1

VIDEO

AUDIO

FADE IN FROM BLACK:

Title centered on the screen:
Geona studios presents
fades to Magic centered on
the screen
Cut to medium close up of
Narrator sitting.

NARRATOR
What do you think of when you hear
the word magic? Do you think of fairy
tales?

Cut to medium close up of

Cinderella hugging a pillow
with a blue bird on the left
side. Cinderella then starts
to spin. Match cut of her
continuing to spin.
Cut backs to narrator

CINDERELLA
(singing)

Cut to long shot of people

walking through time
square.
Cut back to narrator.

PEOPLE
(ambient talking)

Still shot of Edward bloom

appears on top left of the
screen.

NARRATOR
Wills fathers reality is different
from ours

Still shot of Riggan appears

on top right corner of the
screen.
Title centered on the screen:
The Magic of Magic Realism

or Birdman, where Riggans reality is

different. Youll find out in the

Cut to scene of Big Fish:

NARRATOR
What about reality?

NARRATOR
What if I told you both fantasy and
reality could come together to create
a technique called Magic Realism.
Would you believe me or is my reality
different yours? Such as in Big Fish,

NARRATOR V.O.
Match audio: The magic of magic realism

2
VIDEO

AUDIO

Over the shoulder shot of

Sandra Bloom looking out the
window at her husband,Edward
Bloom,swimming in the pool.
Cut to medium long shot of
Edward swimming in the pool
with the wife watching over
him through a house window.
Cut to under water shot of
lake.(6:55-7:19)

NARRATOR V.O.
Films based on magic realism are aimed
to weave ordinary events with fantasy
or dreamlike elements to view the
real world of people whose reality is
different from ours.

Fade out of the ocean to

extreme long shot of Edward
fishing in the lake in a dark
and foggy atmosphere.Cut
to medium shot of Edwards
back.Pan down to Edwards
reflection in the water.
Pan up to a younger Edward.
Edward turns around to look
behind him and turns back
around.(7:20-7:49)

WILL BLOOM
Im telling the story of my fathers
life. Its impossible to separate
fact from fiction. The man from the
myth. The best I could do is to tell
it the way he told me. It doesnt
always make sense and most of it never
happened.

Cut to close up of Edward.

Edward starts struggling
with the fishing pole as he
starts to reel in a fish.
Edward sees looks down and
sees the fish. Cut to close
up the big catfish in the
water. Cut back to close
up of Edward.Cut to long
shot as Edward dives in to
capture fish.Cut to close up
of Edward struggling to hold
the fish.(7:50-8:16)

NARRATOR V.O.
In this scene Edwards son, Will,
explains to the audience that the
life of his father may seem different
from our reality but it is how his dad
perceived the World.

Cut to scene of Birdman:

3
VIDEO
Medium close up of Riggans
arm about to lift up the
Birdman poster.Pans to the
left to reveal Riggan as the
poster starts to lift from
the ground.(1:01:00-1:01:07)
Pans to the right as the
poster hits the wall and
is punctured by a hook.
Camera starts pushing in as
the camera pans left to the
door.(1:01:08-1:01:18)

AUDIO
NARRATOR V.O.
Magic realism can also be seen in the
film Birdman. Similar to Big Fish, we
see the real world of someone with a
different reality as ours.
(Crash Sound and glass shattering)
Birdman
What the hell did you do that for? I
like that poster (chuckles). Its always
we brother.
RIGGAN THOMSON
Fuck you!(grunts)

Door opens to reveal Brandon,

Riggans manager, who seems
confused.Camera Pans to
the right where Riggan is
throwing his television and
proceeding to throw a VHS
player. Riggan then grabs
a newspaper and starts to
crumple it up. Pan right
back to Brandon who looks
concerned. Pan back to Riggan
as he throws two more objects
and turns around to notice
Brandon.(1:01:19 1:01:43)
Cut back to medium close up
of narrator.

Cut to scene of Big Fish:

NARRATOR V.O.
In this scene the audience can
recognize that Riggan possess the power
of telekinesis and also a mysterious
voice that argues with him. But the
confusion settles in when the pan from
Brandon to Riggan physical holding
and throwing a television makes the
audience question if Riggan truly
possess super power or Riggan perceives
himself as having superpowers.

NARRATOR
Both the scenes Edward and Riggan
have one thing in common which is how
they perceive the world differently
from everyone else. However, In Big
Fish the story of Edwards is to be told
through his son, Will but in Birdman
the viewer is witnessing the reality
through Riggan and later on by other
characters.

4
VIDEO

AUDIO

Close up of Edward who is

scared but then starts
speaking to Karl the
Giant.(29:33-29:41)

NARRATOR V.O.
By viewing the world of people
whose reality is different than
ours can blur the distinctions
between the ordinary events from the
"unreal" elements making the audience
question if something is real because
we perceive it to be real.

Close up of Edward as he
gets pushed back. Cut to
medium match cut of Edward
getting pushed back from the
intensity of Karls voice.
Cut to close up of Edward who
then gets completely pushed
back from Karls voice.
Cut to long shot of how the
outside looks inside the cave
as Edward rolls back. Cut
to close match cut of Edward
falling onto his back after
rolling back.

KARL THE GIANT

Go away!

