Script Analysis: “Nope” — 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: Nope (2022). You may read the script here.

Written by Jordan Peele.

Plot summary: The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Nope
Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
By Lora Covrett
GoIntoTheStory.com

P. 1–2 On the set of TV sitcom, “Gordy’s Home” filming a birthday scene for Gordy. Gordy, a chimpanzee actor, goes off script and violently attacks one of his co-stars, Mary Jo Elliot. Others on set are Tom, Lil Jupe, and Phyllis.

P. 3–6 At Haywood Ranch, radio reports missing hikers and high winds expected. Otis Sr and OJ (Otis’s son) are training horses for film/tv roles. Horses: Ghost, Firefly, Beethoven, Commodore, Virgil, Clover. OJ’s sister is noticeably absent. Wind kicks up. No cell service. Things start falling from the sky. Something fell on Otis Sr and OJ rushes him to the hospital where he dies. A nickel landed on his brain and killed him. A house key with keyring attached is lodged in the back side of the horse (Ghost) Otis Sr had been sitting on. Title card: NOPE. Muybridge old, black and white

P. 7–12 Buster, first AD, Bonnie Clayton, the star, Fynn, the director? (his role is not specified), Antlers (Ant) Holst, cinematographer, and OJ are onset. OJ has Lucky, one of the horses from Haywood Hollywood Horses. It’s been 6 months since Sr. died. Emerald (Em), OJ’s sister arrives to give the safety rundown and to introduce the Haywoods as descendants of the Muybridge jockey. Lucky kicks a makeup bag because he gets spooked by his reflection in the VFX ball.

P. 12–13 Grizz, line producer, suggests it might be too soon for OJ to fill his father’s shoes. They need the money. OJ and Em ride in silence.

P. 14–16 Nostalgic drive past a car dealership with rows of sky dancers. (will see these again) Home is Jupiter’s Claim, a Frontier-Town theme park. New name preparing for grand opening. The old park went bankrupt. OJ’s been selling off Sr.’s horses. Main street of Jupiter’s is a kid-sized town. Park brothers — Colton, Phoenix and Max chase an actor dressed as a robber. Amber Park, Jupiter manager, Barb, accountant, are in the office.

P. 17–21 Ricky “Jupe” Park is the park owner. OJ brings Lucky to sell today after he cost them the TV commercial job. Ricky was Lil Jupe in Gordy’s Home. He was 12, he is 35 now. Em recognizes him and he gives them a free tour of his “Gordy’s Home” room at the park.

P. 21–22 Flashback to Lil Jupe with blood on his face, terrified. Back to present — at home. OJ tells Em that Jupe offered to buy Hayward ranch.

P. 23–24 Em holds a grudge against her pops (Otis Sr.) for selling her horse, Jean Jacket. Flashback to that day: OJ does two fingers to his eyes, then to Em’s to say, “we see eye to eye.”

P. 25–28 Black card: GHOST. Ghost takes off while Em is drunk. OJ goes after him on his ATV. Cell tower lights go out. Jupiter’s Claim goes dark. ATV headlights go out. We can hear Ghost crying in the night. Power goes out back at Otis Sr.’s office where Em is as the wind whips up around OJ. OJ sees a blimp-sized oval in the sky. When OJ returns, he reviews the security camera feed. Was it a UFO? They will need proof. He asks if there’s a word for a “bad miracle.” Em says “Nope.”

P. 28–32 Em and OJ go to the electronics store to get more cameras. They are going to try to capture the UFO and sell the image for $100K. To Oprah. Angel Torres is the store clerk.

P. 32–36 Angel returns to the ranch with them to help OJ set up the cameras. Camera A on the roof of the indoor arena. Camera B in the western hills. Both are skyward facing. Angel keeps talking about capturing UFO footage. Or UAP, as Angel calls them. Em returns with an aluminum decoy horse that has a grand opening streamer hanging (stolen from Jupiter’s Claim).

P. 36–38 Jupe arrives. He knows Em took the aluminum horse from him but doesn’t call her out. Awkward. Jupe leaves a flier for his new show at Jupiter’s Claim. Angel knows something is up and it’s not a decoy horse.

P. 38–40 Angel offers to monitor the camera feeds remotely but Em and OJ decline.

P. 40–42 Black card: CLOVER. Arm falls asleep watching Oprah. OJ finds the sprinklers on in the indoor dirt pitch of the ranch. Turns them off and heads toward the security room, as he does they turn on again. Two aliens appear and approach OJ. Nope. OJ fumbles with his phone trying to get a picture. A third alien screams at OJ and he punches the alien in the face. The “alien” turns out to be Colton, Jupe’s son. It’s all three of the Park boys. Em arrives as OJ is recovering. The boys let Clover out in retaliation for Em stealing the decoy horse earlier.

