THE BIG BANG: Raiders story conference transcripts!!??

[torao]

[insert facial expression of indy facing an important find]


I know that some of you are regulars on the spielbergfilms message board. I tend to check out some of their threads now and then.

What I read their a few minutes ago was just jaw-dropping: a member named agent5 has purchased some alleged transcripts of the Raiders conference meeting tapes. Due to the lack of proof of authenticity he hasn't been scanning more than the cover and one page (http://www.spielbergfilms.com/showthread.php?t=5439):

http://static.flickr.com/1/130301481_6efdbf5bfe_b.jpg


Click on the text above to check out the thread for yourself. He shortly hints on some of the stuff he has read. Steven (Awalt) also brings up some interesting things...

There are about a gazillion Indy-referenced quotes, or metaphors that define the meaning of this "find" you could use now, which I'll leave to you.
All I can say is that I MUST HAVE THESE DAMN PAGES....and I know that I'm not alone.

:D


Oh dear...I'm still stunned ....

[torao]

"what I read THERE"....I told you I was stunned...

[ClintonHammond]

Without documentation, it's just worthless paper.

Even with proof....

[Moedred]

121 pages of Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan brainstorming Indy in January 1978? Some things are too elaborate to be hoaxes. Now this is a holy grail... Indy's creation. Great find torao. I can't wait to read more.

Fly, Raveners! Like flying monkeys! Retrieve the lost pages!

[Methos]

Any update on this story at all? I'm much intrigued by what I read, in those two pages. I wholeheartedly agree with Moedred that this seems far too elaborate to be a hoax as well.

[Bullwhip]

The whole excuse for not scanning it in is such a cop-out.

[IndyJr.]

... seriously, this looks like a converence transcript for Raiders of the Lost Ark... not Indiana Jones 4..

and if that's what you meant, then sorry...

but then... why is it so important. the movie's already out... reading papers about what they said about what happened in a movie that came out 20 years ago is a waste of time (I say that referently, realizing that I myself have spent a lot of time on Indy stuff, and I am glad I did)... but this seems rather... unusful :down:

[Bullwhip]

... seriously, this looks like a converence transcript for Raiders of the Lost Ark... not Indiana Jones 4..

and if that's what you meant, then sorry...

but then... why is it so important. the movie's already out... reading papers about what they said about what happened in a movie that came out 20 years ago is a waste of time (I say that referently, realizing that I myself have spent a lot of time on Indy stuff, and I am glad I did)... but this seems rather... unusful :down:

It IS for Raiders.

Dude, it's Spielberg, Lucas, and Kasdan BRAINSTORMING Raiders. Right before our eyes, they're giving birth to Indiana Jones. If this doesn't appeal to you as a fan of the character, then I don't know what will.

[oki9Sedo]

I find it unlikely that its real. It was a brainstorming session. The people doing the brainstorming have notepads to jot down notes. Nobody would bother their arse to record and type up what was said.

[Bullwhip]

As I understand it IS known that recordings were made and that Kasdan used them when writing the script. I think the fact that they're type-written has to do with someone outside the project having access to the tapes and transcribing them. Not positive, though.

[oki9Sedo]

As I understand it IS known that recordings were made and that Kasdan used them when writing the script. I think the fact that they're type-written has to do with someone outside the project having access to the tapes and transcribing them. Not positive, though.

Oh, I see. That makes sense. You never know, maybe they are real. I'm sceptical though.

[Methos]

I second what Bullwhip's said. I've been a Star Wars fan as well and was always fascinated by the subtle and not so subtle hints that Lucas would drop in magazine interviews and the original trilogy's 'Annotated Screenplays', with regard to the prequels. I don't find it at all inconceivable that they kept detailed minutes of their initial production meetings for ROTLA. Reading the minutes of such a series of meetings is just about the closest thing we might ever get to witnessing the birth of Indy. I would love to get my hands on a copy of this rare find, if it is indeed legit!:D

[Attila the Professor]

If it were legitimate, as it may well be, it would be interesting to see. Certainly better than enduring Indy IV news all the time.

[Wilhelm]

Maybe those transcripts reveal something new about Abner Ravenwood and his death.

[No Ticket]

I find it intriguing. If it's real I would love to read more. I read that one page that was scanned and it sounds like stuff that they would say. If it's all made up then I feel sorry for the person who is getting his kicks and giggles from wasting a crap load of time making up conversations about the making of the movie.

I think it's probably real, I know Spielberg and Lucas document much of their movies and tape recording the brainstorming sessions would make sense to help keep track of what was said, don't you think?

Still. It's hard to say. Lucasfilm should publish something like that themselves. lol. It would sell.

[torao]

I'm still amazed at the sheer thought of that Blade Runner release (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000K15VSA/thedigitalbit-20) that awaits us at december 18th.


...In a perfect world there would be a comparable release for the Indiana Jones movies. Of course containing the audio of these early stages of script development...and all the other stuff we still haven't been able to see...

[Moedred]

I was just noticing how Agent5 calls the transcript (http://www.flickr.com/photos/99667814@N00/130301480/) "a VERY interesting read for the true fan," and the Raiders movie on cassette (http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?t=11283) "an awesome experience for the serious fan."

