What's printed on it
A day break on a printed board or one-liner typically reads:
END OF DAY 6. TUE OCT 6. 5 2/8 PAGES.
Some boards add the running total ("27 4/8 of 97 3/8") so you can see progress through the script. The day number comes from counting day breaks from the top of the board. Delete one and every later day renumbers.
The math under a day break
The page total is the sum of every scene strip since the previous day break. For day 6 with scenes at 1 3/8, 2 4/8, 5/8, and 6/8:
- Whole pages: 1 + 2 = 3
- Eighths: 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 18/8, which is 2 2/8
- Day total: 5 2/8
Banners in the same stretch count zero. If you split scene 42 into two parts across a day break, only the part above counts for this day.
Using day breaks to shape a week
Day breaks are how an AD tries different versions of the same week. Say days 5 and 6 are both at the garage, with 9 4/8 pages total and the heavier scenes early. Dragging the day break down two strips gives day 5 more pages and day 6 fewer. The AD might do this to put a lighter day before a night shoot or to finish an actor a day sooner and save a hold day.
The page count is only part of what the AD looks at while moving a break. Day exterior scenes need to fit the daylight, and scenes with the same cast should sit together. The page count calculator helps check totals after moves.
Confusions and slips
The word collides with "daybreak" as a time of day in screenplays. On a schedule, "Day break" always means the divider.
Software handles weekends and days off in different ways. Some programs need a day break plus a banner strip saying "WEEKEND" and a calendar setting to skip the dates; others take the dates from the production calendar. If your one-liner shows Saturday dates on a five-day week, check how days off are set.
A forgotten day break is easy to spot: one day with 11 pages and the next day missing entirely. Scan the stripboard totals before publishing. The stripboard template includes a day break row format for spreadsheet users.