AICN Indy 5 MacGuffin essay contest

Le Saboteur

Active member
Rocket Surgeon said:
Indiana Jones and the Shards of the Black Stone...

snipped to save the lives of defenseless electrons everywhere

No. Just no. I could make a wonderful argument about the socio-political reasons for not doing it, but the reasoning is of a tertiary nature. The primary reason is quite simple: Indy's been to that part of the world. Twice. It's a wide, wide world out there; let's see a different part of it.

Abu Tahir, who resembles...

That's a little on the nose, don't you think?

The South Pacific, Northeast Asia and Subsaharan Africa are the ideal locales Indy should be visiting on the silver screen. And, no, not in the same damn move.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Lance Quazar said:
^You can only criticize if you offer your own idea up for discussion, as well.

Fair is fair.


:hat:

I like everything about your story except for two things: The plot and the characters.

The idea itself is fine. The only real criticism, as mentioned, is geographic. To tread the same turf for a third time does the character and fans a disservice.

And as for ideas, I've offered up a fair amount in other threads.
 
Le Saboteur said:
That's a little on the nose, don't you think?
No, we're not in production...yet. This is just your standard, run-of-the-mill "Ain't It Cool News Pitch"...:rolleyes:

He did steal the relic once and suffered a very Indiana Jonesy, villains fate.

Le Saboteur said:
The South Pacific, Northeast Asia and Subsaharan Africa are the ideal locales Indy should be visiting on the silver screen. And, no, not in the same damn move.
I hear ya, but what about my proposal makes any these locales off limits? There are prologues, sub-ventures, even epilogues..

Have they run out of Red pixels...?

I know I did treking across the Raven in search of: Indiana Jones and Le Saboteur's Revelation.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
When the hell are they gonna announce the winners?

It's not even in their contest section anymore... have we been duped?
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Everything is a business model

It's a ruse, Hollywood doesn't create anything anymore. They steal it. Create a bogus contest, have a sheet load of contributions, pick and piece meal together a script and never have to pay out royalties or advance monies.

See ARGO: ergo, the golden fleece. You've all been duped.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Pale Horse said:
It's a ruse, Hollywood doesn't create anything anymore. They steal it. Create a bogus contest, have a sheet load of contributions, pick and piece meal together a script and never have to pay out royalties or advance monies.

See ARGO: ergo, the golden fleece. You've all been duped.

Hahaha, I figured as much... have you heard what amazon.com is up to lately? To the average joe studios.amazon.com must seem great... little do they know...
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Weird and frustrating.

The original page/link is still up. And the last few comments are people similarly griping about the delay.

Okay, a week-end is enough to read and choose the winners!

Let's get going, damnit!!!
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
I suspect Mitch submitted his fantastic Indy 5 idea. I must confess, I saw little use for Excalibur until Mitch suggested ditching it on the moon. I had some extra space so I tacked that epilogue to the end of the first reel, as a means of getting Indy to Cape Canaveral, where the story begins. Actually it's my idea for Indy 6, and it's lying around here somewhere in pieces. I'll post the submission eventually. If I win, I vow to keep the under-publicized contest going for a chance to win the unopened package from Paramount! Unless Mitch wants it of course. :)

I try not to critique positive ideas from fans, since they seem to be in the minority outside our mostly sheltered environment, but here are some tips applicable to any rare opportunity to pitch something:
  • Don't forbid or insist upon the presence of any actor or character.
  • Don't write "insert $10 million chase sequence here." Specifics!
  • Don't vaguely suggest a time, place, character type, or sub-genre as "perfect" for the story. Why? What story?
  • Don't get too immersed describing a scene, reactions, dialogue, or significance. It's a pitch and the clock is ticking.
  • In fact, probably don't interpret significance at all.
  • Don't try to fill in all the blanks, especially with something as formulaic as Indy. If you're lacking a minor element, skip it.
  • Spoil the ending, but only after establishing why it's a fitting outcome.
My submission could very well have been the worst. These is just a response to the half-baked ideas which I find annoying. Of course others will reject as a whole ideas that aren't made airtight. Hopefully when results are posted we'll see 5 scenarios solid enough that critics will be forced to critique specifics while accepting the whole.

Update: "Reading through what feels like the same entry for Indy Blu-rays is making this take forever."
 
Last edited:

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Moedred said:
Update: "Reading through what feels like the same entry for Indy Blu-rays is making this take forever."

Glad to know it's under way.

I'd imagine that the same handful of ideas keep popping up. I'd be surprised if there weren't a lot of Spear of Destiny and Excalibur ideas in there.

(No offense to the above!)
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Holy crap. I saw the winner of the Vanity Fair contest that Moerdred linke to on AICN.

That winning entry was crap!

Though, it did have the virtue of being one of a kind.
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
So essentially this is what I sent the folks over at AICN.
I submit that the next MacGuffin for an Indiana Jones film should be the death shroud of Jesus Christ. Not the shroud of Turin that the Vatican has, but the legitimate cloth.

