topdawg193 said:
Musicman - I had that exact cut in mind, also.

I agree with you, jones1899, that there is far too much exposition, and feel that we don't need the 'what if's, or the musings about Oxley at this point; transitioning from 'what is this thing?' to Indy and Mutt going up the steps would be seamless.

Remember, with the whole 'return' business, in regards to the word 'return' being written all over Ox's cell and the realisation that Oxley left clues in the note to find the skull, I think it's safe to assume that the audience would be able to grasp that Oxley was the one who both found and then later returned the skull (we are even reminded of this in the following scene with Indy and Spalko in the tent; 'now I know why Oxley put the skull back - he knew you were looking for it').

It's good to hear that you're tackling this head on, jones1899 - on the topic of needless-exposition, what are your thoughts on other areas of the movie which you think ought to be trimmed down, dialogue wise? I think this removing-of-pointless-explanations is possibly the best way to tighten up the film, and give it some velocity in terms of pacing.

Thanks topdawg. I think this was the biggest cut as far as exposition goes, but I've made a few others as well. In the sand/obelisk puzzle scene I took out the "you figured this out in your cell didn't you professor?" Just really unnatural. And with that line gone and a few changes to the order of the shots, it looks like Indy was more so the one to figure it all out. There are plenty enough clues there for Indy to figure it out.

I took out Spalko saying "what is the point of all this Dr. Jones" in the warehouse and I'm toying with taking out Indy's response. He JUST said it the box was highly magnetic and it works better if he just doesn't offer a reply and lets the magic gunpowder do the talking. Again, still playing with this one.

Beyond that, I cut Ox's Henry Jones Jr! line just before the jungle chase. In fact, I cut a lot of Ox. Now it really does seem like he's just a tool (not like that) and that the skull messed him up pretty bad. He's not the "funny' messed up like they were going for. Now when he returns to normal it works much better since we haven't heard him talk much. I HATED Ox in the original.

On a seperate note, I also cut way back on the alien content - not that I had a problem REALLY with aliens being in an Indy movie, just the way it was handled. So you don't see exactly whats in the box in the warehouse until the jungle tent scene and even then its always behind the cloth. I'm going to fool with the color in the climax to keep the full alien figure a bit more of a mystery (and yes I cut the mean alien face looking at Spalko - really Steven...?)

I have to say this is all coming along nicely. Well, for me it is. I'm far from an expert. But until I get that audio figured out, it's kinda at a stand still. I just can not get 6 tracks of audio or some reason. I really want to add more original trilogy music too. Not TOO much, but in key places.