DZ-11: Adventure for the MacGuffin!

Listen to discover why the MacGuffin's emotional weight--not its function--determines whether your audience cares enough to follow the entire adventure.

Stu and Chas are joined by a special guest - Scriptmag contributor Brad Johnson - to discuss how the choice of the MacGuffin can impact on the quality of an action/adventure film. To test this thesis, our heroes compare the auspicious originals of two iconic franchise with their, um, less-than-auspicious 4th instalments (in other words we compare RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK with KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL and THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL with ON STRANGER TIDES) as well as look at two recent & original entries into the genre, namely NATIONAL TREASURE and PRINCE OF PERSIA.

Our heroes uncover how key the relationship between the protagonist and the MacGuffin is and how this can impact on writing in any genre, not just action/adventure. Suprisingly, Brad brings up STAR WARS before Stu does...

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

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CHAPTERS

• 00:00:00 – Intro: Adventure for the MacGuffin!
• 00:01:27 – What is a MacGuffin?
• 00:06:14 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
• 00:11:59 – Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Cystal Skull
• 00:26:38 – Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl
• 00:41:24 – Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides
• 00:55:00 – National Treasure
• 01:17:00 – Princes of Persa: The Sands of Time
• 01:37:00 – Wrap Up & Key Learnings

FILMS

• RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) — (w) Philip Kaufman, George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan (d) Steven Spielberg
• INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008) — (w) George Lucas, David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson (d) Steven Spielberg
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003) — (w) Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott (d) Gore Verbinski
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (2011) — (w) Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Tim Powers (d) Rob Marshall
• NATIONAL TREASURE (2004) — (w) Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley, Jim Kouf, Oren Aviv, Charles Segars (d) Jon Turteltaub
• PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME (2010) — (w) Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard (d) Mike Newell

SCRIPTS

• Study the script: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) — Philip Kaufman, George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan
• Study the script: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008) — George Lucas, David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson
• Study the script: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003) — Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott
• Study the script: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (2011) — Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Tim Powers
• Study the script: NATIONAL TREASURE (2004) — Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley, Jim Kouf, Oren Aviv, Charles Segars

LINKS

• Read: You can find Brad Johnson on Twitter or at www.ReadWatchWrite.com
• Website: Specs & The City: MacGuffins and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'
• YouTube: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - The Greek Chorus/Exposition Scene
• YouTube: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - Showing protagonist's desire for the MacGuffin
• Read: The Complete Making of Indiana Jones by Rinzler and Bouzereau
• YouTube: How Indy 4 should have ended
• YouTube: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL - Visualising and explaining the MacGuffin
• YouTube: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES - Where the protagonist says that they do not want the MacGuffin in the middle of the film
• YouTube: NATIONAL TREASURE - Where the MacGuffin itself actually tells the protagonist to take action

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Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2014/dz-11/