The Origins of Man part II

The origins of Man part II
(The Vanity of Man)

WE SEE A MALE & FEMALE ARCHAEOLOGIST KNEELING DOWN EXAMINING SOMETHING OUT OF VIEW.

MARCUS:
Now this is quite interesting.

JULIETTE:
Interesting? Interesting? It's not just interesting, this is without doubt the single most Important artefact that has ever been discovered.

MARCUS:
It's definitely the best thing we've found this week, I'll give you that.

JULIETTE:
Don't you understand the implications? Look at it! This single handedly changes everything we know about everything, It's incredible .

MARCUS:
Oh yeah.. I see what you mean, Crikey that is pretty good as it goes.

JULIETTE:
Pretty good? What we see before us not only disproves all religion but also reveals the entire purpose of Humanity.

MARCUS:
Yeah well you say that, but...

JULIETTE:
Every Book on the subject might as well be thrown away.

MARCUS:
Well let's not be too hasty....

JULIETTE:
What are you talking about?

MARCUS:
Well It's just that, well y'know.. I wrote some of those books myself

JULIETTE:
Marcus! We are talking about the very origins of man, the meaning of life if you will.

MARCUS:
No You are talking about the origins of man, I'm talking about my best selling books.

JULIETTE:
So what are you saying exactly? Are you suggesting we don't tell anyone about this?

MARCUS:
I'm just asking if we can wait a little while that's all
until they announce the Nobel literature prize winner, or until my latest book sells out in Smiths.

JULIETTE:
Oh not this again..

MARCUS:
To be honest Julie I wish we'd never found this lost city, it's been nothing but trouble.

JULIETTE:
I'm amazed by your attitude quite frankly
We stand here with hard evidence & all you're interested in is your book sales.

MARCUS:
Not just my books, your books are selling quite well last time I checked.

JULIETTE:
Really? Oh well that's quite... hold on that's not the point & you know it!

MARCUS:
All I'm saying is that there's no need to complicate things, why change a perfectly good story just for the sake of it.

JULIETTE:
For the sake of what? The sake of Truth? We could always write some new books you know, there's so much new information we have now.

MARCUS:
Yeah, we could go to the effort of writing new books I suppose....

JULIETTE: (SIGHS)
Shall I just put this with the rest then.

MARCUS:
I think that's best

THEY WRAP SOMETHING IN A BLANKET AND CARRY IT OVER TO A LARGE BAG FROM WHICH WE CAN SEE A UNICORNS HEAD & A GIANTS FOOT PROTRUDING.

JULIETTE:
So my books are selling quite well are they?

Don't think I can't see what you're doing...

Like this. Couple of things though: maybe they should end by covering up what they find ie shovelling sand back on top of it.

Also, just before Marcus realises what she's saying ('I see what you mean') could she bend down and turn it around -- then the expression on his face changes for a bigger laugh?

Other than that, good work!

Dan

I liked this, Steve. Very strong idea at the core. Saying that, I think it could be shortened and play up the characters conflict a bit more.

Cheers Ben.
I was hoping for some useful Critique on this.
As I didn't think I'd nailed it very well.

I just changed my crit, Steve!

I'll let you decide how useful this is, but my thoughts are:

It just doesn't seem realistic for Juliette not to know that her books are selling well.

I love the suggestion that the Lost City being nothing but trouble, then the reveal of the unicorn's head and giants foot, but maybe the lines are too far apart for maximum impact?

Hi Steve,
Liked it a lot and particularly the ordinariness of the way Marcus speaks about the discovery. But I'd agree with Angie about Juliette. She seems to be the one more switched on out of the two of them, so she would know her books were selling well.

The line:

JULIETTE:
Every Book on the subject might as well be thrown away.

is maybe where there should be a joint realisation of the frightful implications to their revenue. Maybe at this point they should start to talk the 'find' down a bit. "It's pretty good, but would people really want to know? I mean it goes against that passage in your best selling book." sort of thing. Then when they take it and put it with the Unicorn etc it would make the laugh bigger as they've obviously also talked themselves out of letting people know about these other finds.

Just my opinion though... I'll get my coat.