Script Breakdown — Building Your Foundation

You’ve got the part! Congrats! Your script is neat and lovely, and what’s the first thing to do here? Read it, of course! But what’s next? How about some script analysis?

Script analysis gives you a framework to build on for character development. Follow these steps, and you can begin rehearsal with confidence. Get to know your character, get familiar with the text.

Don’t be afraid to make your script messy — nothing we ever do should be set in stone, why should a script be? So grab a pencil and don’t hesitate to mess around. We change our minds; we rethink stuff over and over as we render the material familiar. And once we get into rehearsal our work will have to melt together with the director’s vision and work of every member of the cast. Think of script breakdown as a place to begin.

Step One:

Cross out any stage directions.
Stage directions in a script can come from a mixture of places.
Sometimes they’re added by the screenwriter to give you a sense of their intentions, sometimes they’re based on the blocking of the original production or are merely technical. Other times stage directions are added by the publisher/editor to help explain something for the reader. We’d never suggest to disregard them completely but for script analysis, cross them out. You can always restore everything after you’ve done this, if you need, hence the pencil.

Step Two:

Mark any significant changes/shifts in tone or character development.

We suggest using two forward slashes for this (i.e., //). These go anywhere in the text where there is a change. A change in mood, a change in language, a change in tactic.
Here’s a completely contrived example to illustrate:

JACK: I can’t believe you slashed my tire. Why would you do something like that?

Becomes

JACK: I can’t believe you slashed my tire. // Why would you do something like that?

Do you see the beat? Jack goes from reflecting on the damage to the car to a demand for information. First, he’s in disbelief. Now he wants answers. You will explore the reason for the change in rehearsal, but at this point, we just want to note the beat.

If you haven’t done this sort of stuff before, you might struggle to find these; here’s a quick tip to finding them: Pick a random pair of sentences and put the marks between them. Ask yourself, “What shift does the character make between these two sentences?” If you can come up with a clear answer, they stay. If not, they go.

There’s no right or wrong when doing this kind of work, for this isn’t science; it’s art. We are bringing our interpretation to the role.
When you eventually stage the piece, these marks will serve as guideposts. They may be times where you sit, stand, or move. You may speak louder or softer, faster or slower, or pause. You get the idea. These markings will create some dynamic for your character.

Step Three:

Mark significant words.

What are the most important words in the speech?
We suggest marking these words with a “>” on top. It’s a technique borrowed from the accent mark used in music.
These are the pinnacles of your speech. They’re the framework everything else is built on. These are the words you want to make sure are heard by the audience and by the other characters.
When you’ve finished marking the words, read them in order. They should give you a rough idea of what is the story about.

Step Four:

Understand the words.

Read the text and make sure you understand every word you speak. Look up all the words you don’t understand (or words you don’t often use in your personal life) in the dictionary. Make sure you fully apprehend what the character is saying. List the definitions in the margins of your script.
If you’re confident, you know them all, pick some of the words that you marked with a > and look them up — even simple words can have multiple meanings. Try and understand why the screenwriter chose those words in particular.

Step Five:

Ask questions.

The last step is pretty important, be sure not to skip it, for it will lead you to all sorts of beautiful explorations in rehearsal.
Read through your text and ask questions about your character: “How?” or “Why?” or “Is this true?” They are the questions you’ll answer through the course of rehearsal. You might discuss some of them with the director; you might not. You may still not have an answer for these questions, but they will give you valuable insights into your character and make you a better actor, for you can only convince the viewer in you really know what the character is feeling.

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