How I breakdown films? Before directing.
Before directing is like the quiet before the storm. A director locks himself away, becomes a lone wolf. To say the least, it’s a very interesting process — and that’s an understatement.
The key here is pre-visualization. What do you see on the page?
It’s a multi-step process. I emphasize pre-visualization because it’s crucial — we’re talking about a visual medium, about wanting to see and reflect what’s on the page. This assumes the script itself is written visually, like a movie. Like I said, it’s a multi-step process. Here’s a simple overview (there are different versions of it — for example, action breakdown, shotlist breakdown). I’ll show you a sample of an action breakdown from a film I’m working on.
For example, in this scene (the film is set in one location, by the way), I’m thinking about what the character does, even though the scene opens on a black screen. The pre-visual (not scripted) is: he opens a closet to reveal a map of Palestine. This moment is important because it plants a seed that will come back later in the story — why the map, what it means, etc.
The next scene shows the character writing in a notebook. We also want to know what he’s thinking (the subtext) and why he decides to call his grandfather at this moment — out of worry. The action helps us think about his process, what he’s going through. To increase tension, we want the phone to ring a few times, with him standing as he waits. Only when his grandfather answers, and he makes sure he’s alright, does he sit down.
The subtext when the grandfather says, “You’re bored?” is really: Are you worried?
Then we establish the transition into the next line: why Fattah Jr. wants to go to Cairo to study, building toward the next scene, and so on.
It’s important not to let the character just sit and talk to the screen. Show, don’t tell. Always think of the visual, even when there aren’t many visuals in the scene — no other characters, limited locations, etc.
Going back to my main point: it’s very important to determine the pre-visual. Sometimes you can create it, even if it doesn’t exist in the script. It all depends on the story, the layers of emotion, and why the characters do what they do — in other words, what they want and what their main objective is. But that’s a whole different story.