Script Breakdowns: Turning a Script Into an Executable Plan

A script breakdown is where you turn words into logistics. You read a scene, identify every thing and every person the story needs, record those items in a standard format, and hand clear reports to each department. The result drives scheduling, budgeting, casting, locations, safety, and call sheets.

If storyboards show how a scene will look and shot lists say what to shoot, the breakdown tells you what the shoot requires.

Gotta plan now homie

What a breakdown delivers

• Per-scene sheets: with all required elements

• Department roll-ups: props list, wardrobe list, set dressing list, SFX/VFX, stunts, vehicles, animals, music, equipment, security, and so on

• Counts: that feed schedule and budget: day vs night, INT vs EXT, location frequency, cast DOODs, extras volume

• Risk and complexity flags: safety concerns, weather dependence, reset time, special permits

• Notes: for the AD team and department heads

Do this well and you avoid surprises on set.

When to run breakdowns

• After a locked draft or a stable “production draft”

• After you agree on the storyboard and shot strategy at a high level

• Before scheduling and budgeting

• Update breakdowns any time a rewrite lands or a board changes the requirements.

Know the numbers before spending a dime

The core method: how to read and tag a scene

1. Context

   • Scene number and slug: INT. GARAGE – NIGHT

   • Scene length in pages. A common rule: one page ≈ one minute.

   • Priority and complexity so producers know where to spend time.

2. People

   • Speaking cast by role name and actor code

   • Non-speaking cast and extras with counts

   • Stunt doubles, photo doubles, stand-ins

   • Special skills: driving, swimming, fight, instrument, dialect

3. Wardrobe, makeup, hair

   • Specific outfits or continuity changes

   • Dirt, blood, burns, age makeup, prosthetics, tattoos, wigs

4. Props and set dressing

   • Hand props used by characters

   • Set dressing the camera will see, hero items, practical lamps

5. Locations and sets

   • Practical location vs built set

   • Notes on access, power, sound, and control

   • Geography the story needs: windows, stairs, views, doors

6. Picture vehicles and other vehicles

   • Count, type, driven or parked, hero or background

7. Animals and livestock

   • Species, trainers, legal and welfare requirements

8. SFX and mechanical FX

   • Breakaway glass, squibs, rain bars, wind, smoke, fire, gags that need reset time

9. VFX

   • Screen replacements, set extensions, markers, clean plates, HDRI, lidar

10. Sound and music on set

    • MOS, playback music, source radios, practical effects that create noise

11. Special equipment

    • Drone, crane, steadicam, underwater housing, process trailer, specialty lenses

12. Security and crowd control

    • Guards, lockups, street closure, police officer on site

13. Seasonality and weather

    • Dawn or golden hour, rain dependence, snow continuity

14. Scheduling helpers

    • INT/EXT, DAY/NIGHT, company move, build and strike notes, estimated setup time

Everything above should live on the scene’s breakdown sheet and also roll up to department reports.

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Elements of a Screenplay - Lowerated

Learn about elements of a screenplay, how are they recognized and tagged, and how Lowerated makes it easy.

Auto import Tagged Elements to Script Breakdowns

How the breakdown drives the rest of pre-production

• Scheduling: scenes group by set and time of day, heavy days get flagged, company moves become obvious

• Budgeting: night premiums, extras, SFX/VFX counts, specialty gear, resets, and travel time stop being guesses

• Casting and DOODs: who works which days, when doubles or minors change the plan

• Locations: how many days each location is needed, which scenes can be doubled, which require permits

• Department prep: art builds, wardrobe racks per day, makeup tests, stunt rehearsals, VFX tests

• Safety: risk assessment and medical cover built from the sheet rather than memory.

  
  

Best practices from the field

• Tag the obvious and the impliedIf the line says “He sets the papers on fire,” add: lighter, papers, fire safety, smoke extraction, SFX, reset time, continuity photos.

• Record reason, not just item“Backlit haze to silhouette cast,” “POV on phone screen,” “Hero car needs clean exterior for reflections.”

• Track reset and hold timesRain bars, breakaways, and food shots stretch the day.

• Flag permits and approvals earlyWeapons, drones, traffic control, public space sound, animal welfare.

• Keep continuity linksIf the same prop changes state, mark which scene needs the pristine version and which needs the damaged version.

• Update fast when scripts changeSmall rewrites can delete a truckload of prep. Use a tool that propagates changes.

  
  

Script breakdowns in LOWERATED: full walkthrough

Your screenshots map well to these steps; I’ll call out where to drop each one.

1) Manual edit view

Open Production Planning → Script Breakdown and click a scene to edit. You’ll see tabs for Overview, Location, Technical, People & Tags, Costs & Status.

