Linear. Another example is when he discusses with Brandon who will be replacing the actor that got hit by the light.
2¢ If Riggan is a Do-er then he certainly isnât comfortable in the world he is in. I am willing to bet that the Overall Story is in the internal quads.
This definitely feels like it explains Riggan the best. And you can kinda-sorta see how Birdman has the bigger perspective on things, enlightened in his own inimitable fashion.
Linear it is then, what about Story Driver? Does the plot move forward because actions force decisions or do decisions force actions to be made, and why?
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Action driver would be my guess. You have the light falling onto Ralph, which forces everyone to bring in a new actor â action forcing decision.
And it ends with a bang when he shoots himself in the head / jumps out the window.
I know this goes back to the Resolve of Change, but I just noticed that there is a character in the movie â a bad actor, whom Riggan doesnât like, who justifies his own actions by saying, âI was just trying to give you range.â
This is exactly what Riggan is doing â trying to give range to people, and expecting this alone to be enough to justify it. Or rather, heâs giving range and expecting that to be applauded, when in reality all people want is a good performance.
Meanwhile, his OS character â the guy putting on the play â is acting no differently than anyone else.
Riggan fires the guy, and is haunted by him later during his drunken night. It is during this sequence that Riggan âre-absorbsâ Birdman into himself.
I agree, Action. Mike Shiner acts out at 1st preview that ends the 1st act. Mike and Riggan get into a fist fight at the midpoint. And Riggan and Tabitha have a spat at the end of the 2nd act.
Excellent! Action it is then.
Letâs move on to Story Limit: Optionlock or Timelock? (And why, as always!)
I am going to argue for Timelock. Opening Night is the story limit. That is the night the critics come and that performance is the one that matters. If the critics like you that night your play is a success. If not your show will close 2 weeks later.
I think I agree on timelock. Everything needs to be ready for opening night.
And how far away is opening night? How much time do they have before it occurs?
The number of days is never stated, true, but âopening nightâ is mentioned five times.
Page 35: âNothing matters until that old bat from the New York Times is sitting in that audience on opening night.â
Page 75: âTomorrowâs my first opening night on Broadway.â
Page 87: âSo. Opening night, tomorrow.â
Page 91: âThatâs true. I havenât read a word of it, or even seen a preview, but after the opening tomorrow Iâm going to turn in the worst review anybody has ever read.â
Page 100: Below on a banner, âOpening Nightâ.
Everything moving towards opening night works as a pressure cooker, giving a sense of urgency.
Then again, for optionlock, no matter what Riggan does, he canât escape his past. The fact that the critic is going to turn in a bad review because Riggan was Birdman indicates optionlock. It doesnât matter whether opening night is tomorrow, in a week or in a month.
I think itâs Optionlock.Thereâs a finite amount of run-throughs (options) that can happen until opening night.
Catching up. Story Driver: Action
Story Limit: Timelock (opening night). Even if thereâs no ticking clock â24â style showing a countdown the dialogues already mentioned by @Jerome do show a sense of urgency. If the play is not ready for opening night Riggan wonât even have the chance to show heâs a real actor.
Yes, there are a certain number of situations that must be solved, but the pressure is solving them before opening night. Getting a new actor before opening night, for example.
If you cannot quantify the amount of time taken, it is not a Timelock. In a Timelock story you can easily answer the question, âHow long did the story take?â
Then itâs optionlock. I was sure âfour daysâ was mentioned at some point, but running a search through the PDF, I was unable to find a single instance of someone using either five, four, three, two or one to indicate a specific amount of time before the deadline.
This is an interesting story to analyze. It feels like a steadfast main character, but isnât. It feels like a timelock story, but isnât. I have a feeling when we get to the OS throughline, itâs going to be quite a struggle to figure out.
When you have a Timelock story, the characters will feel like theyâre running out of options. When you have an Optionlock story, the characters will feel like theyâre running out of time. (Subjective vs. Objective experience)
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Great! That makes it very clear now. Optionlock.
Ditto for me. Optionlock.
He is a vain depressed guy who wants to inflate his persona by putting on a play. He is plagued by a shadow
image that pushes him to take and make great sacrifices.
The movie itself has magico/fantasy/abstract elements somewhat akin to the Theatre of the Absurd that attempts to say something about the human condition.
(this is a rough sketch and comment: i just wanted to jump in to the discussion on Birdman; I hope to learn more about Dramatica as i go along or as time allows; so, if you can guide me on the common understanding of Dramatica I would appreciated.