Script Analysis: “Birdman: Or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

After a first pass, it’s time to crack open the script for a deeper analysis and you can do that by creating a scene-by-scene breakdown. It is precisely what it sounds like: A list of all the scenes in the script accompanied by a brief description of the events that transpire.

For purposes of this exercise, I have a slightly different take on scene. Here I am looking not just for individual scenes per se, but a scene or set of scenes that comprise one event or a continuous piece of action. Admittedly this is subjective and there is no right or wrong, the point is simply to break down the script into a series of parts which you then can use dig into the script’s structure and themes.

The value of this exercise:

• We pare down the story to its most constituent parts: Scenes.
• By doing this, we consciously explore the structure of the narrative.
• A scene-by-scene breakdown creates a foundation for even deeper analysis of the story.

Today: Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). You may download the script here.

Written by Alejandro González Iñárritu & Nicolás Giacobone & Alexander Dinelaris & Armando Bo.

IMDb plot summary: A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to the opening of his Broadway play.

Birdman
Scene-by-scene breakdown
By Doc Kane
GoIntoTheStory.com

A fireball descends from the upper atmosphere … pointed, with two trailing ends. (CU on intense flame.)

1–2: Riggan Thomson levitates facing the window of his small theater dressing room. He appears to be meditating, wearing only his underwear, and in full lotus position. A voice: “We don’t belong in this shithole … smells like balls.”

The sound of an incoming Skype call interrupts the calm. His daughter (and assistant) Sam is phoning from outside a Korean market where she’s attempting to buy him flowers — anything but roses — Alchemillas would be perfect. The storeowner is more aggravating than helpful. Sam abruptly hangs up.

… Riggan is paged over intercom to come to the stage by the Stage Manager.

3: The theater hallway. Riggan chats with the play’s producer, Jake, about the poor acting skills of his lead actor, Ralph. Everything would be better if he could get him to stop acting as though “he’s in an educational video for syphilis … .”

3–5: Onstage, Riggan enters during rehearsal of the “kitchen table” scene. The play: Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” He seats himself among: Leslie, Laura and Ralph. The acting is stilted. Bam! A stage light crashes onto Ralph’s head. Riggan exits, Jake in pursuit.

6–7: Jake: “We’ll have the understudy ready to rehearse in five … ” No. Riggan wants to cancel the play’s preview. Jake resists: “It’s a full house!”

8: Still walking … Riggan tells Jake: “I made it happen.” (Claiming responsibility for the light crashing down on Ralph.) Jake thinks he’s drunk. If Riggan can’t cancel, he wants a known actor — not the understudy.

8–9: Riggan outpaces Jake, entering his dressing room. Tries to shut the door … no go … Jake has a quick foot. Jake thinks Ralph will sue. Riggan listens quietly. Then: “just get out there and do what you were born to do.” Slam.

9–10: Riggan, alone in his dressing room. An entertainment news channel mid-segment discussing Robert Downey Jr. in the new “Iron Man.” Riggan slams off the set, and sits. The voice heard while Riggan was meditating is back: “Downey is a hack … and he’s making a fortune.” [Note: a poster from a movie called “Birdman 3” can be seen. The superhero Birdman is a younger Riggan.] Riggan begins a mantra to quiet the voice, which we now recognize is Birdman.

10: A knock. It’s Laura. Are they still going to have dinner together? Riggan is stuck in his own head, and can’t focus. He asks her to leave.

11: The door closed, Birdman reminds Riggan “they’re” about to be humiliated with this insane attempt at a Broadway production. Riggan spots Sam’s flower delivery: Roses! Rage. He stares intently at the vase … then, with force, it flies off the table and smashes against the wall.

11–12: Later. Riggan’s dressing room: a press junket. Riggan fields questions from inconsequential journos about him being a washed-up Hollywood star.

13–14: Jake enters, dismisses the journos. Tells Riggan “publicity” is trying to secure a feature in the New York Times. Riggan is more focused on removing the Birdman one-sheet from the wall. Jake says, “the perfect actor isn’t just going to knock on the door … .” Then, as if by miracle, a knock.