He's a busy guy and Raiders historian with an awesome collection (http://www.flickr.com/photos/99667814@N00/sets/) he kindly shares with the world. He frequents other boards like COW but not here to my knowledge. He apparently owns a digital camera but no scanner, which I have gone so far as to offer (http://www.spielbergfilms.com/showthread.php?t=5439) to help him purchase. Call me crazy, or rather, call me an Indy "scripthead." To each their own. Should you meet him in passing, tell him nice gear, and tell him some of us are looking for a good read.

[Adamwankenobi]

THE BIG BANG: Raider story conference transcripts!!??

Oh come on, everyone knows Raiders was made in six days! :p

[Dr. Gonzo]

Has any progress been made in this area?

[Moedred]

Saw an image of the transcript on the new DVD featurette, "Raiders: an Introduction." The cover was word for word as photographed (http://static.flickr.com/44/130301480_00aa80d7fc_b.jpg) by agent5, except no Raiders logo. Spielberg said those conferences were "where it was born."

[ATMachine]

Yeah, these are legit. In the new Complete Making of Indy book, there's a synopsis of the original first draft of the Raiders script, which mentions that Indy successfully retrieves the Chachapoyan Idol, a story beat also mentioned in the excerpts given by the story conference transcripts' owner.

[Indy fan 235]

Man, I would love to read this thing.

No Ticket, I agree, Lucas should publish this sort of thing, for both the Indy films and Star Wars. It's always interesting to see where a film started out and how it got to what we see in the theatre. It always helps me see the film in a new light, especially after seeing the film for so many times you begin to just take it for granted and not think of all that went into the film from concept to screen.

[Raiders112390]

Any update on this?

[Moedred]

It's kind of funny the Complete Making Of book features excerpts from the same page Agent5 uploaded.
From the defunct Spielbergfilms site, I've salvaged Agent5's comments:
I acquired a transcript of some or perhaps all of the conversations between Spielberg, George Lucas and Larry Kasdan that took place in a little office across the street from Paramount studios back in the late 70's when laying down the outline for the Raiders of the Lost Ark script.
I've heard many times over the years that they left a cheap tape recorder on so that Kasdan could go back and use the cassettes for reference but I never have ever seen bootlegs of them in any fashion until a while ago when I saw this on Evilbay. In back is about 8 pages of transcript between Kasdan, Phillip Kaufman (co-story creator) and Deborah Fine who was the person in charge of the research into the MacGuffin items of the occult for the Indy films. These 8 pages are all about the research done on the Ark and a few other things for Raiders.
Now, I can't be 100% certain as the guy who I got it from wouldn't name his source for the tapes, but he said he had copies of them and wrote it all out in transcript form, word for eligible word. I have to think that if it is a fake, it is a damn good one, but I think not. You can just hear Lucan and Spielberg saying these things as you read it. Besides, it would take someone a large ammount of creativity to invent all this conversation, especially 121 pages of it.
There are some interesting things like the backround they had for the Marion character was actually scraped and they ended up using it for Elsa Schneider in Last Crusade. Many of the set pieces were also scraped and used in the next two films so they really had alot of TOD and LC in mind when writing Raiders.
I think this is a great find because it really gets you into the mind of the creators so well. You really don't have this kind of material out there too often and are so indepth in the very earliest stages of the creative process of the entire film.
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I'm not sure about hosting this on the main site for two reasons.
First, I still am not 100% certain that these are authentic and I know Steven, you pride yourself on that aspect of things on this site, which I respect.
Second, I did pay for this and whoever made this took alot of time to get it done. If it were posted on the main site, nothing would stop anyone from copying it and then selling their own copies, even if it is available here for all to see. If there was a way to stop that, I may be game to let everyone in, but in all my time online, that has not been the case. In fact, it's been the opposite alot ofo the time. Trying to find people you completely trust online is hard. People who won't exploit something good when you are simply trying to share.
I hope this makes sense to all of you as this has been a topic of interest on many boards, with those in the 'I'll share everything with everyone' camp, and the 'I'm a little sceptical' camp in another. I've seen guys who have had nothing but good intentions in their hearts to share with others, ripped off by someone who's only intention was to make some quick, easy cash. I know it's bad and those like that are truely in the minority. Still, it happens and being that it does puts me in the sceptical camp, I guess.
Perhaps I can work something out to get some copies into the hands of those who really want it. I'd rather put my trust in a small few with legitimate interest than in the entire internet.
I hope I didn't come off as a jerk and I hope you can all understand.
I'm open to suggestions.
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SS does come up with some weird ideas but I think they all needed to be put out there to get them on the table and flesh them all out to get a roadmap for where they wanted to take this film. Lucas does sort of bring him back to reality on a few occasions with his original intentions of the character. They constantly site old serials and movies as their inspiration. The Dobb's character was the number one inspiration for Indy. They also say how they'd like the villain's to be more like the ones of the Leone spaghetti westers in the fact that even though they are evil, the audience should still like them. All in all there's lots of great stuff in there.
I think SS was just picking his brain for ideas and set pieces and at first he had sort of a different idea of what Raiders could be but over time it was all worked out and everyone was on the same level. It was just a way for them to get all of their ideas out on the table to discuss how relevant they may be or if they would work in the context of the film. It is cool to get into some of their thought processes. It's almost like the Big Bang. We're here, right at the beginning. Stage 1. It's a rare part of Hollywood we rarely get to take part in.