Script Analysis: “The End of the Tour” — Part 1: Scene By Scene Breakdown

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this 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: The End of the Tour. You may download a PDF of the script here.

Screenplay by Donald Margulies, book by David Lipsky.

IMDb plot summary: The story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace, which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace’s groundbreaking epic novel, ‘Infinite Jest.’

The End of the Tour

Scene by Scene Breakdown

By Steve Fabian

GoIntoTheStory.com

1: In 2008, DAVID LIPSKY is writing at home in his apartment when he gets a call about the death of David Foster Wallace. It comes as a shock to him.

1–2: A sad Lipsky goes onto Robert Siegel’s NPR show to comment on the news.

2: Lipsky pauses at a bookstore window to look at a display dedicated to Wallace with all of his books.

2–4: Lipsky finds a box in his apartment labeled “DFW” with tapes marked “March 1996.” He tries to play them on a recorder. It won’t work, so he has to use the batteries in his electric toothbrush. When he presses play, we hear David’s voice (referencing the title of the book about Lipsky’s time with Wallace, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself) and there’s a brief flashback of David in the car in 1996. Then it’s back to the present as Lipsky continues to listen to David talk about being a jock as a kid.

4: In 1996, Lipsky is at a bookstore, reading from his novel The Art Fair. The crowd is sparse.

4–5: At the bar after the reading, Lipsky is congratulated on the novel and his Rolling Stone job, but the real talk is about Walter Kirn’s NY Magazine review of Wallace’s Infinite Jest.

5–6: Lipsky reads aloud the effusive review in disbelief at home afterwards. His girlfriend, SARAH, encourages him to read the book. In their bed, she reads Primary Colors and Lipsky reads Inifite Jest. It is good.

6–7: Lipsky pitches his editor at Rolling Stone, BOB LEVIN, to let him cover Wallace on the end of his Infinite Jest book tour. They argue the merits of the article, but in the end Lipsky gets the assignment.

7: Lipsky packs, including grabbing a copy of his book. Sarah is now reading Infinite Jest too. He waits for a taxi. In the cab, he keeps reading David’s book. He has not finished it.

8: The airplane lands in Chicago. Lipsky is in a rental car soon after, and he drives to Bloomington, IL. He parks at a 7-Eleven to call David for directions. David is more concerned about how he got the number and encourages him to lose it.

8–9: Lipsky drives to Wallce’s house. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE is outside with his dogs JEEVES and DRONE. Lipsky gets out, meets David. They shake hands. Lipsky apologizes about the call, and David says his remarks were mostly a joke. He then apologizes about impending dog slobber, which Lipsky claims won’t bother him.

10–12: They go inside. David talks about his dogs, how no one wanted Jeeves and how Drone is a provisional dog who joined him one day. He makes tea. Lipsky inquires about being unlisted,

David explains things were getting out of hand and how he feels cowardly though he needed to do it. They talk about an angry fan in Vancouver and the Chickenhead art on the fridge. As Lipsky starts to record, David becomes a little uncomfortable. He requests that he can strike anything from the record five minutes later so he won’t go crazy. Lipsky agrees, then puts it right back on.

12–14: They drive to Illinois St where David teaches. He talks about feeling bad for being away because he loves teaching. On campus, David tamps down Lipsky’s expectations, but in the midst of being a teacher, he evaluates his students’ stories with humor and honesty. Afterwards, David plays modest, saying he’s usually better, but Lipsky asserts it was great and that the students love him. He doesn’t believe that David doesn’t know that.

14–17: They go to a restaurant. David orders a pop and Lipsky realizes he doesn’t drink. Lipsky tries to be respectful by ordering a pop too, but David says he can drink whatever he wants. Then David suggests he wants to profile Lipsky profiling him. And he’s nervous about the narrative being out of his control. Lipsky explains the piece, feeling embarrassed about how much it puts David on a pedestal. David wonders how Lipsky learned how to interview, so Lipsky tells him he’s also a writer, with a novel of his own. David doesn’t know his book. He asks if Lipsky is nervous. Lipsky denies it but David acknowledges being terrified.

18–19: Later at the restaurant, David admits he’d like to get laid on the book tour, but not have to put in any effort or actively use his fame for it, because that would make him feel lonely. Lipsky suggests that maybe it’s ok because if people are attracted to his very personal writing, it’s like another way to meet him. David is impressed by this analysis, and he then says the piece will be better if it’s mostly Lipsky and less of him.