Edit a Scene Breakdown

What you can record here:

• Overview: INT/EXT, day or night, seasonality, page count, priority, complexity, estimated vs actual duration

• Location: practical or stage, access, power, sound, parking, rain cover

• Technical: SFX, VFX, special equipment, sound notes, safety needs

• People & Tags: speaking roles, extras, stunts, doubles, the full element set

• Costs & Status: rough estimates, holds, approvals, status badges

  
  

2) AI-powered breakdown generation

Select multiple scenes, give the AI a budget range, complexity level, location type, time of day, and special requirements, then generate.

Generate Scene Breakdowns with AI

What the AI proposes:

• Required elements per scene across categories

• Extra flags when your inputs imply risk, for example: “moderate complexity + exterior + dawn” will suggest light-sensitive schedule notes

• A first pass at estimated cost bands per category so your top sheet doesn’t start blank

You keep control. Accept, edit, or discard suggestions. Treat this as a jumpstart, then layer your production’s specifics.

3) Scene overview board

The index view shows each scene card with type, pages, priority, complexity, day/night row, “required elements” count, and estimated cost. Filter by status and priority.

Scene Breakdown Page - Lowerated

Use this board in prep meetings so everyone sees the same picture of load by scene.

4) Exports

Send breakdowns to departments with one click:

• CSV for coordinators who want to pivot and merge with inventory sheets

• PDF for quick print packs by scene or by department

• LRX for handoff inside LOWERATED without losing structure

Filter by scene, status, or priority before export so each department receives relevant pages.

Export and Shoot - go make a movie

What Lowerated auto-extracts from your script

From scene slugs and dialogue, Lowerated can pull:

• INT/EXT and DAY/NIGHT, location names, and page counts

• Characters and speaking vs non-speaking

• 21 element types you’ve been tagging in your scripts: cast, extras, props, set dressing, vehicles, animals, sound cues, SFX/VFX, stunts, special equipment, security, greenery, costumes, makeup, mechanical FX, music, locations, scene notes, optical effects, and more

• Counts per scene and totals across the project

These feed your schedule, budget, and DOOD reports as you move forward.

From breakdown to schedule and budget, step by step

1. Lock critical scenes in the breakdown.

2. Build a one-liner from scene cards: group by set and time of day.

3. Generate Day-Out-Of-Days for cast and key elements.

4. Use counts to adjust the top sheet: nights, extras, heavy SFX/VFX days, company moves.

5. Share department roll-ups so prep starts with the right numbers.

6. Create call sheets from the schedule, filtered to the day’s scenes with their element highlights and safety notes.

Lowerated keeps these steps connected so a change in a scene rolls forward.

A worked example

Slug: EXT. COW PASTURE – DAY

Story: A Winnebago breaks down. Two leads argue. A herd crosses the road.

Breakdown should include:

• People: 2 speaking, 1 driver double, 10 extras as background passers, 1 animal wrangler with herd count and trainer

• Wardrobe: dust continuity for leads, hat for sun control

• Props: road cones, map, phone, jumper cables

• Vehicles: Winnebago (hero), pickup (background)

• SFX: dust kick, heat shimmer practical if available

• VFX: background clean plate in case you replace a distant sign

• Sound: MOS for drone pass, wild lines for argument in case the wind kills production sound

• Special equipment: drone for overhead, polarizer filters

• Security: traffic control, safety officer

• Weather: hard sun plan, wind backup, note “animal work requires cooler hours”

• Schedule: exterior day, golden hour optional for beauty insert, company move to the roadside layby

With Lowerated, most of that is suggested once you select “exterior, day, moderate complexity, vehicles and animals.” You confirm numbers, add suppliers, and tag risk.

Tips to keep your breakdowns reliable

• Treat the sheet as a contract with your future self: If the day is heavy, the sheet should show why.

• Be explicit about implied extras: Crowd in a lobby usually means security, lockup, and radio channels. Write it.

• Call out reset time: Food, blood, rain, smoke, confetti, breakaways. Reset time often drives schedule more than shot count.

• Flag legal and approvals: Music playback licenses, brand clearances, local permits, FAA or civil aviation for drones.

• Own the versioning: When the draft changes, bump the breakdown version. Lowerated keeps earlier versions so you can show why the day moved.

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  Boss Tips - Quentin Tarantino

Closing

A script breakdown turns story into workload. It gives each department a clear list, gives producers numbers they can manage, and gives the AD team a schedule that reflects reality. Do it carefully and everything downstream gets easier.

Lowerated speeds up the boring parts and keeps all the moving pieces tied together. Select scenes, run an AI pass with your constraints, review the results, add the specifics only your show can know, and export clean reports. The work stays linked to your shot lists, boards, schedule, budget, and call sheets, so you can change one place and stay in sync everywhere else.

Use Lowerated Platform from here: https://platform.lowerated.com