In a post on the Stage 32 blog, Ashraf Nahlous shares what writers can learn from studying the award-winning film Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).
- Characters and dialogue. Characters like Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) and Mike Shiner (Edward Norton) reveal their insecurities, despair, and delusions through dialogue. Both are seeking artistic validation and relevance by staging a play, but neither wants to admit it.
- Pacing and flow. Director Alejandro Iñárritu created the illusion that Birdman was filmed as one continuous shot, which immerses the audience in Riggan’s world. “The camera follows him everywhere—from the stage to the dressing room to Times Square in his underwear—creating an unrelenting pace that mirrors his emotional state,” Nahlous notes.
- Dark humor. In the play-within-the-movie, Riggan’s character shoots himself, but Riggan uses a real gun, wounding himself. His desperation for career relevance drove him to literal self-destruction, but in the aftermath, he’s hailed as a genius and finally earns the validation he’s sought.
