An introduction to script breakdown: what to list and how to categorise it

What a breakdown sheet is for

The English Wikipedia article "Script breakdown" puts it this way: a breakdown turns all the production elements in a script into lists, these lists are the basis of the production board, and the production board in turn is the basis for the schedule and budget. The article also notes that the work is usually done by the first assistant director.

A short film team may not have a dedicated AD. If not, agree before work starts who is responsible for the whole breakdown, and each time the script is revised, have the same person go back and check the scenes affected.

Start every scene with a header

A breakdown works scene by scene. When StudioBinder introduces the stripboard, it lists the information each scene carries: scene number, interior or exterior, the location in the script, a scene description, day or night, the characters who appear, the actual shooting location, and the length counted in eighths of a page. Use the same set of fields for the breakdown sheet header, and you can carry them straight over when you build the stripboard:

Scene number: for scenes added in a rewrite, we suggest inserting them as 5A, 5B and so on, so the old scene numbers do not all have to be renumbered and the breakdown already done still lines up. This is a practical suggestion, not a rule.
Interior or exterior.
Day or night, or dawn or dusk.
The set in the script, and the actual shooting location. The two are not always the same: the script may say "stationery shop" while the shoot actually borrows a hardware shop.
The characters who appear, including those without dialogue.
Length. StudioBinder's stripboard counts length in eighths of a page; Chinese scripts without a fixed page layout may not have reliable page counts, so you can record the number of dialogue lines and action lines instead (see Estimating runtime and shoot days from a script).

If the script, like this site's demo script, opens each scene with the three lines 時／景／人 (time, set, characters), the day or night, set and characters are already given (the demo script's 景 line also notes interior or exterior), so the header only needs the actual shooting location and the length.

What each of the nine categories holds

Every software package and every crew has its own habits for dividing categories. This site's script breakdown demo uses nine categories. The descriptions below come from the demo's own category definitions, and the examples all come from the fictional demo script Morning Light Stationery (《晨光文具店》); the text in 「」 quotes the original Chinese script, with an English gloss.

Category	What it holds	Example from the demo script
Cast	The characters appearing in each scene, plus extras and crowd items	Students with school bags: 「站著幾個背書包的學生」 (a few students with school bags standing there)
Stunts	Action that needs a stunt coordinator, doubles, wire work, fights, falls, vehicle action or any safety measures	Missing a step: 「陳志明踏空一級」 (Chan Chi-ming misses a step)
Props	Objects a character holds or uses, or that are touched within the scene	Cash register: 「收銀機發出一聲短響，抽屜彈開」 (the cash register gives a short beep and the drawer springs open)
Wardrobe / Make-up	Clothes, shoes and socks, accessories, hairstyles, make-up, injury make-up, blood and dirt	Navy apron: 「繫著深藍色圍裙」 (wearing a navy apron)
Set dressing	The fixed dressing that makes up the set, such as furniture, signs and ornaments, and any changes the set needs	Ceiling fan: 「店內只有一把吊扇在轉」 (only a ceiling fan turning in the shop)
Graphics / Screens	Printed matter and screen images that need separate design or production, such as letters, posters, ID documents and phone screens	Phone screen: 「把手機畫面轉向陳志明」 (turns the phone screen towards Chan Chi-ming)
Shooting requirements	Special on-set arrangements, such as special lighting, rain machines, smoke machines, lifts, animals, babies and crowd numbers	Morning light: 「陽光斜斜照在地磚上」 (sunlight slanting across the floor tiles)
Permits	The applications to handle, listed by the region the shooting location is in	Generated from the region entered; not tied to any scene
Effects / Music	Post-production effects, computer animation, and sound or music that needs separate handling	The cash register's short beep: 「發出一聲短響」 (gives a short beep)

The boundaries between categories inevitably have grey areas. For the same cash register, the drawer springing open is a prop, while the sound of it opening, if it is added in post, is listed separately under Effects / Music. What matters is that the whole crew uses the same definitions, and that the same item keeps the same name across scenes.

