Script Analysis: “Nomadland” — Part 1: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-nominated screenplay. Download. Read. Discuss.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown.

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.

This week: Nomadland (2020). You may download the script here.

Screenplay written and directed by Chloé Zhao.

Plot summary: After losing everything in the Great Recession, a woman embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

Nomadland
Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
by Anthony Jackson
GoIntoTheStory.com

Written by Chloé Zhao
Based on the book by Jessica Bruder

P1. Introduction to the Gypsum Sheetrock Mine in Nevada through a historic photo.

(N.B. in the movie this is replaced with an intertitle explaining that the mine was closed and everybody left the town of Empire).

Introduction to our Protagonist: FERN. She goes through a storage unit; feeling the emotions of items, like an autumn leaf plate, before closing it up and heading out in her van on the open road. Later, she pees nervously on the side of the road. She is out on her own.

P2–3. Fern arrives at an RV park and checks in as an Amazon worker. She makes herself comfortable in her van; making dinner, cleaning dishes, getting cozy in bed.

P3–4. Fern works at a huge Amazon warehouse as a seasonal worker. It’s vast and mechanical but she makes subtle human connections with other workers.

P4–7. We meet Fern’s friend, Linda May (“The kind of friend you want to

have on the road”). She’s given up smoking after 43 years and has found land to build her house on Craiglist. Fern is worried for her but Linda has decided to take “it’s now or never”.

THEME STATED: We have to live in the present.

Later, Fern and Linda May do laundry together and Fern shows off the set-up of her van and tells us its name: Vanguard.

P7–10. Fern works hard at the monotonous job. Time passes. She runs into a family that she knew from her time in Empire; a mom and two daughters. The mom is worried about Fern and offers her a place to sleep. Fern maintains that she’s doing fine. She chats with one of the daughters revealing that she used to be a tutor. The daughter asks Fern if she’s homeless. Fern replies: “I’m not homeless. I’m just…houseless. Not the same thing, right?”

P10–12. Fern visits Linda May’s trailer. Linda confides in Fern that before she moved into the trailer she was so depressed and behind on rent that she contemplated suicide. She couldn’t believe she had worked her whole life for a measly social security check. She discovered Bob Wells and his Cheap RV Living website. Linda tells Fern to join her at the annual meet-up his followers have in Quartzsite, Arizona (INCITING INCIDENT/CALL TO ACTION).

Fern doesn’t think she’ll go but Linda gives her the directions anyway.

P12–17. Fern finishes up at Amazon for the season and celebrates New Years’ alone.

Fern tries to make life in Nevada work (REFUSAL OF THE CALL).

She tries to negotiate a cheaper rate for her spot in the RV park but fails.

She heads to a job center and is a little desperate as she lists off her extensive work experience. She doesn’t want to retire. She likes to work. But the recruiter says there are no suitable jobs for her.

Fern is forced to park at a gas station in the cold. The gas station manager is concerned and suggests she visit a local shelter but Fern remains resolute.

P17–18. Fern heads to Quartzite, AZ (ACCEPTANCE OF THE CALL) and finds the BLM desert land where the RTR (Rubber Tramp Rendezvous) is happening. Fern hooks up with Linda May and listens to Bob Wells lay out the mission: “If society is throwing us away and putting us out to pasture, we workhorses have to gather together and take care of each other, and that is what this is all about.”

P18–21. Fern gets familiar with the RTR crowd. She briefly meets DAVE and SWANKIE as she grabs some communal stew and sits around a campfire listening to people explain how they ended up on the road. She talks with Bob Wells; who tells her that he thinks life on the road will be good for her. She takes in the sites of the community; people helping each other. She attends some lessons on thriving on the road; where to sleep, how to plug a car tire, what type of bucket you need as a toilet.

P21–22. Fern has a first meaningful interaction with Dave. He initiates conversation and they joke at the ‘free pile’.

P22–23. Fern, Linda May, and Swankie attend the RV show. They check out RVs and sign up for seasonal jobs.

P23–24. The RTR comes to an end. Fern signs a symbolic van that is burned in the goodbye campfire. She dances with Dave at a dive bar. Fern watches everyone leave and adjusts to life in the desert alone (ACT 1 BREAK).

P24–26. Fern takes a job working at a rock and gem store in Quartzite. She tries to help out some young travelers selling their jewelry. Later she watches the youngsters camp by a big bus. One youngster, DEREK, asks her for a cigarette. She’s thoughtful with him and tells him to keep her lighter.