P. 43–46 Angel and Nessie are at the Fry store monitoring the cameras at Haywood. OJ is out in the valley to retrieve Clover. Em watches on the security cameras. A praying mantis blocks camera A as camera B goes down. Angel calls Em about the bug on the camera and they remain on the phone as the wind sucks up the decoy horse into a hole in the bottom of the cloud. Clover runs off leaving OJ out there. The source of the wind is one stationary cloud. The cloud chases OJ. OJ makes it to the shed. Em’s phone dies, power is out.

P. 46–48 Em throws sour patch candies at the praying mantis from the roof of the indoor arena. OJ sees a round flying saucer emerge from the cloud and suck Clover up. The praying mantis hops off the camera while Em is turned around watching the saucer disappear back into the clouds. Em packs her bags and is ready to go. No. No. Nope. But OJ is staying. So Em stays.

P. 48- 51 Flashback to OJ and his dad hearing Ghost making noises outside. Em calls Holst. They want his cinematographic skills to get the shot of the flying saucer. He hangs up on her. Angel arrives in the Fry van.

P. 51–54 Angel has footage of the western sky. A cloud never moves or changes. That’s good. But it ain’t Oprah good. They need more proof. OJ: “What if it’s not a ship?”

P. 54- 56 Black card: GORDY. Flashback to the scene we saw at the beginning. The chimp, Gordy, is attacking Mary Jo. The audience is cleared out. Lil Jupe is there alone, hiding under the dining room table. Tom comes out of hiding and Gordy attacks him as he tries to run to safety. Gordy comes back, covered in blood, looks under the table at Lil Jupe and wants a fist bump. Lil Jupe extends his fist and as their fists approach each other, Gordy’s head blows up. Back to present day,

P. 56- 60 Black card: LUCKY. Angel is tarping the security cameras because of an upcoming storm. OJ finds the flier Jupe brought over earlier and is transfixed on the clip art of the horse. Says he’s going to get Lucky. At Jupiter’s Claim, Jupe introduces Mary Jo. Mary Jo is in an electric wheelchair with a hat and veil and wearing a t-shirt from the Gordy’s Home show. Jupe begins telling a story about a flying saucer. OJ’s horse, Lucky, is on stage in a glass box. Jupe explains they are being surveilled by aliens he calls “Viewers.”

P. 60- 61 The flying saucer is over Jupiter’s Claim with the “grand opening” streamer that was on the decoy horse dangling from it. It’s waiting. Jupe releases Lucky but Lucky doesn’t move. The clouds roll by, but this time the saucer is gone. The crowd is nervous. The slushie machines stop. The saucer re-appears right over Jupe. The “grand opening” flag is coming down on him. Wind kicks up. It’s taking him. Black screen.

P. 62–63 Forty people are sucked up through an opening below a flat, sail-like mass. They are being pushed up through the esophagus of the saucer. The decoy horse blocks everyone from being swallowed. When OJ gets to Juper’s Claim, everything is blown around, destroyed. Slushie machine starts. Lucky is still in the glass box. The saucer is still up there in the sky. The saucer clicks as it maneuvers. It’s flat on one side and dives vertically, flattens out at the opening. Power goes out. The saucer drives down towards Lucky. OJ is slammed to the ceiling by the wind.

P. 64–65 Black screen. OJ wakes up in the tunnel surrounded by debris. Lucky is still here. OJ loads Lucky up to take him home. Angel leaves after tarping the cameras. It’s raining heavily. The storm is here. Angel doesn’t make it far until his van powers down. OJ tells Em over the phone that it’s not a ship. It’s an animal. It ate everyone. It’s alive and it thinks this is its home. The phone dies. Power is out at the house where Em is.

P. 66–67 Angel enters the house where Em is. It’s pouring rain. The wall of rain moves away from the house, forming a dry tube over the house. It’s above them. The thing pukes on them. The sound of metal objects hitting the house. Red rain runs down the windows. Then a loud hit to the house. When OJ arrives, his truck shuts off too but he can see in the lightning the thing over the house and metal objects on the roof.

P. 67 Blood rain on the house. When it stops, OJ gets out. The thing is right above him. Nope. OJ returns to his truck. Metal through the windshield. The decoy horse is in the passenger seat. OJ locks the doors and sits still. Hours later…

P. 68–70 All the power comes back on in the morning. Metal everywhere. Mary Jo’s wheelchair is on the roof. OJ gets closer to the house and power goes out again. Em and Angel arguing inside about whether to leave or not. They don’t know the power is out again. OJ gets in the Fry van because it’s power is not completely dead. Angel and Em are running and the monster is chasing them, swooping down…Flashback to the commercial when Lucky got spooked by the VFS ball and mirror. Back to the present…Em and Angel jump in the van. The object is gone. They leave in the van.

P. 70–73 They go to Angel’s apartment. Holst sees a news story about the disappearances at Jupiter’s Claim crowd. OJ and Em argue. Em doesn’t want to go back there. Em gets a call. Holst is at the ranch when they get there. When he asks how they see the thing, OJ tells him it should be hungry again soon.