Why every item should quote the script

Three weeks later, few people remember which scene or situation a line reading "apron" on the breakdown refers to. Quoting the script has three practical uses:

Easy checking. When the props department gets the list, they can see how the script puts it without leafing through the script again.
Knowing which line to change in a rewrite. If a sentence in the script changes, searching for the quoted text finds the affected items; if the quote cannot be found in the new draft, that item needs re-confirming.
Separating what the script says from what the breakdown added. If the script says "boxes of ballpoint pens" without a number, that is a question for the director, and the breakdown should not fill in a number on its own.

In this site's demo, every item carries a line quoted from the script, and the test program checks line by line that each quote really appears within that scene. You can apply the same rule to your own breakdown: for items with no quote to cite, note in the remarks who raised them and on what basis.

Colour-coding conventions

When breaking down on paper, the common practice is to mark the script with different coloured highlighters. The English Wikipedia article "Script breakdown" lists a set of colours and symbols commonly used in the industry, and notes that the table is cited from Cleve, Film Production Management (2012):

Element	Colour or symbol
Speaking cast	Red
Stunts	Orange
Extras with specific action and no dialogue	Yellow
Background extras	Green
Special effects	Blue
Props	Purple
Vehicles and animals	Pink
Sound effects or music needed on set (excluding sound added in post)	Brown
Wardrobe	Circle
Make-up and hair	Asterisk
Special equipment	Box
Production notes	Underline

StudioBinder's article states that the specific colours can vary from person to person. So when you take over someone else's breakdown, check their legend first and do not assume what the colours mean. This site's demo keeps the red, orange, purple and blue from the table above for its cast, stunts, props and effects categories; the other five categories use colours defined by this site.

Commonly missed items

Props implied by action. If the script says "he takes a sip of coffee", the cup, the coffee and the coaster all need listing.
Wardrobe continuity. Wikipedia's description of wardrobe specifically mentions continuity when clothes are torn or dirtied during the shoot. If the same garment appears in several scenes, note which ones, and consider preparing spares.
Screen images and printed matter. Phone messages, computer screens, newspapers and ID documents all need someone to design and produce them, and may involve copyright or trademarks.
Number of extras. Scripts often say "a few students" or "a crowd of passers-by"; when breaking down, record that this number is not yet decided.
Items that need applications. Roads, parks, drones, replica uniforms and prop firearms each have their own channel (see Filming permits in Hong Kong: which department to start with).

After the breakdown

Once the breakdown sheet is complete, the next step is to turn each scene into a strip and work out the shooting order (see Building the stripboard). Adding up the items in each category gives the first draft of the budget, and you can use the budget allocation calculator to set out the department ratios first. To see what a complete breakdown looks like, run through the demo script in the interactive demo; the results can be downloaded as Excel.

Frequently asked questions

Who should do the script breakdown?

English Wikipedia says the breakdown is usually the job of the first assistant director. If a short film team has no dedicated AD, name one person to be responsible for the whole breakdown, and have the same person check it whenever the script is revised.

Does a breakdown have to use nine categories?

No. Every software package and every crew has its own way of dividing categories. Nine categories is the scheme used in this site's demo; what matters is that the whole crew uses the same definitions.

Is there a single standard for colour coding?

Wikipedia lists a set of colours commonly used in the industry, such as red for cast and purple for props; StudioBinder states that the specific colours can vary from person to person. When you take over someone else's breakdown, check the legend first.

Should things the script does not mention go into the breakdown?

They can, but note that they were added during the breakdown, and that they need confirming with the director or the department concerned. Keep items that quote the script clearly separate from items that were added.

References

Wikipedia, "Script breakdown" (English): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Script_breakdown
StudioBinder, "Script Breakdown Colors — How Colors Work in a Breakdown" (English): www.studiobinder.com/blog/script-breakdown-colors/
StudioBinder, "How to Make a Better Shooting Schedule with a Stripboard" (English): www.studiobinder.com/blog/shooting-schedule-stripboard/
GET SHOTS DONE, interactive script breakdown demo (category definitions and demo script; Traditional Chinese): getshotsdone.com/demo

The pages above were accessed on 31 October 2026.

Published 25 September 2026. Last updated: 31 October 2026.