Fatal Flaw?

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  • #16
    Re: Fatal Flaw?

    Originally posted by haroldhecuba View Post
    All kinds of things could've been used to explain why the eagles weren't used, but the fact is that Tolkien probably didn't think of it until it was already published, and then he had that V8 moment. Little did he realize that the hippies and beatniks that made Lord of the Rings such a huge publishing sensation didn't care either. Or, if they did, they just smoked the doobie, dropped some acid, and discussed it for three days.
    Thing is, Tolkein didn't leave *anything* to chance. He spent weeks getting the moon in the right place in the sky for on the right nights for everyone, scattered all over Middle Earth -- and, of course, he wrote several full languages for the various creatures. Apparently Tolkein -- as a boy -- had written several languages, but his parents threw that "rubbish" out when he moved from South Africa to England. If the Eagles could have taken on Sauron directly, that wouldn't say much about Sauron's power, would it?
    STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I'm a wannabe, take whatever I write with a huge grain of salt.

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    • #17
      Re: Fatal Flaw?

      Originally posted by Steven Jenkins View Post
      Centos: sounds like a decent plot technique, but I need my man to do this willingly - even if he needs to get well p*ssed up first.
      It was just an idea. That's the problem with trying to "fix" screenplays (on the other forum) without knowing where the writer is going. It's no longer their story.

      Good luck, BTW.
      STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I'm a wannabe, take whatever I write with a huge grain of salt.

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      • #18
        Re: Fatal Flaw?

        Originally posted by Steven Jenkins View Post
        My plot is about getting a mem-stick with vitally important data on it to a particular person & place.

        My flaw is that this data could feasibly be uploaded to the person via the internet, or the mem-stick posted in the mail, which kinda undermines my hero's hazardous trek across the country.
        lets stop there. 'posted in the mail?' and what's a mem-stick? you mean a flash drive.

        If something is of importance to the protagonist, then(inciting incident) they act.
        -just give him a reason to need to see the whole task through. like the data will help save his son from a fatal illness

        I'm covering this flaw by exposing that the mem-stick is hardware protected, so if it's inserted into a standard USB port the data gets fried
        hardware protected? hmm... like this device with will self destruct in 10 seconds... like Mission Impossible? That's like nineteen fiftys logic, where the flash drive would begin smoking.

        They have software encyiption programs. Download WinRAR and zip any file on your computer password protect it.... encryption software can render data irrecoverable

        and if it's posted in the mail it could get intercepted by the authrities who are hunting for the mem-stick.
        just give him a reason not to trust them. An action scequence.
        -A guy in Brown short tries to kill them, now there is no option but to take the device personally

        PS: no one would believe that a hobbit would bu tt fvck Gandolf
        But this wily god never discloses even to the skillful questioner the whole content of his wisdom.

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        • #19
          Re: Fatal Flaw?

          Originally posted by Centos View Post
          That said, you could go the route of "District 9" -- just ignore the questions about how alien "power" juice can change the DNA of a human to that of an alien. I still liked the movie -- even with a plot hole so big you could fly a starship cruiser through it.
          To be fair, that isn't a 'plot hole' so much as something unexplained.

          It would make sense if the 'power juice' wasn't fuel (as is assumed) - but instead the black goo is just a glop of repair nanos.

          Once they are inside his system they will 'repair' the perceived damage and rebuild the expected alien body out of the raw material of his own.

          It explains why it was needed for the ship too - it isn't to fuel the ship (although people talk about it being 'fuel') it is more of a fuel additive.

          Heck - you know those old star cruisers - if you don't have the right fuel additive then the fusion injection points clog up before you're out of the solar system.

          That's what the hero alien has been doing all these years ... adapting the existing medical repair nanos so he can fix the ship. And given the way they are treated .. do you really expect him to be up front about the true capabilities of the technology?

          That is just one of dozens and dozens of explanations.

          So isn't a plot hole - it is something that is left to the viewer to explain.

          Mac
          New blogposts:
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          • #20
            Re: Fatal Flaw?

            To answer the original question - don't explain it to the viewer.

            SHOW it to them.

            Just have someone try to send the data the sensible way first.
            And then we see him get killed.

            Our hero has the memory stick of what the guy tried to send, so it's up to him now.

            And he's not going to make the same mistake we just saw someone get killed making.

            It would also beef up the stakes by making him more of an 'everyday Joe'. He doesn't really understand the technicalities of what is on the stick or why he's being hunted.

            And if his own personal stuff was on the stick that the bad guys (erroneously) recovered then now he and his family are at risk.

            I vote for 'Let someone try the obvious way and get killed'.

            Good luck,

            Mac
            New blogposts:
            *Followup - Seeking Investors in all the wrong places
            *Preselling your film - Learning from the Experts
            *Getting your indie film onto iTunes
            *Case Study - Estimating Film profits

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            • #21
              Re: Fatal Flaw?