14–17: Leslie peeks in, and suggests her boyfriend Mike Shiner as Ralph’s replacement. Mike is popular with critics and audiences alike. Excited, Jake rushes out, and heads down the hallway to the stage. Annie, the stage director, is there. They’re gonna’ need the lights up and a copy of the script pronto!

17–21: Later. Shiner and Riggan meet under faded stage light. “Do you have any idea who walked these boards before you?” Shiner’s passion for the theater is potent. He’s also been practicing lines with Leslie and wants to show Riggan his chops. They do the scene Ralph kept butchering … Riggan is in awe.

21: Sam enters. Larry, the production’s costume designer, needs Shiner for a fitting. Sam attempts to introduce herself, but her responses are muted by Riggan’s speaking for her. Shiner and Sam depart.

22: In the hallway. Shiner introduces himself to Sam — she knows who he is. Shiner compliments her on having a great ass.

23: Costume department. Shiner strips naked for a stunned Larry. Sam remains, scanning her smart phone, out of sight from the entrance.

24: Leslie enters, oblivious to Sam’s presence. Shiner admires himself in the mirror. Leslie suggests he might want to cover up as Sam might be around. Surprise. Shiner fills her in on Sam’s presence. Leslie apologies. Sam makes nothing of it, “he’s a handful, huh?” she says, as she exits.

25: Embarrassed, Leslie reminds Shiner of the importance of this Broadway show to her career, begs him not to “fuck it up.” Larry is back with some clothes, then exits, (the camera trailing) …

26: A hallway in the theater. Jake and Riggan. Shiner wants more money than they can afford. Riggan insists he’ll find a way to get it.

27: Riggan and Jake split paths at the stage. Laura is there, and asks about Shiner. Riggan affirms he’s onboard. Laura has some news to share as well –

she’s missed her last two periods. Quiet from Riggan. A slap from Laura. She kisses him, then walks away, tossing back: “First preview tomorrow, here we go!”

29–30: Showtime. Shiner, Laura and Leslie are acting out the kitchen table scene. It’s going fabulously. Riggan and Annie watch from side stage, where she lets him in on a secret: Shiner has replaced the prop bottle of gin with real gin.

31: New prop bottle in hand, Riggan enters, replacing the onstage gin bottle with the new prop. Riggan, then presents his monologue about an elderly couple recovering from a car accident in full body casts. The man is depressed because he cannot turn his head to look into the eyes of his wife. True love.

33–34: “What the fuck is this?! Water?!” Shiner breaks character. A tirade. Everything about this production is fake. The only thing real is a bucket of fried chicken in the prop fridge. Riggan flees in disgust. There’s time for one last barb from Shiner. “Hey, this is good ‘bird’ man.”

34: Passing Annie and Jake backstage, Riggan barks to both that he wants Shiner gone. Jake has had enough — Riggan needs a dose of the truth. It’s his job to control Shiner. Jake leaves.

35: Further down the hallway, Shiner rushes Riggan, pinning him up against the wall. “You were good,” he says. They set a meet — in ten minutes, outside the theater. Shiner is gloating. A love-tap to the face for Riggan. Each progress to their respective dressing rooms.

36–39: Meet Sylvia: Riggan’s ex-wife. Sylvia is worried Riggan may be exposing Sam to elements that could disrupt her sobriety. She reminds him, Sam isn’t just his assistant, she’s his daughter. “You don’t have to be a great father right now, you just have to be one.” She exits.

40: Birdman chimes in. Riggan needs to get the hell out of there. He’s also got to meet Shiner — it’s been 10 minutes. Annie notifies him en-route that Shiner’s tanning bed has been delivered. What?

41–42: They head for coffee, arguing along the way which of their careers is more dependent upon the success of the play.

