Actor/Scene Breakdowns

[PSMKay]

Actor/Scene breakdown attached in Excel format.

[PSMKay]

Actor/Scene breakdown in PDF format.

[Didaskalos]

Entrance and Exit chart for "Meet Me In St Louis," in Excel format.

Note: the symbol legend is in the footer of the document.  Symbols used are listed below, but obviously you could select your own.

< = entrance
> = exit
<> = entrance and exit on same page
OS = lines delivered offstage

[Aerial]

Here is a scene/character breakdown that I did for a new play with most of the cast playing multiple roles.  It can easily be adapted into an entrance/exit plot.

[Jessie_K]

I apologize if this ends up as a duplicate post.  My browser has been acting up.

Anyway.  I just finished a production of Serious Money by Caryl Churchill.  20 actors, 50+ characters, 20some scenes.  I created this character map to keep track of character doubling and scene breakdowns.  I used it to help create rehearsal schedules and costume tracking and quick change info.

Enjoy. PDF format.  The whole document is too large so here's just Act I.

[dramaqueenja]

50+ characters? That's just insane... That is an excellent idea and very organized. With a cast that big, what other kind of organizational problems did you run into?

[Jessie_K]

Organizational problems  . . .

Props tracking was challenging, but with two ASM's it went pretty well.

The biggest problem was making sure that we had all of the people on time and ready to go and gathering people after breaks.  I didn't want to institute a sign-in procedure for every rehearsal, so we did a lot of head counting and searching for that one person that wandered off during break.

Even though it was a complex show, it actually all went pretty smoothly.  Due to the intensity of the script I was very diligent about prep, so I knew the script REALLY well even before rehearsals started.  This was very helpful for me and the director throughout the process.

The character map was so helpful, I will definately do it again on my next big show.  (My current play has only 2 people and 4 props, so I am living the easy life right now.)

[uersel]

Hi guys

I just made a blank version of the breakdown I normally use. I started with this during my time at the german 42nd street and refined it at we will rock you. I did not include all the features I use in the actual show because there too specialized.
The first tab is the basic breakdown with some special gadgets. If you fill in a standard text (I left some examples), then the field becomes kind of yellowish, if the field-content starts with "X" (for costume-change) it switches to grey and the letters become red and so on...
In the second tab you find a example for a costum-scenario, connected to the first basic breakdown. If you update the the first, the second ist updated automatically. Like this the scenario is very easy to update for example during castchanges!

If you're friendly with excel and willing to give in some time, there is a lot more possibilities for extracting special scenarios from the basic breakdown like: simple on and off lists, overviews for cut-lists, special patch-list for the sound-guys and so on...
have fun with it! 

[themikejones]

Here's the Character/Scene Breakdown format I use. 

[Sarah]

Entrance and Exit chart for "Meet Me In St Louis," in Excel format.

Note: the symbol legend is in the footer of the document.  Symbols used are listed below, but obviously you could select your own.

< = entrance
> = exit
<> = entrance and exit on same page
OS = lines delivered offstage

I use similar symbols in my horizontal breakdowns, too, Didaskalos.

I've attached a small cast version of a French Scene Breakdown that I've employed on many small cast shows.

[saricker]

Here's what I've found works well for me.

[erin]

I go back and forth between horizontal and vertical set ups, very happy with current show because it allows for vertical, and fits neatly into notebook in portrait orientation    I've attached one vertical, one horizontal.  I also include where costume changes fall, and eventually timings for costume changes.  Wardrobe loves them.

[MarcieA]

Scene Breakdown, in Excel

There's tracking underneath to note when it is blocked, tweaked, ran, etc.

This one was for a reading so it's only the first act. I also added a line in that tracking to note what day the rehearsal was scheduled for since we only had a week.

[Rhynn]

Here's my version in Excel format.  I use colors to designate different character groups so it is easier to track.

[Rhynn]

Here's another actor/scene breakdown--this one in Word.