I have run out of ideas on this section of my plot.

[harmonica44]

I know I can't give away much or explain everything but here goes for this part of the story. A woman is framed for murder, with the cops after her, as well as other villains, who framed her. She needs to get her hands on a "macguffin" that will help prove her innocence. The macguffin being some sort of physical piece of evidence, or something like that. The villains want to get to it before she does, so they cannot be proven that they are the bad guys. Yes I know it's a cliche, but it's only an 8th of the plot and it's there to bring the more original plots together.

The thing is, is that I cannot think of a macguffin that would work. It would have to be something that she would think of to go after, but the police would completely overlook in the investigation, before starting a manhunt on her. It also has to be something that she has to get herself, rather than informing the police to go get it for the case.

And it would have be something that the villains would know she wants to acquire as proof, and know where to go to intercept her before she gets to it. It can't be a recording or anything like that because the villains are no stupid enough to have a recording, that she would know to get her hands on. Plus the villains have no reason to record themselves anyway. So with that much information, does anybody have any suggestions of macguffins that would work? Thanks.

 

[superamazing]

Nothing obvious occurs to me, beyond the obvious security cam footage.

But you know, I've come to believe that the screenwriting books mislead us by encouraging the construction of rigidly planned-out plots following a particular approved structure. I mean, maybe you shouldn't be forcing this segment to connect to what comes before and after it--maybe you should let the story evolve naturally, and go in an unexpected direction.

Haha, I know this probably isn't very helpful...

 

[brianluce]

A witness? The murder weapon? the aforementioned security video? DNA evidence? It has to be something the courts could use right?

 

[jdcanfield]

... Her son hated the authority and fortune bequest upon him, as sole beneficiary to the Lexus-Plexus database empire. He suspected that his parent’s roles were a farce and discovered his biological mother by chance, late in the game. His father was her lover in an affair that never existed when she was thirteen--at least not in the Record of pedigree's elite.

His every move was being chronicled by a select group of secret internal authorities. Their initial meeting was brief. One day after she and her biological child (Max) met for the first time, she was being taken away in handcuffs. "Her DNA was all over the murder victims," the DA stated at her arraignment.

In fact, her DNA was all over a horrific crime scene, and she knows it was planted, but how? Max met her bond of $2,000,000.00 in cash, arranged through his Personal Assistant.

The only explanation she could discern involved the shady Doctor of who facilitated the expedient adoption long ago, convincing her to preserve the respective umbilical cord. The “hush-money” was a large sum and the well-paid Doctor’s intentions were diabolical—disguised as being of a scientific nature—assisting the non-biological mother’s submission of a false DNA sample. This was all that they needed to support direct genealogy to the wealthy Max (the son).

After making waves with the high-powered elites, she suddenly and conveniently became an alleged murderer. She knew the only way to disprove the contaminated crime scene was to deconstruct an elaborate ploy by finding her original, preserved umbilical cord. Part of it must have been severed and used to extract her DNA.

There could only be two people primarily involved, she knew this, probably several recruits also. With little effort, she learned of a modern method of infusing extracted DNA into a blood catalyst. Because the “cord” must have been used, there must also be a secret laboratory linked to these two principal actors “somewhere in this town.” The DNA that was conveniently spread around the crime scene could have only come from one place: The MACGUFFIN…

 

[LastChancey]

It depends on HOW the bad guys framed her. If the piece of evidence exonerates her, it should obviously point towards the villains' process in framing her. If, for example, the bad guys are using false witnesses in a court case against the supposed "murderer," then perhaps they've kidnapped the wife of their witness and are forcing him to lie under oath. In which case, the McGUFFIN would be the witness's wife. If she is free, then the witness is under no coercion, and the villains' case has nothing to stand on. Or, if the villains' deposited $500,000 overnight in their framed "murderer's" bank account to make it look like she was being paid for a contract killing, then perhaps the bank has some sort of record of this illicit transaction, despite the villains' efforts to erase it. The McGUFFIN, then would be a piece of electronic information in a bank, which would give the heroine and villains some interesting opportunities at breaking into a bank...

Anyway, just ideas. I think I'm probably inspiring myself more than anyone else.

 

[klitch]

maybe you could just refer to it ambiguously as the thing that needs to be gotten but not specifically say what it is, kind of like the case in pulp fiction, we know of the case, we've seen the case, but we have no idea what's in it. If knowing what it is is a linchpin in your story that may not work, but I'm a firm believer in letting the audience think for themselves a little bit too, no need to spoon feed every detail.

 

[harmonica44]

A witness? The murder weapon? the aforementioned security video? DNA evidence? It has to be something the courts could use right?

Yeah it has to be something the courts could use. It can't be a security video because the cops would have thought to look for it too obviously. Same with DNA, if there was another persons DNA, the cops would have found it on the body. And the bad guy committed this frame very carefully, so there would be no reason to leave a murder weapon behind. But even if he did, the woman being framed, wouldn't know where it is, so she couldn't acquire it.

