marketing, distribution, and editing techniques.

[@slrpros]

This was an amazing tutorial and has given me greater confidence in developing my next film project. Thanks!

[@DoH1966]

cheers Brandon this is very useful, thank you for the time you put into doing this

[@brialynnmassie]

THIS WAS FANTASTIC! Thank you

[@charlemarcharlemar2401]

GREAT!!!! THANK YOU!

[@two18productions10]

This video is great! Is there any other way to get the script breakdown since the link is no longer working?

[@JustmeJoy7]

WOW! This was great information! Thanks for all your effort in making the video.

[@filmhandbook9962]

Thanks! I absolutely love working in the film industry and sharing the tips that I learn along with way with others.

[@JustmeJoy7]

I went to your website and it doesn't tell anything about you. What is your background in film? How long have you been in the industry? What is your role you do mainly? It seems you know a lot about many areas on the production side, per the knowledge you share on your website.

[@filmhandbook9962]

I've been working in the film industry for about 7 years. I've loaded my schedule with film crew gigs significantly more than the average filmmaker to expedite my learning process. Just about all of my tips comes from experience. I produced every film that I made, except for 2 recent films. I mainly work as a producer, director of photography, gaffer, boom operator, production sound mixer, and film/audio/special effects editor, but like to work within other fields to learn the tasks of all positions. I have a huge passion for cinematography, but needed to learn all aspects of film and positions in order to efficiently produce films. I usually help out friends by taking on multiple positions with film productions. For example, I might occasionally be the producer, gaffer, and boom operator for one project. I perform pre-production tasks before the day of principal photography, set up the lighting before each shot, and then quickly move to the audio department during each take. This helps to save on costs tremendously. I've also worked with several multi-million dollar productions as a line producer and director of photography. I have a BA in business administration with a concentration in finance, which helps with marketing and distribution. I took a short break from film productions to finish up a master's degree in business analytics. I have a significant amount of knowledge with finance and spreadsheets. I work full-time at a company where I develop more efficient processes and procedures, and am moving on to become a finance director. I'm able to use a lot of the knowledge and experience that I gained from the business side to improve the processes with film-related tasks. Not many people know about marketing, finance, process development, and filmmaking, and I even use a large amount of computer programming to automate many of my production-related tasks.

[@paulthompstone6434]

i cant download this link and I really need it

[@Binusriram]

@Amira Therese did you get it? Please let me know if you have it.. I need it

[@shalinisingh4727]

very useful. Thank you!

[@shortfilms7960]

This video is very useful. I have two questions: you have two columns named Scene Description, maybe the first one would be named Location Scene instead Scene Description? Then, you said we should try to put actors in a way they shoot all the scenes they need and they can leave earlier. But for example, if I have many scenes that are shot in a bedroom and sometimes needs two actors or six. And then, I have another scene in the living room where I need some of the six actors that I use before. Isn't difficult to shot some scenes in the bedroom, change to the living room and come back to the bedroom because I want to obtimize their time?

[@deepakbhole6701]

thank you for this amazing video. where i can find the tamplate??? website is not available.

[@hichamouaraqa5265]

Thanks so much.

[@HAQTube]

Dude the website is down, how can I get a link to this excel download?

[@mgnava5901]

x2 Please!

[@suhasl8547]

Did you by any chance get the document?

[@RajvardhanSabale]

thank you soo much you are a herooo

[@namanwashere]

this is so awesome, where can i get the excel sheet template?

[@raanst123]

This is really good information to know. I have tried going to the website but I keep getting a 403 error. Does this site still exist?

[@FenengaMaarten]

Thanks!

[@ruby_wraich]

very nice explanation

[@marceladebarros_atriz]

Amazing.

[@user-qk4ps7ov4o]

Please, can somebody share a link to the breakdown spreadsheet template because the link below the video not available anymore?

[@epoleshinatinna1999]

Very useful. Please the website is down. Can I get another link and the excel template? Please.

[@kelseymj1975]

I'm surprised the breakdown wasn't designed around availability of locations, since that's the tricky part of low budget filmmakers

[@kalakarudu8888]

Very helpful video. The website seems to be unavailable. May I know from where can I download the template?

[@calinachehade1669]

Hello! Did you find out from where we can download the template?

[@InformantNet]

I'm sorry to see that your website is no longer around.

[@onderbi]

Would you mind sharing the template with us again?