              Thanks for the help guys I'm getting a bit closer to a good solution now, I think...?

              The flash-drive is 'self-destructive', but my Main Character is only told that by the Protagonist who gives him the mission to deliver it somewhere, and there's extreme reasons at the end of the story to doubt Protag's honesty and motives.

              Basically I pit the MC against the Protagonist (who's now revealed to actually be the Protagonist of an evil plot) at the end of the film, if that makes any sense? Most of the movie is a smoke-screen, and MC spots the truth and foils the plan in the last few minutes of the film. How - I don't know yet

              There has to be a rookie-type flaw in this idea somewhere, I just know it.
              "Would you take a f**k to save your president?"

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              • #22
                Re: Fatal Flaw?

                There has to be a rookie-type flaw in this idea somewhere, I just know it.
                Having your main character and protagonist be different people might qualify.

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                • #23
                  Re: Fatal Flaw?

                  Call off your minions, Lowell.

                  That was outta line (or as my three year old would say...) you big fat meany!
                  "I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.- - Don Draper

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                  • #24
                    Re: Fatal Flaw?

                    Originally posted by Steven Jenkins View Post
                    My plot is about getting a mem-stick with vitally important data on it to a particular person & place.

                    My flaw is that this data could feasibly be uploaded to the person via the internet, or the mem-stick posted in the mail, which kinda undermines my hero's hazardous trek across the country.

                    why can't you just wrap up the 'vitally important data' with a trojan virus (like dna)? the recipient has the code to unwrap it, and now the cross-country trekker has a reason to hand it over in person.
                    life happens
                    despite a few cracked pots-
                    and random sunlight

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                    • #25
                      Re: Fatal Flaw?

                      Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
                      Having your main character and protagonist be different people might qualify.
                      Not according to the experts.
                      I can think of quite a few movies with seperate protags and MCs.

                      To Kill a mockingbird is the text-book example.
                      Lord of the Rings (Gandalf the Antag vs Sauron the Protag "Sauron desperately wants the ring, but he must not get it", Frodo is the MC).
                      Star wars (Emperor=protag, Rebellion=Antag "The more you tighten your grip, there more planets will slip through your fingers", luke is the MC)

                      There's loads of examples
                      "Would you take a f**k to save your president?"

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                      • #26
                        Re: Fatal Flaw?

                        Originally posted by Steven Jenkins View Post
                        Not according to the experts.
                        I can think of quite a few movies with seperate protags and MCs.

                        To Kill a mockingbird is the text-book example.
                        Not sure who you think is who, but I don't see a split.

                        Lord of the Rings (Gandalf the Antag vs Sauron the Protag "Sauron desperately wants the ring, but he must not get it", Frodo is the MC).
                        Gandalf is neither the antagonist, the protoganist, or the main character. He's an advisor to the protagonist, Frodo. Sauron is the antagonist. Sauron is looking for the ring through his minions, and directly through his eye. Frodo defeats him by destroying the ring and he's won.

                        Star wars (Emperor=protag, Rebellion=Antag "The more you tighten your grip, there more planets will slip through your fingers", luke is the MC)
                        Luke Skywalker is the protagonist. Darth Vader is the antagonist.

                        The protagonist and the main character are the same person in every film or novel I can think of. You're supposed to sympathize with the protagonist. Just because the antagonist has a goal doesn't make him the protagonist.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Fatal Flaw?

                          Oh wow...this is serious?

                          And here I thought Steven was just confusing the terms antagonist and protagonist.


                          pro·tag·o·nist [proh-tag-uh-nist]
                          –noun
                          1.
                          the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work.
                          "I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.- - Don Draper

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                          • #28
                            Re: Fatal Flaw?

                            Originally posted by joe9alt View Post
                            Oh wow...this is serious?

                            And here I thought Steven was just confusing the terms antagonist and protagonist.
                            Please stop using these big words, my tiny little head is about to explode.

                            http://www.pjmcilvaine.com/

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                            • #29
                              Re: Fatal Flaw?

                              Please don't let this become the dumbest thread ever....a thread that I will undoubtedly devote countless hours to when I should really be writing.

                              Please...

                              Luke Skywalker?

                              Frodo?

                              Anybody?

                              "I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.- - Don Draper

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                              • #30
                                Re: Fatal Flaw?

                                Well, I don't want to be a know-it-all here. I'm just a rookie learning the ropes. There's all kinds of theorists out there publishing stuff on story-crafting, and one of them just caught my imagination.

                                I guess it's just a mix-up of terms, probably from my having recently read the theory behind the "Dramatica" program, which they agree is a little different to established thinking.

                                "Would you take a f**k to save your president?"

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