Alright, I started this project I mentioned above. Here is my list of changes for the first 15 minutes of the movie...
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- FAde into clean plate of gopher mound ... no gopher
- Try to shorten the time it takes for the ract to start
- After the commie guns it we get a few different shots, including one from behind as they're driving off ... go right from this shot into the commies turning into the army base, shortening the lame race
- When guards are being shot, add in muzzle flashes for kneeling guy and standing guy on right
- Take out Mac's reference to the bet before car drives up.
- When Dovchenko walks up, cut out Mac's 2nd reference to the bet and cut straight to Dovchenko pushing Mac aside.
- After Indy gets backhanded first time, keep Mac's reaction, but then cut out Indy's "I'm sorry ... drop dead comrade" and go straight to the shot from behind Indy's head where Dovchenko tell the other commies to hold Indy so Dovchenko can hit him again. This makes Dovchenko seem more brutal, since he doesn't need another smart-ass comment to give Indy another smack.
- Alternatively, change the order by having Dovchenko hit Indy, then switch to shot from behind Indy's head where Dovchenko tells others to hold him, show Dovchenko take off his hat to hand it to someone. When Dovchenko's arm is at the lowest point in handing off his hat, insert Mac's reaction shot to the first hit, making it seem like he's now reacting to the beating he thinks Indy is about to get. Cut back to Dovchenko's hand already starting it's way up and balling his fist, only to be called off by Spalko. (If something can be done about Mac's randomly rising and falling hands, that would be just super).
- I don't know what can be done about that "sinking your teeth into those wubbleyous" line. I think the whole exchange sounds off. It might be interesting to have Indy say the "You're not from around here, are you?" line, but then slow down Spalko standing there a bit so we get a second or two of her not saying anything, then cut directly to her putting her three fingers up in his face saying, "three times I have received order of Lenin". This would also eliminate her introduction of herself (rank and name), so it will make more sense when Indy asks who she was in the FBI interrogation later.
- Don't know if there's a way to eliminate Indy's crosseyed look when Spalko says, "what I need to know is in here" and points at his forward, but at the lease it should cut as she start to move down his nose, then cut back into the shot that's looking at her where she smiles slightly just before it switches to her smacking him in the face. Then take out her saying "You're a hard man to read" and him saying "ouch". Cut to her saying, "So", take out reference to "old fashioned way", cut directly to her saying, "you will tell us. you will help us find what we seek".
- When Indy says, "A compass. I need a compass.", take out the shot where he says, "You know, North, South, East" and Mac says, "West" and Indy smiles. Cut straight to "No compass?"
- I think Indy should say to Spalko, "The contents of that box are highly magnetized ... you want my help or not?". Take out him saying, I need gunpowder. Continue to them pouring out gunpowder from grenade into his hand.
- When Spalko says, "Don't toy with me, what is the point of all this?" Cut into to the shot of Indy after he answers, just as he goes to throw the gunpowder in the air. When it starts floating, they have their answer without him explaining it.
- When Spalko cuts into the corpse bag, cut away just before we see anything, show the shot of Indy looking at the gun as the soldier looks towards to group, skip the shot of the corpse and go directly to the reaction shot of the soldiers seeing it. Show Dovchenko holding the flashlight, skip the pan to the hand, cut directly to camera panning up to Spalko's face, then keep going.
- Cut Indy's reaction shot as he's pulling the gun out of the soldier's hand with his whip. The reaction looks fake and out of place. Instead once the whip is around the skip the pull reaction and jump right to the gun being pulled into Mac's hand.
- Keep Indy's saying "drop the guns", but cut out him saying, "or colonel doctor Spalko is dead". Better to keep him not knowing who she is.
- Cut out Spalko saying, "Any last words?" and Indy saying "I like Ike." The movie takes place in the 50's it isn't about the 50's and we enough 50's references before and after this. Cut right to Dovchenko telling him to put down the gun.
- When Indy throws down the gun and it shoots Mac in the foot, keep the shot of Mac shooting his gun, but skip the shot of Indy's face as he goes to run, cutting directly to wide shot of him already running. Indy wouldn't haven't waited around like that.
- I don't have a major problem with the "damn, I thought it was closer line" but it could probably be removed in favor of going directly to elbowing the soldiers out of the truck.
- The exploding crates he drives through look off, but not sure what could be done about this.
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Ryan