Cut to medium close up of

Edward getting up from
the ground. Cut to medium
shot of Karl getting out
from the cave he lives in.
(30:13-30:20)
Cut to Medium close up
of narrator sitting in a
chair.
Still shot of medium shot of
Karl among the guests appears
on upper right corner.
Still shot of long shot of
Karl and Edward standing next
to each other.

NARRATOR V.O.
For example the son doesnt believe
that a man that tall could have existed
at all but just another story as to how
his dad left his hick town.

EDWARD BLOOM
Now Im not going anywhere until you
show yourself.
KARL THE GIANT
I said go away!

NARRATOR
But at Edwards funeral
NARRATOR
he is taller than the guests
but not as tall as Edward has said
through his stories demonstrating that
he left his hick town with Karl but
maybe for another reason then Karl
being seen as a monster.

5
VIDEO

AUDIO

Picture disappear from the

corners

NARRATOR
Similarly, it can be seen with the
Chinese twins who saved Edward during
world war II.

Picture of the Chinese twins

attached appears on top left
corner.

NARRATOR
The dad telling the story demonstrates
that he viewed them as twins who shared
the same lower half but

Picture of the Chinese

twins separate at Edwards
funeral appears on top right
corner.

NARRATOR
The twins never shared the same lower
half but did exist and could have still
saved him during World War II.

Cut to medium shot of the

doctor, one of the Chinese
women, Karl, Amos, and Mr.
Soggybottom. Amos is telling
them a story using big
hand expressions while the
others laugh along. Pan left
to see Josephine, Sandra,
Jenny and two other people.
Josephine walks towards
another crowd as the camera
pushes out and pans right.
Norther Winslow and two
others come in to frame. Will
then walks into frame.Pans
right to reveal other Chinese
women(2:30:25-2:31:05)

NARRATOR V.O.
So the characters through out the film
always existed because at Edwards
funeral everyone who Edward knew showed
up at the funeral. Making both Will and
the audience question if the stories of
his father told were real and to what
extent.

Cut to medium shot of

narrator sitting in a chair.

NARRATOR
In Birdman the same concept is applied
too but is differently portrayed from
Big Fish.

Cut to scene of Birdman:

6
VIDEO
Extreme close up of Riggan
who then starts floating
as the camera pans up.
Camera begins to pan down
and we see a woman open
her window who then looks
up to see what caused all
the commotion. High angle
shot group of people looking
up.(1:30:17-1:31:24)

AUDIO
NARRATOR V.O
For example when Riggan starts floating
in the air the audience may think he
does have powers but then the film
confuses the audience as we see him
standing on a ledge. Pan up to a close
up of Riggan on the edge of a building.
The camera then rotates to a close up
of Riggan with a man in the background.
RANDOM STRANGER
Hey man, can I help you? You should
be careful.
NARRATOR V.O.
The audience can then infer that no
one saw him floating in the air
making the audience question if
Riggan truly has powers. Even
though they saw him floating.

Cut to narrator sitting in a

chair

NARRATOR
Other examples that demonstrate Riggan
using his powers would be

Cut to still shot of Riggan

floating in the air

NARRATOR V.O.
when we saw him float for the first
time or

Cut to close up of roses

while Riggans reflection
is out of focus. flowers
move forward while camera
pulls out pan to side profile
of Riggan who is staring at
the flowers. Flowers slowly
starting moving until its
thrown to the wall as the
camera rapidly pans right
8:15-9:05

NARRATOR V.O.
When he first broke the flower vase.

Cut to Narrator sitting in a

chair

NARRATOR
The audience since the beginning of
the film question if Riggan truly was
a person who possessed super powers
but that was from Riggans perspective
because

7
VIDEO
Pans to the right as the
poster hits the wall and
is punctured by a hook.
Camera starts pushing
in as the camera pans
left to the door. Door
opens to reveal Brandon,
Riggans manager, who seems
confused.Camera Pans to
the right where Riggan is
throwing his television and
proceeding to throw a VHS
player.(1:01:08-1:01:26)
cut to low angle of Riggan
standing outside the hospital
window. Camera pans to the
left and then Sam opens
the door with a flower
vase. Camera backs up
while Sam frantically walks
toward the open window. Sam
then looks up and smiles.
(1:51:31-1:52:14)
cut to narrator

Fade to black screen.

AUDIO
NARRATOR V.O.
as soon as the camera pans from Brandon
to Riggan, we can see Riggan physically
damaging stuff. We can infer that
Riggan does not have powers but is
disapproved when

NARRATOR V.O.
Riggan jumps off a building while Sam,
his daughter, goes to get a vase for
his flowers. When she comes back she
tries to find her dad and realizes that
jumped off the building and died. But
then she looks up and laughs leaving
the audience unsure on what to believe
is true and not true.
NARRATOR
Although in both films the audience is
confused as to what is true and not
true which describes the magic of
magic realism because the directors
do not want the audience to distinguish
the difference between the dreamlike
elements or the reality. In Big Fish,
the audience is confused on as to what
extent the stories were real while
the audience is confused if Riggan had
powers in the movie, Birdman. The films
leave it up to your interpretation and
what you think the message the director
are trying to portray. So what do you
think the films where trying to say?

8
VIDEO

AUDIO