19–20: In the car, Lipsky asks David if his handsome looks play any part in his sales, which mortifies David. He says he’s rather be dead if that were true. He’s feeling like a whore with all the promotion he has to do to possibly stimulate sales. But then he deflects by asking if Annie Leibovitz will take photos and complimenting Lipsky’s looks, saying they should use his image instead.

20–21: The guys stock up on junk food at 7-Eleven. Lipsky insists on putting it on his expense account so David grabs even more. As they drive and eat, David and Lipksy talk about the seductiveness of commercial entertainment as junk food and their mutual love of Die Hard.

21–24: They return to David’s house. David says if anything his book is about the Americanness of mindless consumption and its effects, but points to the folly of describing the work. After Lipsky says he’s not being vague or reductive, David gets to its heart, which is, why does all this stuff make us feel bad? He compares TV to masturbation, and with more of Lipsky’s prompting, David laments a future where technology gets so good that the solitary pleasure of images will be the end all of existence. Silence ensues. Lipsky asks to try David’s chewing tobacco. He doesn’t like it and asks to use the bathroom as David laughs.

24: Lipksy washes out his mouth and then he starts taking notes on the content of the medicine cabinet.

24–30: Lipsky asks why David doesn’t have a TV. David reveals that if he had a TV he’d watch it all the time. The conversation transitions to their dating lives. Lipksy mentions how he’s stuck between two women. David says it’s easier having dogs and that he isn’t dating anyone. Lipsky asks if he’d like to have kids and David says yes, but quickly gets reluctant. Lipsky switches tactics to thinking aloud that it would be nice to have someone to share success with. David does agree, because now everyone has an agenda and h would like to have that one person who understands. Then David inquires why Lipsky isn’t married. Lipsky says it’s hard to imagine a person fitting his mental landscape. David discusses how he can be hard to be around and how being a writer forces a certain self-consciousness that doesn’t ever leave. Lipsky changes the subject to a discussion of the Alanis Morisette poster in the room. David likes her because she seems riveting in a natural way. After David’s mistake of “You Oughta Know” and the OJ book, Lipsky makes him laugh and feels good about it. David mentions it would be cool if his fame let him meet her and Lipsky says why not try? David wouldn’t — Lipsky would — but he does say if she asked to meet him, he’d be incredibly nervous yet do it in a heartbeat. Then he says they need to go to bed to get up early, and he tells Lipsky to stay in his guest room.

30–31: They prepare the room Lipsky will sleep in. David warns him to leave the door open for the dogs. Lipsky is left surrounded by stacks of Infinite Jest. Eventually Jeeves and Drone come.

31–32: In the morning, Lipsky gets a cigarette and then David offers to split a Pop Tart. They get the car ready to go to the airport.

32–33: On the car ride, Lipsky asks why David doesn’t live in New York. David says he gets too caught up in all the ego. Next Lipsky asks about the bandana and says people think it’s a way for David to connect with younger audiences. This upsets David, not only for the reason but for how it’ll be scrutinized if he stops wearing it. He says he wore them in Tuscon to stop the sweat, and also that it has also become a security blanket, more a sign of weakness than an affectation.

34–35: A bit later, they are discussing parents. David’s were both academics. Lipsky’s split up, which inspired his book. But he stops David from questioning him too much and asks how David got into writing. He says it was at age 21 when he realized he could mimic other people’s voices for papers really well. Lipsky says he wants to speak to David’s parents for biographical information, but David won’t let him.

35–38: They park and check in. On the plane, David tells about his terrible jobs. He was a security guard for a few months. Lipsky wonders if he felt upset after achieving early literary fame, but David liked it for being a mental escape. Next he was a towel boy, and one day a writer he knew came, one who received a Whiting Award the same year as he did. David was ashamed and hid. Lipsky brings up David’s suicide watch. David wonders how he knew about it, but continues to answer questions. He says he was there for 8 days and afraid he would mess up his suicide attempt. He describes his depression, how he felt he was done being a writer at age 28. He drank and slept around to numb that pain. He tried various ways to rehabilitate himself, like running for 10 miles every day. Lipsky says look how good things are now, but David doesn’t consider them to be very real.

39–40: The Davids meet their escort, PATTY GUNDERSSON, who is not an alluring geisha type the word implies to David. David explains Lipsky is writing a piece on him. They make small talk. In the car, Patty raves about the different celebrities she’s driven and then offers to stop at the famed Mary Tyler Moore statue, but David declines.

41: They check in at the hotel. David’s twin joke doesn’t land with the desk clerk, but Lipksy laughs. They then split up to their own rooms so David can take a nap.

