Anatomy of a Scene
Directors offer behind-the-scenes narration on their films.
Clashing egos meet a roving camera in this scene from “Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance,” the new film from Alejandro G. Iñárritu. The movie was recently the closing-night film of the New York Film Festival, and opens in theaters Friday. In this video, the director narrates a sequence featuring Michael Keaton as the Hollywood actor Riggan Thomson and Edward Norton as the stage actor Mike Shiner. The scene was shot in the the St. James Theater, with cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki. Mr. Iñárritu discusses how art imitated life during the rehearsal of the scene.