Author Topic: Paperwork: Character Breakdown?  (Read 6972 times)

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Fisheje198rm

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Paperwork: Character Breakdown?
« on: Jul 18, 2006, 01:15 am »
might be a newb question.... <hides>...

anyhoo.... is it the same to  the actor/scene breakdown in the uploaded forum? if not.  can someone explain the conpect of the character breakdown....

the play i am working on is "the Crucible", however we are not doing the whole play. just act 3.  and only erm.... 1 scene... how do i extacly do a character breakdown (or actor/scene breakdown)?

the PSM is bugging me to get it done.... 


heres the first 10 pages of the script i have uploaded to give you all a taste of the type of script am working on. 
this is the American Sign LAngauge theatre Script.  the BOLD lettering is the Sign Language Gloss, and the "normal Lettering" is the English verison of the Crucible Script.
« Last Edit: Feb 11, 2008, 12:42 pm by PSMKay »

loebtmc

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Re: Character Breakdown?
« Reply #1 on: Jul 18, 2006, 02:51 pm »
Wow - they are doing a rewrite....

the breakdown is the same no matter what language you are using - take the script and, page by page, character by character, write down who appears where, who enters and who exits and where from (if I were on my own computer, I'd send you a sample) -

for example, for what you are discussing, I do two charts, one focusing on the scene breakdown and the other on character.

(I think across rather than down, reverse if you think opposite)

CHARACTER: an excel or word chart with categories across and down. Across the top of the page, each column is one character. Down the L side the columns separate into
act:scene   /   page   /  who enters or exits on a page by page basis (I use X for enter and (x) for exit). If you need this and if you have room, you can also add area, as in XUL or (x)DR or etc

SCENE: excel or word, depending on which you are more comfortable with
going DOWN, list the act:scene and page, and then ACROSS the columns state: who is in the scene (actors who enter late on separate lines below); songs (in a musical); where it is located (the church, the bedroom, etc); the general story of the scene; props (and depending on the play, sometimes I add in info from the prop list, such as who handles it, or brings it in, or what side of the stage it travels from and to); and any notes (gags and tricks, notes to yourself abt tricky overlap cues, etc). Where possible I include the entr/exit locations on this one too -

yes there is dup info, but you never know where you will catch the oddest mistakes and this acts as a crosscheck (Romeo can't come from SR into the tomb cuz yesterday you told him to run off SR to Friar Lawrence's house... that kind of thing)

does this make sense?

Fisheje198rm

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Re: Character Breakdown?
« Reply #2 on: Jul 18, 2006, 03:09 pm »
Wow - they are doing a rewrite....

the breakdown is the same no matter what language you are using - take the script and, page by page, character by character, write down who appears where, who enters and who exits and where from (if I were on my own computer, I'd send you a sample) -

for example, for what you are discussing, I do two charts, one focusing on the scene breakdown and the other on character.

(I think across rather than down, reverse if you think opposite)

CHARACTER: an excel or word chart with categories across and down. Across the top of the page, each column is one character. Down the L side the columns separate into
act:scene   /   page   /  who enters or exits on a page by page basis (I use X for enter and (x) for exit). If you need this and if you have room, you can also add area, as in XUL or (x)DR or etc

SCENE: excel or word, depending on which you are more comfortable with
going DOWN, list the act:scene and page, and then ACROSS the columns state: who is in the scene (actors who enter late on separate lines below); songs (in a musical); where it is located (the church, the bedroom, etc); the general story of the scene; props (and depending on the play, sometimes I add in info from the prop list, such as who handles it, or brings it in, or what side of the stage it travels from and to); and any notes (gags and tricks, notes to yourself abt tricky overlap cues, etc). Where possible I include the entr/exit locations on this one too -

yes there is dup info, but you never know where you will catch the oddest mistakes and this acts as a crosscheck (Romeo can't come from SR into the tomb cuz yesterday you told him to run off SR to Friar Lawrence's house... that kind of thing)

does this make sense?

yes, thanks, plus i do everything in excel.  except the script which is done on word.   your statement above makes sense. looks like i better get on it... due thursday....  ;D

Tigerrr

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Re: Character Breakdown?
« Reply #3 on: Jul 19, 2006, 11:03 am »
I haven't done a page by page breakdown for the show I'm working on because the script is already broken down into French scenes (i.e., new scene when someone enters/exits), so a scene breakdown is perfectly fine for my needs.  I'm uploading the one I've been working with lately.

Fisheje198rm

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Re: Character Breakdown?
« Reply #4 on: Jul 19, 2006, 11:37 am »
woot!  ;D took me most of the night to do it.   however its done.   erm.... not really.  need to polish up  but once i am done ill upload it  to show my format i use in excel  ;)

loebtmc

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Re: Character Breakdown?
« Reply #5 on: Jul 19, 2006, 03:06 pm »
try to make it as complete as possible, and don't worry if you change it - it might alter during production as cast members are added or removed from scenes in places not mentioned in the script. This is just a jumping-off point, but is extremely helpful for setting rehearsals, costume fittings, tech stuff etc

 

riotous