How To Break Down A Script In 4 Easy Steps

The best way to evaluate your project and make a budget

It’s easy to have an idea, but hard to commit to the hard work of making it come alive. As such, one of the most difficult stages of making a web series is getting it from script to the planning stages of the shoot, especially when you’re just starting out. One of the first things you should learn, which will help you make a budget, plan a crowdfunding campaign, write a shot list, start location scouting, and start hiring efficiently is how to break down a script.

More specifically, make several spreadsheets, but let’s start with the overall spreadsheet and work our way out. Your columns will be:

You can also clearly see how many locations you’re going to need, how frequently your main cast appears in those locations, and how long each individual scene is going to take to film.

Rule of thumb: traditionally filmed series (with multiple camera angles and lighting set ups) can film between 5–7 pages per 8–10 hour day, depending on how complicated the shots are. Vlog/found footage series (where the camera is part of the story and there’s only one angle) can do 7–12 pages in a day, depending on the number of people in the scene and how complicated the blocking is.

Learn to love spreadsheets. Learn to breathe spreadsheets. Go through your script again and make spreadsheets (or sheets off the original spreadsheet) for these individual elements:

The big ones here are locations and props. For both of these spreadsheets, I like to have the following top categories:

For cast, break down their involvement by how many pages their characters are in, and leave a column open for “expected shooting days.” We’ll come back to that.

For wardrobe, count how many outfits each character will need throughout the series, labeling them however you like (Outfit 1, Outfit 2 is the easiest way to do this). Then take note of when characters will need each outfit- sometimes they’ll need multiple outfits in one episode, or they’ll wear the same outfit over the course of several episodes, and this is something you need to keep track of for planning as well as shooting continuity.

Have/Buy/Make is my favorite way to get a realistic look at how feasible a show is to make independently. Coordinate with your production team (and actors, if you already have them) and try to get the most out of “have” (already have access to the thing) or “make” (can make the thing for less money than buying/renting it).

You can do the same thing with locations- what locations do you already have (free) access to? What are locations you can make/build with access to locations you already have free access to? And what locations will you have to find or possibly rent?

This breakdown step is crucial to building your budget.

I know you’re breathing spreadsheets at this point, but I prefer doing this next step in a regular ol’ document. Now that you’ve gotten all your element breakdowns complete, it’s time to combine them in the most sensible way to make a preliminary shooting schedule. Here’s an example from Brains season 2:

How to group sensible shooting days:

This “Day Breakdown” will give you a first look at how long your series will take to shoot and how many days each actor and location is needed. You can then see how much, in general, it will cost, if you’re planning on paying your actors or renting a location.

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