41–42: Lipsky talks with Bob on the phone, who wants to know about the heroin rumors and reminds Lipsky that he’s a reporter, not David’s friend.

42–45: At the Hungry Mind bookstore, David encounters two friends, JULIE and BETSY. Betsy attended grad school in Arizona with David, and Julie is an editor who met David by writing a fan letter. David asks the shop manager, MARTHA CAVENAUGH, for fake saliva. He hates having dry mouth during the readings. Lipsky starts to chat up Betsy, who is a poet and just had her first work published in the Kenyon Review. David disapproves. Before going on stage, he discourages Q&A because the questions are always bad. Martha introduces him to the crowd.

45–46: David signs books, somewhat awkwardly. One woman doesn’t get his smiley face drawing and a guy brings David’s first novel. But he seems more upset to see Lipsky laughing with Julie and Betsy. He doesn’t smile back at Lipksy.

47–48: The four go to an IHOP. David explains his pen name due to so many other David Wallaces. Lipsky says it’s the worst superhero origin story. David is annoyed, but Betsy starts talking about his nemesis professor in Tuscon. David admits he was unpleasant. And then he starts to be so towards Lipsky, saying he doesn’t have to get up at the same time and then saying the bill isn’t really on Lipsky but rather on Jann, the head of Rolling Stone.

48–49: Driving to the hotel, everyone but David is singing along to “You Oughta Know.” When asked to close the windows, Lipksy makes a joke about the hypothermia smoking tour of the Midwest. The girls love it and say it sounds like David, which increases the tension. The girls drop them off and offer to meet again tomorrow. David is still hungry.

49–51: Binging on candy in David’s room, Lipsky asks what it feels like to be the center of attention at an event like earlier that night. David says it’s especially gratifying when there are pretty girls in the audience. Lipsky agrees and wonders why that is. David believes it is what men want and despair of most. Lipsky then says his girlfriend Sarah is in love with David, or at least that she likes David’s writing more than his, which annoys him. David wants to talk to her on the phone. Lipsky doesn’t want to, but then relents. Sarah is reading Infinite Jest when he calls. Lipsky hands off to David. He relays that Sarah asks if Lipsky is behaving himself, which frustrates Lipsky. It’s clear she’s also raving about the book.

51–52: In his room after, Lipsky fumes. He can’t believe she spoke to David for 25 minutes.

52: The next morning, Lipsky finds David isn’t ready because he got hooked on watching TV. Outside, Patty’s not happy with David’s appearance, but he says it’s only a radio interview. They drive off.

53–55: At the radio station, David is seen as a rock star. He flirts with the ASSISTANT and cracks jokes with the PA and teases Lipsky. The interview with NPR GUY begins with more praise of Infinite Jest. NPR guy asks about David’s personality as “incredibly shy and an egomaniac.” David adds he’s also an exhibitionist and explains the self-absorption that can make it difficult to be around others. Patty listened to the interview, thought it was so great she wants to read David’s book. He asks to go to the Mall of America.

55–57: The Davids explore the Mall, which is full of stores and amusements. At the food court, they talk about Infinite Jest. David says he wanted to write about modern America and the weight of mass culture, but also have some fun. Lipsky asks who the readers are. David says mostly younger men, which doesn’t surprise him. He believes it’s a nerdy, male book about loneliness. As Lipsky probes, David explains he wanted explore the feelings of sadness and emptiness people under 45 get in the context of achievement and entertainment. Then he abruptly turns off the recorder to say that it should only come across as his goals, not that he is saying the book has achieved this. Lipsky then brings up the Walter Kirn review. David claims not to have read it. He pays lip service to the praise and asks Lipsky how he would have felt. Lipsky says it would have been validating. David tries to ground it as his best effort from 1992–1995 and explains that his former defense mechanism of “selling well equals shit” has now become problematic, which amuses Lipsky.

57–58: Betsy and Julie meet the Davids. They debate seeing The Juror or Happy Gilmore before settling on Broken Arrow. Lipsky has already seen it, which impresses David. He agrees to watch it again. During footage of showdowns and explosions, David is clearly enjoying it. He talks about scenes after. When Julie asks what to do next, David wants to watch TV at her place.

