system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does the movie 'Birdman' look like one continuous take? How did they do it?
gpt
It's easier to see the cuts once you know what you're looking for. Birdman wasn't filmed in one location: the stage and backstage portions, as well as the roof scenes, were on location at the St. James Theatre. Anything in the hallways and dressing rooms was in a different studio. So there's a cut any time a character leaves the dressing room/hallway areas. Same with any time there's a change in time (like the day to night time lapses). 

The cuts that are easiest to see involve a black screen. It happens a lot when characters go up to the rooftop or out of the pub, where there's no light on the door so the screen goes black for a half-second. Another technique they used, going from the dressing rooms to backstage, was having an extra walk in front of the camera. Some of the less obvious ones have cuts when the camera is making a fast pan, like with the drummer while Riggan and Mike are walking outside the theatre.