I will not describe the traditional features that are almost always present in Woody Allen’s films (e.g. his monologues or inevitable references to other films of his), because these are quite apparent; neither will I retell the plot. What I do want to note concerning the surface layer is the fact that the whole film seems to be constructed out of stereotypes:
- if there is a prominent journalist he is exactly like anybody would imagine him (confident; been on crisis spots lots of times; knows how to make people speak; interested in nothing except good stories, even after his own death);
- if there is a magician, he’s called Splendini and does card and disappearance tricks;
- if there is an American — all the usual stereotypes about the representatives of this country are there;
- if there is British upper-class, a posh swimming club membership and an English country house with a large park and even a private lake are guaranteed;
- if there is a celebrity — we get alcohol, promiscuity and things like that;
- if there is a serial killer — he leaves tokens near the bodies of his victims, who are dark-haired prostitutes;
- if there is the Grim Reaper he is Bergmanesque.
In other words, the narrative is deliberately constructed in such a way that the spectator has the sense of recognition all along, everything he sees more or less agrees with his (spectator's) mental representations (more or less, because even stereotypes are not completely universal).
Consequently, the objects, people or events that we see in “Scoop” point to similar objects, people and events in other stories rather than are constructed here from scratch. “Scoop” emphasizes its stereotypicality to create irony.