Analog or digital production scheduling tool where each scene is represented as a color-coded strip, sorted by shoot day.
Technical Details
A professional strip board features 14 columns for production information: scene number, interior/exterior, day/night, location, page count, cast (usually 8 columns), props, and special notes. Color coding follows industry-wide standards: yellow for day-exterior, blue for night-exterior, white for day-interior, orange for night-interior, and green for twilight scenes. The strips can be flexibly moved and rearranged using magnetic holders or clamp rails. Modern versions also utilize magnetic whiteboards with labelable strips.
History & Development
The strip board evolved in the 1930s in Hollywood studios as a response to more complex production workflows and rising budgets. Producer Irving Thalberg at MGM is considered a pioneer of systematic strip planning from 1935 onwards. The system became industry-wide in the 1940s and remained virtually unchanged until the 1990s. The gradual digitalization began only with the introduction of digital scheduling software like Movie Magic Scheduling (1991), though many experienced production managers still swear by the tactile strip board.
Practical Use in Film
For "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), producer Sam Spiegel used a 2-meter-long strip board for the 287 scenes of the desert production. Director David Lean rearranged the strips daily to optimally utilize weather conditions and light changes. Modern productions like "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015) combined digital planning with physical strip boards for complex action sequences. The tactile interaction allows for spontaneous adjustments directly on set and provides all departments with an immediate visual overview of changes. The strip board reduces idle time by an average of 15-20% compared to unstructured planning.
Comparison & Alternatives
Unlike the shooting schedule, the strip board does not show the chronological order of the story but the optimized production sequence based on logistical criteria. Digital alternatives such as Gorilla Scheduling or StudioBinder offer automatic calculations and resource allocation but lack the tactile flexibility of the analog system. Hybrid solutions combine basic digital planning with physical boards for daily fine-tuning. For low-budget productions under 500,000 Euros, the classic strip board continues to dominate, while large-scale productions rely on fully digital workflows.