P26–28. Vanguard gets a flat tire. The only other person around is Swankie. Fern reluctantly goes over and asks Swankie for help. Swankie is annoyed at being disturbed. At the garage, Swankie gives Fern a lecture on taking the lifestyle seriously. She tells Fern she can pay her back by helping her get ready for her next trip. Swankie has an arm in a sling and it’s slowing her down.

28–30. Fern and Swankie time! Swankie teaches Fern to touch up the paint on her van while she digitizes videos of her exciting life. Later, Fern is pooping when Swankie comes over looking for help. Fern shouts her away. Fern helps Swankie organize the large pile of free stuff that she’s giving away. Fern takes a chair from Swankie and then suddenly Swankie becomes ill.

P. 31–32. Fern takes care of Swankie in the van. Swankie confides that she has cancer and is prepared to take her own life before going back into a hospital. She’s taking one last trip to Alaska to surrounded herself with beauty. She hopes her friends will toss a rock in the fire to remember her.

P. 32–35. Swankie prepares to leave. People take her free stuff. Fern reflects on her husband Beau and his death. She confides in Swankie that she wanted to help him die a painless death but was too scared. Swankie asks her for one last favor before departing: drop off the home videos to her son.

P35–37. Fern watches a famous Quartzsite performer singing about people leaving. Fern takes Swankie’s box to her son but he’s not interested. He tells Fern his mom will do anything to get out of seeing her own family.

P37. Fern officially hits the road and enjoys isolation and nature.

P37–40. Fern works at the Cedar Pass Campground. She’s a camp host and meets Dave again. They remember each other. He’s obviously interested in her. Linda May is also a camp host and shows Fern the ropes of the job; cleaning, driving around in a golf cart, helping campers. The two are warm friends.

P40–41. Fern goes to the Badlands Visitor Center with Linda May and sees Dave working as a tour guide. She wanders off and almost gets lost but he finds her; he’s already looking out for her.

P41–43. Dave is officially around now. He joins Fern and Linda May as they take shots at a local bar. Linda May is celebrating the move to her land to build a house. At the campground, Fern and Linda May share a bittersweet goodbye.

P43–45. Fern adjusts to life without Linda May. She can’t sleep and tries to bum a cigarette from Dave but he doesn’t smoke. The Badlands appear less inviting without Linda May. Fern fights off ants. Dave tries to help. He gives her a pack of licorice to eat instead of smoke. He accidentally breaks one of Fern’s autumn leaf plates. She shouts at him to leave and manages to glue a plate back together. Fern connects with some campers but still misses Linda May,

P45–50. Dave gets sick and Fern makes him soup in his van. He admits it could be serious. Fern takes him to the hospital. She talks to the nurse about his surgery. She sleeps overnight near the hospital and takes him snacks. He invites her to work with him at Wall Drugs. She’s awkward and runs out before giving him an answer.

P50–52. Fern and Dave work with each other at Wall Drugs. He takes her to a Reptile Garden and she loves it. They make dinner and camp together. They visit the famous 80ft dinosaur statue. They attend an astronomer event. It’s warm but platonic.

P52–54. Dave’s son, JAMES, visits his dad at Wall Drugs. Fern tries to eavesdrop on their conversation. Later, she chats with James. He can’t understand why his dad would live in Nebraska. Fern stands up for Dave.

P54–56. Dave tells Fern his son is expecting a child and wants him to move in with them. Fern tells him to go. Dave invites Fern to go with him. She says she’ll visit. Later, Dave knocks on Fern’s van to say goodbye but she pretends to be asleep. He leaves her a special rock with a note. (MIDPOINT)

P56–59. Fern returns to her solo life. She does the things at Wall Drugs that she used to do with Dave on her own. In her van, she makes herself dinner and watches as the summer tourist season finishes. She works the sugar beet harvest where she battles the cold and explores the town; always reminded of the ‘regular’ life other people are living. She gets a video text from Swankie; enjoying nature in Alaska just the way she told Fern she would. Fern’s scared by a man who tells her she can’t park overnight. She visits the fur trade museum.

P59–60. Vanguard won’t start! Fern takes it to a mechanic and she can’t afford the repairs. The mechanic tells her that the van is not worth fixing but Fern insists it’s her home. She argues with someone on the phone about lending money and then heads out to get it.

P61–63. Fern visits her sister, DOLLY, in Denver to get the money. She lives with her husband, George, in a nice suburban neighborhood. Fern wants to grab the money and go but Dolly insists that she stay the night and have dinner with their friends.

P63–66. Fern is the odd one out at the couple’s night. She’s jovial at first, sharing the anecdote of how she introduced Dolly and George, but when the topic of conversation turns to real estate, Fern (a little drunk) challenges the men on the whole system. Dolly has to intervene and defend her sister and her lifestyle.