 

[harmonica44]

... Her son hated the authority and fortune bequest upon him, as sole beneficiary to the Lexus-Plexus database empire. He suspected that his parent’s roles were a farce and discovered his biological mother by chance, late in the game. His father was her lover in an affair that never existed when she was thirteen--at least not in the Record of pedigree's elite.

His every move was being chronicled by a select group of secret internal authorities. Their initial meeting was brief. One day after she and her biological child (Max) met for the first time, she was being taken away in handcuffs. "Her DNA was all over the murder victims," the DA stated at her arraignment.

In fact, her DNA was all over a horrific crime scene, and she knows it was planted, but how? Max met her bond of $2,000,000.00 in cash, arranged through his Personal Assistant.

The only explanation she could discern involved the shady Doctor of who facilitated the expedient adoption long ago, convincing her to preserve the respective umbilical cord. The “hush-money” was a large sum and the well-paid Doctor’s intentions were diabolical—disguised as being of a scientific nature—assisting the non-biological mother’s submission of a false DNA sample. This was all that they needed to support direct genealogy to the wealthy Max (the son).

After making waves with the high-powered elites, she suddenly and conveniently became an alleged murderer. She knew the only way to disprove the contaminated crime scene was to deconstruct an elaborate ploy by finding her original, preserved umbilical cord. Part of it must have been severed and used to extract her DNA.

There could only be two people primarily involved, she knew this, probably several recruits also. With little effort, she learned of a modern method of infusing extracted DNA into a blood catalyst. Because the “cord” must have been used, there must also be a secret laboratory linked to these two principal actors “somewhere in this town.” The DNA that was conveniently spread around the crime scene could have only come from one place: The MACGUFFIN…

Well this is interesting, but it's the plot to a whole different story and not mine lol. Thanks though.

 

[harmonica44]

It depends on HOW the bad guys framed her. If the piece of evidence exonerates her, it should obviously point towards the villains' process in framing her. If, for example, the bad guys are using false witnesses in a court case against the supposed "murderer," then perhaps they've kidnapped the wife of their witness and are forcing him to lie under oath. In which case, the McGUFFIN would be the witness's wife. If she is free, then the witness is under no coercion, and the villains' case has nothing to stand on. Or, if the villains' deposited $500,000 overnight in their framed "murderer's" bank account to make it look like she was being paid for a contract killing, then perhaps the bank has some sort of record of this illicit transaction, despite the villains' efforts to erase it. The McGUFFIN, then would be a piece of electronic information in a bank, which would give the heroine and villains some interesting opportunities at breaking into a bank...

Anyway, just ideas. I think I'm probably inspiring myself more than anyone else.

I can't have the macguffin be a person because it has to stay in one place for her to get to it. The bad guys are also on their way to get it to it, to, but if it's a person then a person can be on the run, and that won't exactly work for my script. I have thought about the bank evidence actually. But wouldn't the woman being framed, more logically call the police and tell them to look into it, rather than break into a bank and try to get it herself to give to the police?

Like in The Fugitive, Richard Kimbel and reasons to go after all the evidence, himself rather than just calling the cops and tell them to look into it. I want her to have the same motive. Plus wouldn't a bank transaction be accessible in the police database, or other databases all over the country, rather than having the woman and the villains who framed her, actually race to the bank to get it? Things like this is where I am stumped.

 

[harmonica44]

maybe you could just refer to it ambiguously as the thing that needs to be gotten but not specifically say what it is, kind of like the case in pulp fiction, we know of the case, we've seen the case, but we have no idea what's in it. If knowing what it is is a linchpin in your story that may not work, but I'm a firm believer in letting the audience think for themselves a little bit too, no need to spoon feed every detail.

The peace of evidence, not knowing what's in it may be a good idea. Does it sound like lazy writing though if she gives the item to the police, and says it's evidence to show she's been framed? Then she's cleared and it's never explained how or what it is to the audience? Plus since it's never explained what it is, that means there would also not be explanation, as to how she knew where it was, to acquire it, or how the villains new where it was to acquire it either. The villains are going to have find out that she found out about the peace of evidence and she is going after it, so they can intercept her. Isn't that too much detail left out?

 

[harmonica44]

Nothing obvious occurs to me, beyond the obvious security cam footage.

But you know, I've come to believe that the screenwriting books mislead us by encouraging the construction of rigidly planned-out plots following a particular approved structure. I mean, maybe you shouldn't be forcing this segment to connect to what comes before and after it--maybe you should let the story evolve naturally, and go in an unexpected direction.

Haha, I know this probably isn't very helpful...

