Unveiling the Emotional Depths: A Scene-by-Scene Dive into “All Is Lost”
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: All Is Lost (2013). You may download the script here.
Written and directed by J.C. Chandor.
IMDb plot summary: After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
All Is Lost
Scene-by-Scene Breakdown
Written by Chris Faulkner
GoIntoTheStory.comP — 1: The movie opens with a V.O., a black screen, and the sound of gentle waves. The protagonist, who is never named, is reading a letter he wrote. Basically, it says he is sorry for all his failings as a person. The letter also hints at the difficulties ahead.
P — 1b-2: The first visual is the protagonist asleep in the bow cabin. He and the audience are awakened by terrible crashing and ripping noises. The boat has hit something. Water is already seeping into the cabin. As he jumps up there is a short, humorous sequence of a kids sneaker floating through the cabin. It is one of only a very few humorous spots in the movie. He rushes to the main cabin and finds that the water is…