Reasons for this: Knowing the story of the resurrection, it would be assumed that the shroud would resurrect the dead, that somehow after Christ was resurrected the shroud itself had the power to reanimate corpses. The applications for this could be endless. A group of neo Nazi's could try and resurrect Hitler. Soviets could try and resurrect Lenin. Our own American government could resurrect a genius like Einstein, (depending on what year the film is set in) or any one significant figure whose remains can be located. Indy himself might be interested in bringing back friends or family of his own since many have passed on.

But of course the dead that are reanimated would not come back the same (ala Pet Cemetery and other stories of that nature).

This also plays into the whole 50's B movie thing that George has now brought the franchise into with zombies of sorts, while also keeping it in the realm of the originals with a Biblical artifact. Also the series seems to skip from Judeo-Christian artifact to a non Judeo-Christian artifact every other movie. This would be an artifact that accomplishes the task of making all 5 films more "seemingly connected" than the 3 great ones from the 80's and that other one with the aliens.

Now I didn't spell out the scenario of the film because they were specifically asking just for the MacGuffin.

from AICN
So it's very simple - what would be your MacGuffin of choice for INDY 5, and why would it work in the overall scope of films?

So I gave them their MacGuffin and some possible options on ways it could make a good story. I've found that when doing these sorts of pitches you give the folks in charge options so they can fill in their own blanks and make the perfect movie in their head with the pieces you've presented.

But it seems everyone else actually presented an outline of their whole film... which I guess was the death knell for me.

Anyway heres the winners, I'm not among them, through fault of my own.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/58571
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Dr. Gonzo said:
So essentially this is what I sent the folks over at AICN.

I like this idea. Having Indy die on screen, then at the very end, see a silhouette of Indy putting on a hat etc would be a pretty perfect way to end the series. Having Nazis and Soveits together would be interesting, and while zombies are a bit overdone nowadays, having them in the Indy would has potential.

Anyway heres the winners, I'm not among them, through fault of my own.
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/58571

Reading through those premises, which are essentially fan-fiction, it really gave me an even higher appreciate for both Temple and Kingdom.

Most people seem to want to just rehash Raiders/Last Crusade.
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
I say this not out of bitterness (though I am EXTREMELY bitter) but...

These. F*cking. Suck.


Okay, that is not entirely fair.

The Jacob's Ladder idea feels very fresh (even though it is yet another Bible story. Yawn.)

Not only do two of the winners (including the "grand prize") use the hackiest, most unimaginative, oft-disucssed possibilities - the Spear of Destiny and the Garden of Eden, but THREE out of the five mention Neo-Nazis as the villains. Put those two crap ideas together and you get arguably the LEAST inspired ideas possible.

Neo-Nazis are a CRAP idea for a new Indy movie. Period. The Spear and Garden are lousy and unimaginative and utterly repetitive of Indy I and III.

Jacob's Ladder is admittedly interesting and there seems to be some cool ideas here. I genuinely like that one.

Another guy freely admits he swiped the idea from one of the Indy kiddie books. Bravo, sir, on your brazen plagiarism.

That idea is actually not terrible (though I think it would be hard to see as movie) and there are some okay ideas in the write-up. . As long as you don't mind the fact that he didn't come up with the idea himself.

And then we have the "comic" idea. Ho ho. Lucas is a boob. Yes, thank you for reiterating 90% of internet traffic going back for the past 15 years. You're a genius. In fairness, his write-up is modestly amusing, but utterly devoid of any new insight. And, of course, he isn't really playing by the rules.

Wow, I am genuinely surprised by how annoyed I am over this. I didn't care about winning and was honestly hoping to hear some clever, unexpected, out-side-the-box ideas.

Out of five, I think ONE of those qualifies. Two are the worst, most obvious ideas imaginable. One is a joke.

This contest is a joke.

Ugh.

Screw Billy the Kidd.

I'm actually sorry I entered.
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
As promised, here is my entry.

Have at it, folks....


Indiana Jones and the Undiscovered Country**

It?s 1960 and Indiana Jones has settled into a quiet life, embarking on a worldwide lecture tour with his wife and son. While in Paris, Dr. Jones is approached by a brash former archaeology student, LELAND.

Leland has information on how to obtain a rare copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead which, he promises, will lead to a legendary beyul - a hidden Shangri La-esque utopia somewhere in the Himalayas, where the boundaries between the realms of life and death are at their most fragile.

Indy refuses to join Leland on his quest, but Mutt, having learned that Marion has recently been diagnosed with cancer ? a secret she has been keeping from her family, goes with him, defying his father and bringing along Indy?s research. Having heard all about Indy?s adventures, Mutt hopes the mystical valley might contain a supernatural cure for his mother.

When his wife and son disappear without a trace, Indy is hot on the trail. The traitorous Leland, in cahoots with the Red Chinese, is desperate to find the beyul and uncover its powers.

No matter the outcome of the mission, Indy is confronted with the prospect of a profound loss. But he is desperate to shield his loved ones from the embrace of death for as long as possible. In the end, quests are abandoned, villains are vanquished, sacrifices are made and the Jones family learns the that the most precious treasure of all is life itself.


**Yes, I know the title was used in a Trek film, but it works much better here and has a nice double meaning.
 

RaiderMitch

TR.N Staff Member
Thanks. I did submit my story idea and had to chop it down to 250 words. Guess Ecalibur didn't make the cut (pun intended).
 
Top