[@suhasl8547]

Can anyone please share a link to the breakdown spreadsheet template. It’ll be a great help.

[@AlexanderParmelee]

Is your website down? I am unable to pull up any pages ATM.

[@moremalachi4837]

if someone is singing would that go under music/sound effects or nothing at all . someone help me out.

[@randallpaul6559]

i use Google docs now. but this looks interesting thank you

[@moremalachi4837]

randall paul if someone is singing would that go under music/sound effects or nothing at all . someone help me out.

[@randallpaul6559]

John Lark for me personally depends on if the song is being performed on screen or off. A singer is no different than the actor. the song would be part of the music sound track. so in the credits it would be the song and song preformed by. if he/she is on screen then a credit would be given in accordance to the role. someone else may do it differently but this is how I would do it. hope it helped.

[@moremalachi4837]

This is for a script break down . It has a actor that is singing. I was wondering if it goes under music/sound effects when she sings or it nothing .

[@randallpaul6559]

John Lark if it is a role then assuming you understand script format. the singer will still come under character. we are doing one now that we are packaging. the piano play playing the dong comes under Character. Action: the maestro approaches the piano Ect MAESTRO (begins playing)

[@moremalachi4837]

I know that the sing is a actor but what she doing what will it go under. Am talking about what she is doing. She is singing

[@NIKONGUY1960]

the website is no longer active

[@inachka2]

Does anybody have the downloaded file that yo can share?

[@blower2006]

just get movie magic

[@paulai]

the website is down T..T

[@deepakbhole6701]

is anybody alive from this channel ? i need the templates. please share. reply asap.

[@paulthompstone6434]

Dude the website is down, how can I get a link to this excel download?

[@moremalachi4837]

if someone is singing would that go under music/sound effects or nothing at all . someone help me out.

[@filmhandbook9962]

Hi John, if you have a character singing, you could mention that under the Scene Description (column G). i.e. Just type something like "(Character Name) sings (Name of Song)." The Scene Description will be transferred to the Call Sheet for each day of principal photography. The Scene Description describes what happens in the scene to jog the memory of the filmmakers and actors the night before you film and the day that you film. I added the Props, Makeup, Special Effects Makeup, Special Effects, Wardrobe, and Set Design columns because filmmakers have to prepare for these items before each day of principal photography and/or while on set, and these items frequently cost money. A filmmaker wouldn't have to prepare for anything for an actor who has a singing role, and it wouldn't cost any money to purchase tangible items. In an ideal situation, the director would review the entire scene with the actor well in advance of the day of principal photography. The director shouldn't have to rely on the Script Breakdown or the Call Sheet, since he or she should know each scene inside and out. The best part about the Script Breakdown is that you can edit it to your film's needs. If you would like, you could add an additional Audio column by right-clicking on column O and then click Insert. Then on the Call Sheet Template (www.filmhandbook.com/pre-production-process/creating-a-call-sheet/), just add a row for Audio at the bottom to transfer the details from the Audio column in your Script Breakdown to the Call Sheet. This would indicate to your audio team that they need to bring audio equipment on that day of principal photography to record your actor singing. To keep things as simple as possible, you could just add this information to the Scene Description column. This column will be transferred to the Call Sheet, so the audio team should read it before arriving on set. If there's no background music playing live on set while your actor is singing, then your audio team wouldn't need any special equipment other than a lavalier or boom microphone. A boom or lav mic should be able to pick up the frequencies just fine for a human voice, regardless if he or she is singing or talking. You might want to make sure that you have someone riding the gain of the volume levels during the singing, have a recorder that is set to record multiple tracks with different decibel levels, or have multiple microphones/recorders set to different decibel levels. Therefore, I would add this information to the Scene Description column and not add an Audio column. However, if there is background music playing during the singing (speakers, band, or piano), then I would add a separate Audio column to indicate to your audio team to bring specialized equipment. With speakers set up in different areas of the room and your actor singing in another part of the room, 2 or 3 omni-directional microphones would be best. Or, maybe one omni-directional mic at the left of the room, one omni-directional mic at the right of the room, and 1 directional mic pointed at the actor singing (www.filmhandbook.com/audio-techniques/types-of-microphones/). Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

[@moremalachi4837]

Thank you so much for the help. I really appreciate.

[@rans7614]

@@filmhandbook9962 where can we get this template