P. 73–75 They know it can’t eat metal or flags. OJ explains Jupe was trying to tame it but he wants to enter an agreement with it. They decide to call the thing/monster by the name Jean Jacket. They use monopoly pieces to make their plan.

P. 75–76 Holst has a 35mm hand crank camera. No electricity or battery. OJ tells them not to look at it unless they want its attention. Em watches the car dealership with the tube people close for the night. Angel loads boxes from Fry Electronics. Angel and Holst place Camera C in the Northern hills.

P. 76–77 Angel removes car batteries from the cars of people from the Jupiter’s Claim show. Em sows a parachute out of sky dancer material. OJ and Em train Lucky to be near the sky dancer. The plan is ready.

P. 77–79 They eat in silence. Holst sings the Flying Purple People Eater song. Walkie talkies labeled “Statue”, “Top Hat”, “Race Car”, and “Thimble” charge. OJ puts on stunt armor. Puts a “fly hood” on Lucky to cover his eyes. Holst is getting his camera ready. Em wakes in Otis Sr’s bedroom.

P. 79 Black card: JEAN JACKET. Clear view of “home cloud.” Angel observes Holst taking medication. Record player is hooked to a sound system blasting outside. The sky dancers line the valley (powered by the dead people’s car batteries). They are ready.

P. 80–81 Holst and Angel are in the northern hills with Camera C. OJ rides off on Lucky into the valley. Em monitors the security in Sr.’s office. Hours go by. One of the sky dancers drops. Holst can’t see the last skydancer but he points his camera at the clouds.

P. 82–84 Em’s camera is on the down sky dancer. The sky dancer keeps going down, then up, then down, then up. A black motorcycle, Ryder, shows up unexpectedly and begins taking pictures. Em announces over the walkie that it’s TMZ. The motorcycle rides off to the west — right into danger.

P. 85–88 The sky dancers begin falling. Camera B goes down. The bike hits the point where the power cuts out. He lands ten feet from the bike. OJ rides Lucky into the dead zone to save the biker. Holst’s camera runs out of film. Angel is not prepared. The sky dancers come back up. OJ gets off the horse to lift the guy. OJ is telling him to close his eyes but the guy wants a picture.

P. 88–89 The Ryder is looking straight up as OJ is helping him. Jean Jacket is here. All monitors go down. Holst’s film is reloaded. The sky dancers fall. OJ jumps on Lucky just in time. Jean Jacket then darts away. The sky dancers all come back up. OJ is on Lucky riding away. Security cameras and walkies power back up.

P. 90–93 OJ keeps looking down and Jean Jacket goes over him. It eats Ryder. Jean Jacket chokes on a sky dancer as he’s chasing OJ. OJ puts his hood down. Holst and Angel are filming. OJ turns right towards camera A with Jean Jacket stalking behind. OJ releases “grand opening” flags from his saddle and the sky dancer parachute. Jean Jacket bellows — this is a new sound. He’s scared. OJ jumps off Lucky and into the shed. They got what they needed. But, Holst takes his camera and heads over the mountain saying, “We don’t deserve the impossible.” As Holst cranks, Jean Jacket moves in. Power goes out. Em runs outside.

P. 94–95 They watch as Holst continues to crank his camera while being sucked up by Jean Jacket. All the film at camera station C gets sucked up. Jean Jacket explodes the indoor arena just as Em makes it back inside. Jean Jacket sucks Angel up with the tarp, barbed wire, film canisters, and sky dancer. Jean Jacket is ill, leaning to one side, and cannot fly very well.

P. 96–97 Jean Jacket is coming after Em. OJ gets on Lucky. Em gets on the motorcycle. The sky dancers go down and the bike stops. OJ does the two fingers to his eyes and her eyes and she does it back. OJ looks up at Jean Jacket to get him to stop chasing Em and come after OJ. Jean Jacket “snaps into an umbrella event” and sails on the wind. Sky dancers come back up, the bike has power and Em rides to safety.

P. 97–99 Em rides through Juper’s Claim. There’s a 25-foot balloon cartoon rendering of Lil Jupe. She releases it and puts a Jupe Jangle (the Jupiter’s Claim coins) in it. The monster gets sick on coins and metal or aluminum. Jean Jacket goes after the balloon. Em says, “I’m gonna take you to Oprah.” Jean Jacket goes back to home cloud. POP. “Home cloud” goes gray and drifts with the other clouds.

P. 99–100 Power is back on. News vans are there. Em left OJ back there to battle Jean Jacket so she’s relieved to see OJ is on Lucky waiting for her at the end of the main strip of the ranch. Last shot Em took is a perfect, clear shot of fully expanded Jean Jacket. Perfect shot. Black screen. NOPE.

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?

To download a PDF of the breakdown , go here.

Kudos to Lora Covrett for doing the scene-by-scene breakdown.

To see dozens more screenplay scene-by-scene breakdowns, go here.