Well I want to let it flow naturally but it's hard to get the woman, the villains, and the cops all on the trail, leading them to meet up in exactly the same place.

 

[NickClapper]

For a moment I thought this thread was titled 'I have run out of ideas for questions'...

Take the whole story back to square one.

Rework the murder section so that MacGuffin is always present and not something you're trying to crowbar in later on.

Think about the sort of things that are used in other places: a blood stained item of clothing, a threatening letter, surveillance footage, the murder weapon, perhaps a difficult to get hold of alibi?

If you've reached a dead end in thinking up the plot of a screenplay that you haven't written, don't worry. You have plenty of time to twist and bend things to your needs but, rather than desperately trying to make the ideas you already have work, go back and make it work from the off. This is why I always recommend thinking up the ending right as soon as you come up with the opening. Things will slot into place 100x more easily.

 

[brianluce]

Yeah it has to be something the courts could use. It can't be a security video because the cops would have thought to look for it too obviously. Same with DNA, if there was another persons DNA, the cops would have found it on the body. And the bad guy committed this frame very carefully, so there would be no reason to leave a murder weapon behind. But even if he did, the woman being framed, wouldn't know where it is, so she couldn't acquire it.

Not if the cops are in on it.

 

[brianluce]

The peace of evidence, not knowing what's in it may be a good idea. Does it sound like lazy writing though if she gives the item to the police, and says it's evidence to show she's been framed? Then she's cleared and it's never explained how or what it is to the audience?

You cannot get away with that. Tarantino got away with it because the rest of the movie was so stylized to the point that the plot became nearly incidental. And anyways I thought he gave us a pretty good idea that gold was in that suitcase.

 

[harmonica44]

The cops are not in on it. I agree that is is best to come up with a great climax and ending first. That's what I did with my last screenplay, and it all came together great. However this new idea, is a lot more about theme rather than plot, and I wanted to write one based on the theme, not quite knowing how to end it.

She doesn't necessarily have to be looking for a macguffin, but she has to be a fugitive from the police, framed for murder, and she has go to a certain place to do a certain something, to get her out of trouble and screw the villains. The villains have to go intercept her, and the police have to find out that something is going down in that same time and place, and intercept them. That at least needs to happen to progress the story into a big new twist that takes it into the next chapter. Of course it's hard to help when you don't know the whole story and all lol.

Could the bank thing work out logically, or do the possible holes I have mentioned, make it not work?

 

[jdcanfield]

... yes, I agree. How soon is now? When it's time, it's time. The Macguffin is restricted by constriction, power, control, and fear...

 

[brianluce]

You can have two levels of cops, for example, a corrupt federal agent and straight city cops.

 

[kjones]

Well I want to let it flow naturally but it's hard to get the woman, the villains, and the cops all on the trail, leading them to meet up in exactly the same place.

Howdy,

-- Why not use the "possibility" of a MacGuffin? In other words, it's all a figment of her imagination, but she lets the cops and villains know she's got "it." She then bargains, connives to give it to them all at the same time, same place.

-- Remember that cops, lawyers, and Judges all screw up. My wife is a crack appellate attorney, and some things that happen would curl your hair. Just not as dramatic as purposeful actions of evil.

-- One more. The "evidence" could be something that proves where she really was at the time, NOT at the scene of the crime. Since it's hard to prove a negative ("I wasn't there"), she then baits them into a trap with an authority who can alibi for her, and for whom they would all respect or put their hands in the air...

This is a great question, best of luck in your search and let us know what you come up with. --Sorry if not all the banter above makes sense, just got off a shoot as 1st AD and I'm a bit fried....

 

[harmonica44]

Well if she called the bad guys, and told her where she was going to be then called the cops and told them, just to get them in the same place, then she would have no reason to be there, if she would want the cops to and villains to discover the truth and fight it out for themselves. I need her to be there too. Thanks though, I will think about this one and see what I can do to turn it.

 

[harmonica44]

It depends on HOW the bad guys framed her. If the piece of evidence exonerates her, it should obviously point towards the villains' process in framing her. If, for example, the bad guys are using false witnesses in a court case against the supposed "murderer," then perhaps they've kidnapped the wife of their witness and are forcing him to lie under oath. In which case, the McGUFFIN would be the witness's wife. If she is free, then the witness is under no coercion, and the villains' case has nothing to stand on. Or, if the villains' deposited $500,000 overnight in their framed "murderer's" bank account to make it look like she was being paid for a contract killing, then perhaps the bank has some sort of record of this illicit transaction, despite the villains' efforts to erase it. The McGUFFIN, then would be a piece of electronic information in a bank, which would give the heroine and villains some interesting opportunities at breaking into a bank...

Anyway, just ideas. I think I'm probably inspiring myself more than anyone else.

There is something I don't get here. Why would the villains go to erase the transaction if they are the ones who deliberately put it there to frame her?