Unveiling the Dark Secrets of "Nightcrawler": A Scene-by-Scene Breakdown That Will Change How You See the Film Forever

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: Nightcrawler (2014). You may download a PDF of the script here.

Written by Dan Gilroy.

IMDb Plot Summary: When Louis Bloom, a driven man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.

Nightcrawler
Scene by Scene Breakdown
By Marija Nielsen
GoIntoTheStory.com

This script is a little different from the norm in the sense that there are no sluglines nor scene numbers. The end result is a story that moves constantly forward, taking you from one location to the next without reminding you of it nor losing you. Day, Night, Int. or Ext. are expertly woven into the descriptions, underlining the fact that this is all about the protag, Lou Bloom. Thus, Gilroy takes us on a guided tour through the twisted world of his main character, showing us everything from his point of view only, making this a very interesting script to study.

P. 1–2: We meet LOU BLOOM, our protag, cutting through a fence in an industrial area. Confronted by a…