43–46: The “Rum House.” Shiner and Riggan get drinks instead of coffee; argue about breaking character. Shiner: “Nobody fucking cares.” The only thing that matters is what New York Times reviewer Tabitha Dickinson says, who happens to be further down the bar. A tourist family interrupts. Can Shiner take a picture of them with “the guy who played Birdman?”

Shiner has one last question: “Why Raymond Carver?” Riggan pulls a memento from his wallet — a cocktail napkin delivered to him after a high school performance. On it, a message from Carver himself: “ Thank you for an honest performance. Ray Carver.” Riggan shyly admits it was this note that convinced him to be an actor. Shiner: “He wrote it on a cocktail napkin. He was drunk.”

46: Shiner moves to Dickinson. She accuses him of going “Hollywood, and calls Riggan a “Hollywood clown in a Lycra bird suit.” Shiner says she’s a bitter non-artist … like all critics. Riggan and Shiner depart. Riggan back to the theater.

47: The Green Room with Sam. Riggan is complimentary of her efforts with the play. A whiff of marijuana. He’s furious. “You can’t do this to me! I’m trying to do something that’s important.” Now Sam is mad. She plows into him with a diatribe a decade in the making. It’s brutal. She closes: “It’s not important. You’re not important. Get used to it.” She leaves.

50: Riggan retrieves what’s left of Sam’s discarded joint, and lights it up.

51: Onstage. Second preview. Laura describing how Riggan’s character, Nick, is depressed and unaware of her character’s pregnancy. Art imitating life.

51: On the opposite side of Laura’s rotating stage set, Leslie and Shiner get into a bed for the “motel room” scene. Shiner is aroused. Convinced they should have sex onstage, he rolls atop Leslie as the set rotates to face the audience.

Riggan’s role in this climactic scene of the play is to knock wildly on the motel Room door and barge in on Leslie and Shiner’s characters having sex. He has with him a prop gun.

52–54: The scene begins. Shiner leaps out of the covers at the intrusion. The audiences laughs … Shiner’s arousal is visible above his underwear waistband. Riggan continues. To Leslie: “I just wanted to be what you wanted. Now I spend every fucking minute praying to be someone else. Someone I’m not.” He needs to hear something from Leslie. Does she love him? Will she ever? “No.” He points the gun at Leslie, then Shiner. Then, to his head, pulling the trigger. Fake blood and brains splatter the stage as Riggan and the curtain fall. Mild applause.

55: In between curtain calls, Leslie he tells Shiner they’re done as a couple

56: Offstage and into the hallway Laura asks what has Leslie so mad. She fills her in. “That’s kinda’ hot,” says Laura.

56: Leslie’s dressing room. Leslie angrily clears her dressing table of all its contents. She blames herself. Laura reassures her it isn’t her fault. Riggan pops in, tells Leslie she’s ‘beautiful and talented, and that he’s lucky to have her.” Better. But, now Laura needs consoling. Riggan’s never once said anything remotely similar to her. Leslie repeats Riggan’s words back to Laura. Laura leans in and kisses Leslie on the lips. Leslie: “Do it again.”

58: Riggan’s dressing room. Shiner peeks in. Tells him his prop gun looks ridiculous — obviously a toy. “Get a better one.”

59–64: Theater rooftop. Shiner runs into Sam, sitting on the ledge of the building. She likes being up there — it’s the closest thing to a “high” she can get. Sam suggests a game of “Truth or Dare.” Sam only chooses “dare,” Shiner, only “truth.” It’s identifying. Sam departs.

64–66: Riggan’s Dressing Room. Laura hands Riggan an article about Mike in the New York Times with the subhead: “Shiner says Raymond Carver is the reason he became an actor.” Birdman: “He’s fooling you.” Riggan got coverage as well. A blurb on page twelve, buried beneath a car ad, the title: ”From ‘Birdman’ to Carver: an aging action hero grasps for his youth.” Laura leaves him with the news that she’s not pregnant. Slam goes the door.

66: Birdman offers up further commentary. That “theater fuck is stealing your thunder.” Riggan is ready for a confrontation. Off to Shiner’s dressing room.