58–62: At Julie’s, they watch the movie The Late Shift. David knew the actor playing Letterman from Amherst and said he hated him — he was cool, David wasn’t. Lipsky gets a drink, continuing to go with pop. Betsy meets him in the kitchen and gives him a copy of the Kenyon Review with her poem. David at first is looking at the TV listings with Julie and explaining the merits of Algiers and Hedy Lamarr, but then he sees what is happening in the kitchen. He doesn’t like it. Lipsky asks Betsy for her email so he can ask her questions about David. She leaves and David comes, confronting Lipksy about hitting on Betsy. Lipsy is shocked and says he was only asking for her email for the piece. David then says he doesn’t want him to contact her. He reminds Lipsky that he dated Betsy and says the least Lipksy can do is show him respect by not coming on to her in front him. Lipsky says it wasn’t his intention but David brings up his LA relationship. When the girls ask if they are ok, David says it’s fine, tells Lipsky to be a good guy, and goes back. Lipsky is clearly shaken and upset. He changes to drinking beer to strike back. Hours later, Betsy is gone, Julie is asleep, and David keeps watching the movie, with Lipsky across the room alone, trying to stay awake.

62: The Davids ride silently in the cab ride back to the hotel. David insists on paying for the cab. He has an expense account too. They ride up the elevator silently. Lipsky says good night in the hallway but David doesn’t respond.

62–63: Lipsky calls Sarah to vent about his evening and when she asks if he was actually flirting, he accuses her of taking David’s side and hangs up.

63–64: The next morning, Patty picks them up and Lipsky opts to sit in the front seat, leaving David in the back. On the flight home, David is asleep and Lipsky watches him.

64: In the parking lot, Lipsky can’t find the car. When he finally does, David can’t help insulting him for not writing down where they parked. Lipsky snaps, saying he’s sorry for not being as brilliant as David. It’s a breaking point for them.

64–68: Driving to David’s, Lipsky attacks David for being false and dumbing himself down, though still thinking he’s smarter than other people. David argues back, claiming he believes he’s only learned more and more that he’s not smart. He also thinks he’s being honest and brave and he’s very aware that he still can come off like an asshole in Lipsky’s profile. He laments that he can’t do the interview via mail, or get to rewrite his quotes. He admits he is smart given time and access, but that Lipsky is actually the smarter one. Lipsky won’t have it. David thinks that if he buys into his own intelligence, it’ll make him a worse writer. He has a lot of convictions. He acknowledges Lipksy getting him riled up was a good tactic, and asserts that his regular guy nature is an asset. But Lipsky thinks no one cares, that readers read him because they want him to be brilliant. David turns off the recorder.

68–71: After getting gas, they discuss that it’s the end of the tour. David talks about how he will decompress from his state of anxiety. Lipsky doesn’t understand what he’s afraid of. David admits his fear is he will like the attention and get more into that than the actual writing. He hates writers who talk about being writers, which Lipsky perceives as an insult. He says he doesn’t mind appearing in Rolling Stone but doesn’t want to appear like he wants to be in Rolling Stone. He laments that writing about how seductive image is, only to fall victim of it would be a cruel fate. He likens the attention to getting heroin straight to his brain and he is reluctant knowing that he’ll suddenly be left alone in his room with the blank page.

71–74: They have returned to David’s house. David happily greets his dogs. As he settles in, Lipsky finally works up his nerve ask about the rumors, which David knows instantly is about heroin. David says it’s not true, but Lipsky says it’s hard to believe because of how much drug material is in Infinite Jest. David rails against this, saying writing doesn’t have to be autobiographical. Lipksy presses further, bringing back the breakdown at Harvard in the 80s. David says he’s not dangerous, wouldn’t use needles. He tries to explain it as a growing sense of unhappiness. Lipsky asks about the drinking and David again is upset about perception. He doesn’t want his addiction portrayed in the conventional “sexy” way. He drank not for joy but to be numb. He says his primary addiction is TV. He knows how badly Lipsky wants a great article but he explains it as something much more existential and scary, which culminated with him committed and on suicide watch. It unnerved him to know he reached that point and he believes it can’t help but affect a person deeply.

74–75: Lipsky has brushed his teeth and is in bed. David comes in the room and lets out his most personal explanation of his depression. He attributes it to the idea of an American life based on “if I can achieve X and Y and Z, I’ll be ok” and then finding that to be false. He offers his analogy of jumping out of a burning building, that it’s less about the fear of falling than it is about the alternative being so much worse, where leaping to your death is an escape. David reveals that feeling this is worse than anything, and he even has another level of torment in being able identify the affliction yet powerless to do anything about it. He closes by saying he wonders if a person really changes and he’s just doing his best to not let this drive him. After he walks out, Lipsky scrambles to jot it all down.

75–76: Lipsky is woken by the dogs and he bumps into David as he gets ready. They take Jeeves and Drone outside and discuss the beauty of the area. Then make plans for one more meal.

