THE SCRIPT
BREAKDOWN
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UNIT 3 CONTENT STRATEGY
DEFINITION
COST
2
FROM THE
SCRIPT TO
THE BUDGET
You’ve got the green light. Your shoot is coming up. Your
next task? Create a script breakdown. The script
breakdown sheets are used to determine the shooting
requirements of every scene and also inform the budget.
We tag various elements and needs in a scene to better
understand its shooting requirements.
Script breakdowns are typically put together by the 1st
AD and producer during the pre-production phase. A
script breakdown informs and leads into the creation of the
shooting schedule and the budget.
First step of an audiovisual project:
DIRECTOR+ SCRIPT (PERSON) +PRODUCER 3
STEP BY STEP:
READ TWICE,
THINK BEYOND
FIRST READ AS THE AUDIENCE
Read your script to understand the whole story/scene.
SECOND READ AS A PRODUCER
Read again spotting all the elements and needs a producer
needs to have in consideration for the budgeting and shotting
ANALYSE NEEDS/ELEMENTS AND THE VIABILITY
Understand what the scene needs to be producer and how
much it will cost
THINK BEYOND AND EXTRA
Add all the production notes about possible issues and
design your plan B (ex: weather, rain, plan B shooting etc.)
MEET THE DIRECTOR FOR MORE QUESTIONS
Understand 100% the director's vision 4
(last minute mistakes costs $$$$)
Pitch deck title 5
CUSTOMISE TO YOUR NEEDS
You might consider creating more tailored element categories
and colors for your script breakdown format. Customize. Create
new categories in your script breakdown software — as many as
you need.
If you are shooting a horror film you may want to define all the
elements related to prosthetics.
If you are shooting a western, you may need to add categories
for horses and weapons.
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PRACTICE
Based on the Modern Family Season 1 script provided on
Blackboard, create your script breakdown for each work
team:
1/ Dunphy Family
2/ Pritchett- Delgado Family
3/ Mitchell and Cameron's Family
You can visualize the episode for guidance (if needed, Disney +)
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THANK YOU,
PRODUCERS
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