67: Riggan rips Shiner from the sunbed he had delivered earlier, and begins slapping his sunburned arms and back — “this is my play!” Slams Shiner against a wall. An inch from Shiner’s face, Riggan describes the abuse he suffered at the hands of his drunken father. His sister got the worst of it. Shiner is remorseful. But, it’s a ruse — Riggan can act too. Then, a taunt from Shiner, and a punch in the face delivered by Riggan a second later. They wrestle to the ground. Shiner is granted a reprieve only when he reminds Riggan of what Tabitha will write about the play if he’s fired. Riggan retreats to his dressing room …

70–72: He slams the door, pacing in anger. Birdman recognizes Riggan’s weakness in the moment and accuses Riggan of giving in to that theater “poncey,” Shiner. Breathe. Mantra. Breathe. None of it works. Of course, they don’t. Birdman reminds him: “I’m not a mental formation. I am ‘you,’ asshole.”

Riggan angrily tosses furniture and fixtures across the room with telekinetic powers. He’s soon exhausted. Riggan notices he’s cast a shadow on a nearby wall, but the shadow isn’t of his figure, it’s of him in the Birdman costume. He lifts an arm — the shadow-wing moves with him. “It’s always ‘we,’ brother.”

72: In the hallway outside Riggan’s room, Jake stares at Riggan picking up things and tossing them around the room, screaming at his own shadow.

73: “I can’t do this anymore, Jake.” Again, Riggan wants to cancel the preview. Jake says it’s sold out, they’re lined up around the block and a Saudi prince and Martin Scorsese will be there. Surprised, Riggan says, he’ll be ready.

74: Outside the dressing room, Leslie and Laura overhear the good news about who will be in attendance. Really, they ask? “Yes. And the new Pope too.”

75: Leslie in Riggan’s dressing room. She apologizes for Shiner. Thanks him for helping her realize her dream of acting on Broadway. She leaves.

76–78: The Rooftop — Shiner and Sam. He tells her about the breakup with Leslie. He’d rather talk about Sam. Remind her she shouldn’t hide from her insecurities, and that she’s greater than she believes herself to be. All the drugs and alcohol in the world won’t cover up that greatness. A kiss. Sam turns to depart, and asks “Truth or Dare.” Shiner follows.

79: Sam and Shiner in the rafters. Shiner wants a kiss; Sam, an answer. “How do you go out there and pretend to be someone else in front of all those people?” He doesn’t. Maybe everywhere else, but not onstage. Kiss granted.

79–80: From the rafters to the stage … it’s evening, and the play is underway. It’s Riggan’s monologue about the elderly man. He concludes: “What do we talk about when we talk about love?” Applause. Scene change.

80: Leslie in monologue. She talks about love and marriage, and how even though she and her husband love one another, if it didn’t work out, they’d eventually move on. Love is fleeting. More art imitating life.

81–82: Laura is in the wings, awaiting a set change. She stands next to a proud Riggan getting help undressing into his robe and slippers. He’d like to talk with her after the show. No need. They joke about what awful parents they would have been. Lights up. Laura walks onto the stage. As she does, Riggan sees Sam and Shiner in the wings kissing. Rage. He storms toward an exit door.

82: Outside. Riggan tries a mantra. But it’s New York — way too loud. Forget it. He turns to re-enter the theater only to realize he’s locked himself out. Worse yet, his robe is stuck in the door, so he can’t move from the spot he’s in without ditching the robe. The only way back in is to walk through the streets to the theater entrance in his skivvies. A mad dash.

83: Riggan in full sprint. Onlookers take pictures and videos as he runs. “Birdman!” An autograph request. A kid shouts: “I can see his weenie! ”

84–85: Finally, the theater entrance. Riggan dashes through the lobby passing Ralph in a wheelchair with his attorney, Mr. Roth. Ralph: “I’m going to ruin you!”

85: Riggan continues, running past ushers who don’t recognize him.