76–79: Despite Lipsky’s offer to go “someplace nice this time,” David is so hungry he has to get McDonald’s. Lipsky sees he’s a picky eater when he removes the pickles. Back at the house, they eat and talk more about the dogs. David jokes about how they will be offended if Lipsky makes David look like an insane old dog lady. David notes that Drone has never liked a male like Lipsky before, then he gets a call. He’s heard saying he can’t join the person. When Lipsky says he should go, David reveals it’s this weekly dance he goes to at a Baptist Church. Lipsky can hardly believe it. David explains the various moves he does, except for the Vogue, and that he’s come to enjoy it.

79: In 2008, Lipsky listens to David on tape talking about dancing.

79–80: In 1996, David asks Lipksy if they can exchange addresses, which Lipksy is happy to do. When David goes outside to scrape ice from his car, Lipsky takes the opportunity to run through the house making observations into his recorder. He starts with the living room, then goes into David’s bedroom, then the bathroom. He ends in David’s office, where he simply takes it in.

81–83: Lipsky packs his stuff and then goes outside. David compares Lipsky’s rental to his own old car, but then says he can’t bear to part with his “friend.” Lipsky offers David a copy of his book, The Art Fair. He’s a little embarrassed, but David says he’ll read it, is looking forward to getting inside his head after the weekend. After he remarks on the cover art, Lipsky says he got approval for it on the British edition too and David briefly cracks, jealous that Lipsky got such approval when he couldn’t, before catching himself. Lipsky once again mentions it must be nice knowing one is a good writer, but David just says it’ll be interesting to talk in a few years, explaining the difference between good and bad attention and the fear of being a fraud. When he says he does like attention sometimes, he says it’s one of the ways he’s like Lipsky. As Lipsky gets in the car, David says “I’m not so sure you want to be me.” Lipsky drives away, watching David continue to scrape the ice.

84: Lipsky is back in New York, walking around and writing. He gets a package from David and excitedly opens it. All he finds is a shoe he left behind.

84: In 2010, Lipsky is doing a reading of the book about the trip, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself.

84: As he continues reading, there is a shot of the Davids in the car in 1996. Lipsky calls it the best conversation he ever had.

85: The final passage of Lipsky’s reading is a shot of David at the church, dancing in slow motion. He says he’d tell David that his writing made him feel less alone.

85: BONUS SCENE: In the kitchen after Lipsky has run off to the bathroom to rinse out the chewing tobacco, David speaks into the recorder.

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 Steve Fabian for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown, go here.

To read my 2015 interview with screenwriter Donald Margulies, go here.

Tomorrow: We zero in on the major plot elements in The End of the Tour.

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? Beyond your name being noted here, my thanks, and some creative juju, 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:

12 Years a Slave — Georgevine Moss
Beasts of No Nation — Jacob Holmes-Brown
Bridge of Spies — Scott Guinn
Carol — Jillienne Bee
Celeste and Jesse Forever — Ryan Canty
Diary of a Teenage Girl — Cynthia
Ex Machina — Nick Norman-Butler
Frozen — Doc Kane
Gone Girl — Ashley Lara
Inside Out — Katha
Legend — Olivia
Leviathan — Piotr Ryczko
Locke — Megaen Kelly
Macbeth — Trung
Man Up — Kristy Brooks
Monsters University — Liz Correal
Mud — Kevin
Nightcrawler — DJ Summit
Pawn Sacrifice — Michael Waters
Steve Jobs — Angie Soliman
Straight Outta Compton — Timm Higgins
The End of the Tour — Steve Fabian
The Iron Lady — Leslie
The Way Way Back — The Deuce
Trainwreck — Joni Brainerd
Wreck It Ralph — Kenny Crowe

Thanks, all!

To see examples of scene-by-scene breakdowns, go here. Part of the goal is to create a library of breakdowns for writers to have at their disposal for research and learning.

You may see the scripts we can use for the series — free and legal — by going here.

To date, we have analyzed 54 movie scripts, a great resource for screenwriters. To see those analyses, go here.

Thanks to any of you who will rise to the occasion and take on a scene-by-scene breakdown.

And for those of you who have volunteered, please send me your scene-by-scene breakdown as soon as possible!

Circling back to where we started, reading scripts is hugely important. Analyzing them even more so. If you want to work in Hollywood as a writer, you need to develop your critical analytical skills. This is one way to do that.

So seize this opportunity and join in the conversation!

I hope to see you in comments about this week’s script: The End of the Tour.

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