P67–68. Dolly gives Fern the money she needs for Vanguard and tells her about an upcoming family wedding. Fern is not going to make it. In an emotional moment, Dolly questions why Fern is always interested in what’s “out there” and why she didn’t return to her family when her husband, Beau, died. Dolly loves Fern and wants her around. Fern leaves.

P68–70. Fern retrieves her van from the mechanic and returns to the road. She travels south to California. She’s moved on from a residential street by the police in Needles, CA.

P70–75. Fern finds a spot in a rural area in Needles and bumps into Derek, the young traveler she gave a cigarette to in Quartzsite. Fern is worried about him and why someone so young is living on the road. She asks him if he has a girlfriend. He tells her he writes letters to a girl back home. Fern recites a poem from her wedding day for him to put into one of the letters. Fern returns to her van and looks at photos of her family and childhood.

P75–78. Fern visits Dave and his family in a beautiful ranch home in Northern California for Thanksgiving. Everyone is very welcoming. Fern tells Dave his van has a flat outside. Dave hasn’t noticed. He’s not leaving. He asks Fern to stay with him in the guest house.

P78–81. Fern considers Dave’s offer. Dave’s daughter-in-law, Emily, joins Fern for a cigarette and tells her how much Dave likes her. She asks about Empire. Fern talks fondly about her old house and her old life. Fern enjoys Thanksgiving dinner with the family and the hospitality. She watches Dave and his son play the piano. There’s an obvious warmth to this house, this place. But at night, Fern can’t sleep in the bed and has to sleep in her van. She explores the house alone and decides to hit the road before Dave wakes. (ACT 2 BREAK)

P81–82. Fern returns to Amazon as a seasonal worker; seeing familiar faces, staying at the same RV park.

P82–84. Back at RTR. Fern joins Bob Wells and other campers in remembering Swankie by throwing a rock into the fire. Fern chats with Bob Wells again and tells him she’s worried she’s spent too much time remembering Beau. Bob shares a trauma from hs past and tells her the beauty of life is that there are no endings, we all just see each on down the road.

P84–87. Fern returns to Empire. She gives up her storage unit and visits the mine where Beau worked. She wanders the deserted streets and ends up at her old house. It looks out towards the mountains. Fern walks off toward the mountains, finally saying goodbye and moving on.

(N.B. in the movie, the final scene shows Fern driving off; committed to life as a nomad.)

A trailer for the movie:

Writing Exercise: I encourage you to read the script, but short of that, if you’ve seen the movie, go through this scene-by-scene breakdown. What stands out to you about it from a structural standpoint?

Major kudos to Anthony Jackson for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown , go here.

I am looking for volunteers to read a script and provide a scene-by-scene breakdown for it to be used as part of our weekly series. What do you get out from it? Beyond your name being noted here, my personal thanks, and some creative juju sent your way, hopefully you will learn something about story structure and develop another skill set which is super helpful in learning and practicing the craft.

The latest volunteers [BOLD signifies we have already run the weekly analysis series on that script]:

Antebellum / Rose Banks
First Cow / Laura Bolton
I’m Thinking of Ending Things / Jennifer Messineo
I’m Your Woman / Priya Gopal
The King of Staten Island / Halil Akgündüz
Minari / Aditya Raute
Nomadland / Anthony Jackson
Palm Springs / Michael Korican
Promising Young Woman / Litty Williams
Sound of Metal / Laura Bolton
The Trial of the Chicago 7 / Karen Liu
The Trial of the Chicago 7 / Andrew Lightfoot

Here are the other 2020 movie scripts available for you to read and break down:

Borat: Subsequent Movie Film
The Climb
Da 5 Bloods
Emma
The Father
French Exit
Herself
I Carry You With Me
Judas and the Black Messiah
Kajillionaire
The Little Things
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Malcolm & Marie
The Mauritanian
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
News of the World
On the Rocks
One Night In Miami
Onward
Palmer
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Prom
Saint Frances
Shirley
Soul
Tenet
The White Tiger

Soul? Onward? One Night in Miami? Judas and the Black Messiah? These are all notable movies and the scripts are just waiting to be analyzed.

Thanks to the folks who have already sent me their breakdowns. This will enable us to begin our 2020 bi-weekly script read and analysis series.

Now is YOUR chance to contribute to this most worthy cause and provide an additional resource for the online screenwriting community.

Even if you do not participate in the analysis, discussion, or write up a scene-by-scene breakdown, I strongly encourage you to read these scripts.

So seize this opportunity and join in the conversation!

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: Nomadland.