So we know the logline is just as important as a creative tool as it is as a vehicle to spark the interest of others. It helps you to maintain focus on what the core of the story is really about and ultimately your final screenplay should be a detailed extrapolation of it. If you’re ever stuck writing a scene, you can always look to that logline and it will push you in the right direction. If you have a perfectly constructed logline that genuinely taps into the essence of what your film is all about, then it’s meaning should resonate on every page of your script. Screenwriting guru Blake Snyder has often referred to the log line as the DNA of your film, and I believe that statement to be very true. While the logline can serve you well both in written form and verbal form by getting the attention of producers, readers, agents, and anyone else you may want to interest – you also need to take into account the benefit a strong logline has on yourself as a writer. The goal is to sell the idea of the script, rather than the story itself, and the most effective way to do this is with a strong logline. That’s okay though because you don’t need to give away the entire story – in fact you shouldn’t. And unfortunately when dealing with anyone that can really do something for your film, all you might have is a sentence or two worth of time to get your idea across. After all, it simply isn’t possible to convey every last detail of a 110 page script in a sentence or two. If you’ve ever tried to explain your entire feature film to someone in one sentence, you’ve surely found that it can be quite challenging. It’s important to note that while it’s critical to have a good logline so that you can concisely explain your film on paper, it works just as well verbally. This is the log line for Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’:Ī land lubber sheriff tries to kill a giant shark to protect his family and seaside resort town. While loglines today are no longer printed on the screenplays themselves, they effectively serve the exact same purpose – to efficiently represent the story and get the potential reader interested. Loglines were used in the early days of Hollywood so producers could read a short explanation of a script (most often printed on the spine of the screenplay), allowing them to skip over disinteresting screenplays without even pulling them out from the shelf. It’s the one or two sentence summary of your film that not only conveys your premise, but also gives the reader emotional insight into the story as a whole. It keeps me on track when I get off track and I tend to get off track ALL THE FUCKIN’ TIME.The logline is truly an art form of its own. “it’s the logline I create before I ever ever start writing. Unk also calls it a compass logline because: “When the brave General Maximus is made a fugitive slave, he has to fight as a gladiator to confront his arch rival Commodus and restore the power of the senate.” But with some work, you can tighten this further without losing the essence: In order to restore the power of the Roman Senate and avenge the murder of Marcus Aurelius he will have to fight and survive as a gladiator and ultimately confront Commodus.”īecause we have two sentences, it is not the ideal logline. “The brave General Maximus, heir to the throne, is stripped from his powers and made a fugitive slave by his arch rival Commodus. I found this for Gladiator, which is a perfect example of the above: “Protagonist’s main character trait + Protagonist’s main function + main story conflict + central question + Antagonist or forces of antagonism + Protagonist’s goal and arc” The Unknown Screenwriter (Unk) has a far more useful definition: It is a deliberate action by that character, therefore it can not qualify for a strong inciting incident. ‘A teenage girl runs away from home’ is most definitely NOT a ‘starting event’. Not only is it confusing, it is plain wrong. The writer of this statement should not give advice to filmmakers. In this case, it gives us the starting event, implies further events and states the protagonist’s predicament.” “This sentence is one way to describe what happens in Somersault. There may be some sort of an inner journey but that is not enough for a successful film. If this is the best logline possible for this film, the film does not have a story. “For example, here is a one sentence plot premise for Somersault: “A teenage girl runs away from home, hoping to find herself through love, but the people she meets are as lost as she is…” Do you know what a story’s ‘key event’ is? I don’t. This definition is – to say the least – problematic. This one sentence should give the most concentrated version possible of the story, or at least its key event.” “filmmakers are often asked to supply a one sentence version of their film story. It is not really a one-paragraph synopsis either.
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