85: Inside the theatre. Riggan takes a moment to measure where the scene is. Leslie and Shiner are in bed … they’re still waiting for his knock.

85–86: Riggan owns the moment, suddenly shouting from the back of the theater: “Knock, knock, knock!” The audience spins in their seats at Riggan’s voice, watching the scene now unfold behind them. Up the aisle he goes, Leslie and Shiner playing along. Annie hands him his prop gun just before he hops up onstage. The climactic scene unfolds perfectly.

86: We switch to Jake in the wings talking on his phone about Ralph — presumably with Mr. Roth. We follow Jake. He passes through a stage exit leaving us static in a silent theater hallway. A gunshot. Applause. More silence. We continue down the hallway. Riggan enters, fussing with his bloody wig.

86–89: Riggan’s dressing room. Dinner tonight is bologna and mustard right from the jar. Sam is drawing thousands of hash marks on toilet paper. It’s a tool of perspective they teach in rehab — the dashes represent the six billion years the planet has existed, and each dash represents 100 years. She tears off two sheets and hands them to Riggan. “This is how long humans have been on earth,” Unwittingly, he wipes his face with the toilet paper.

Sam shows Riggan a YouTube video of him running through the streets in his underwear — it’s only been an hour, and it’s already at 350,000 views. Riggan watches the video play on Sam’s phone. A text message. It’s from Shiner: “Truth or Dare.” Riggan returns the phone, gives her permission to duck out.

89: Riggan alone now in the dressing room stares into the mirror. He notices the vase of flowers he telepathically threw across the room a few days earlier is still intact and on the dresser — the flowers, dying.

90: Riggan in the bathroom cleaning up. Without his stage makeup, wig, and dyed hair, we get a glimpse of his true age. He dresses, and leaves the theater. A text from Jake showing him all the hits of the YouTube video.

90–91: The Rum House, later that night. Riggan is drunk. A screen above the bar is broadcasting MTV: 930,000 views as “Birdman goes viral.” Riggan learns Tabitha Dickinson is at the bar. He sees her scribbling in her notebook, grabs the drink meant for her off the bar, and delivers it personally.

91: Riggan shares the story of his Raymond Carver napkin. She could care less. He grabs her notebook, scanning her writing. She’s just a lazy fucker. Nothing on structure or technique … just opinions. Tabitha one-ups him by beckoning a waiter to perform a scene from Shakespeare on cue. “You’re no actor,” she says. “You’re a celebrity. And, I’m going to kill your play.

94: Riggan, now outside the theater, encounters a homeless man shouting into the night sky. Tired from too much of everything, he finds a bench and falls asleep. Night turns to day.

95–96: “God. You look like shit brother.” … it’s Birdman. “Get up. It’s a beautiful day.” As Riggan walks down the street, we see for the first time, Birdman in the flesh walking behind him. Birdman rallies Riggan: “Take back the spotlight! … all you have to do is snap your fingers and … ”

Riggan snaps his fingers twice. An explosion! The streets of New York now look and feel like an action-movie set. “That’s what I’m talking about!” Birdman shouts at Riggan. “They starve for blood and action, not this artsy-fartsy philosophical bullshit! Riggan starts to levitate. “There you go, you motherfucker! See? Gravity doesn’t even apply to you.” Riggan finally has a plan.

97–99: Riggan poised on the ledge of a tall building. A concerned man tries to assist. Riggan dismisses him, runs and leaps off the building as a symphonic film score rises to meet him in flight. He soars over the city. Then, a soft landing just outside the theater. Riggan walks into the lobby. A surprised usher calls out to him. Riggan simply says: “Stop the music,” further puzzling the usher. (The music stops.) A cabbie runs from the sidewalk asking assistance from the usher.

99: Day turns to night. The marquee is lit. Applause from inside. The doors open. INTERMISSION. Theatergoers talk amongst themselves … they’re pleased with the performance.

