ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the student or beginner with the basics of how a schedule has been prepared for 60+ years. Although the producer must still extract the necessary information from the script and fill out the breakdown pages, the traditional stripboard has been replaced by computer software. Breaking down the script requires that all the production elements that affect the schedule and the budget be lifted from the script and placed in their respective categories on breakdown sheets. The combined breakdowns of all the scenes give the producer an overview of the practical challenges of the project and allow him to create a shooting or production schedule. The director's preparation for principal photography centers on breaking down the script into shots. In the theater, the director and actors of a play are given a tremendous amount of rehearsal time to explore the script and the characters that inhabit the story.