100–103: Riggan’s Dressing Room. He’s calm for the final scene of the night — the motel scene. Sylvia arrives to compliment him on a job well done. He decides to disclose to Sylvia that the night she tossed him out of their house for sleeping with another woman, he tried to drown himself in the ocean. He failed only because jellyfish attacked him, forcing him out of the water. Riggan says he loves both her and Sam. A kiss from Sylvia. “You should get back to your seat,” Riggan suggests. “You don’t want to miss what’s next.” Sylvia departs.

… Annie on the speakers … “Places!”

104: Riggan reaches above his dressing room table and pulls a revolver out of a case and loads it. Vocal exercises. He moves toward the dressing room door, and opens it telepathically.

104: As Riggan arrives backstage; Annie wants to fit him with the fake blood mechanism. He says doesn’t need it. It’s time for his motel scene knock.

105: “Terri!” Riggan calls out to Leslie’s character before barging into the motel bedroom set. He brandishes the gun. Shiner knows it’s not a prop. The scene is electric — the audience is completely engaged. Shiner and Leslie act out their parts … they want him to put the gun down. Riggan repeats his familiar line: “You don’t love me do you?” Leslie: “No …

106: Riggan turns to face the audience. (This is new … ) His line, however, remains the same: “I don’t exist. I’m not even here. I don’t exist. None of this matters.” Trembling and crying he raises the gun, pointing it at Shiner. He imitates the sound a gun makes when fired. He returns to face the audience, and points the gun at Tabitha, seated in the second row. Same sound. He points the gun at his head. A loud explosion. He falls. Blood everywhere. The crowd is on its feet. Only Tabitha remains seated. FADE TO BLACK.

106: Birdman’s voice: “You won’t be hearing from him anymore. He’s gone.”

107: Hospital Waiting Room. The press is everywhere. A corner TV covers Riggan’s story — the “nation is in shock.” Jake enters the room en route to …

107: Riggan’s Hospital Room. Sylvia is there. Jake is his usual self: business minded, and overjoyed at all the attention Riggan and the play is receiving. He’s brought with him a copy of Tabitha’s review, and hands it to Sylvia to read. It’s glowing. Riggan has “given birth to a new form that can only be described as ‘super realism’.” Members of the press barge in. Jake ushers them out, leaving as well. Sylvia asks Riggan if this whole gun incident is an accident. No response.

110: Sam enters, Alchemillas in hand. Sylvia decides to give them some time together and departs. It’s funny, Riggan finally has the flowers he wanted, but having shot off his nose — can’t smell them. Sam takes a picture of him, and posts it on Twitter. In a single day, he’s acquired 80,000 followers! Sam plants a kiss on his head, and ducks out to pick up a vase to contain the Alchemillas.

111: Riggan’s Hospital Room Bathroom. Riggan removes his bandages. Underneath, his nose is reconstructed, but with a large crook — it’s somewhat like a bird’s beak. In the corner of the bathroom Birdman sits, watching while resting on the toilet. Both say nothing. Riggan re-adheres the bandages, and heads back into the room toward the window. Opens it. Fresh air. Sun. Below, media trucks fill the parking lot. Riggan notices birds flying in the sky outside the window. He slides the window open so he can fit through, and stands on the ledge.

… the camera pans …

[Note: photos on the side table include solo shots of Sam as a child, as well as those of Sylvia and Sam together. A copy of Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” is also nearby.] A quiet calm.

112: Sam enters, vase in hand … “Dad?” She checks the bathroom. Nothing. She calls out again. No response. She notices the open window, and hears sound from the parking lot below. She walks towards the window, albeit fearful of what she may discover. She peers downward. Nothing. She looks up, more slowly still. A smile awakens on her face. She’s proud — happy. FADE TO BLACK.

Writing Exercise: I encourage you to read the script, but short of that, if you’ve seen the movie, go through this scene-by-scene breakdown. What stands out to you about it from a structural standpoint?

If you’d like a PDF of the script’s scene-by-scene breakdown, go here.

Major kudos to Doc Kane for doing this week’s breakdown.

For 100+ movie scripts broken down scene by scene, go here.