The logline, however, should primarily describe what the film LOOKS like-that is, the external, visible conflict. Remember, EVERY script is about coming to terms with some part of yourself-but that's just the internal conflict.
#LOGLINE IN FILM MOVIE#
Certainly not worth making an entire movie about it. Or else.what? If the siblings don't come to terms with their best friend's death, they'll finish the hike and go home. It's hard enough to flesh out a single idea into a coherent, original, and gripping story-don't try to fit everything in there! If you can't come up with a straightforward logline for your film, you might need to figure out what your story is actually about first. But you can't combine all of the genres in one, or your audience will get confused. Sure, combining two different genres (for example: horror and found footage, or sci-fi and thriller) is a great way to find a new take on a tired concept. My problem with this one (among others) is: It's unclear whether this will be a YA film, a comedy, a sci-fi, a thriller, a horror, or all of the above. Trust me when I say that I read loglines exactly like this all the time. When 12-year-old Kaitlyn's wacky inventor uncle returns to town after decades in space, he reveals he's discovered a portal to a new dimension.and Kaitlyn is the only one who can save humanity from the horrific flesh-eating aliens about to invade earth. It contains a dozen half-baked ideas rather than one solid, well-thought-out idea. Show us how YOUR take on this dilemma can surprise or delight us in a way no one else could. Also, leaving the ending as a mystery makes me think you probably don't actually know what happens-or have many interesting things to say after you get past that initial conflict. Why? Because you still won't be giving away the entire story, or the brilliance of your dialogue, or all of your the surprising twists along the way. But as written, this is just a premise, not a specific, executable concept.ĭon't leave us hanging with a question! It's absolutely okay-even preferable-to give away the ending. Assuming things don't go well between them, that could lead to all sorts of hilarity and/or heartwarming drama. I certainly hope they WON'T get along, or else this will be a really boring movie. Will they get along-or annoy each other to death before the power returns? So what's your unique point of view on this character? How can YOU put someone who is all-powerful in a position of genuine, awesome peril?Ī haughty corporate lawyer is forced to babysit his rebellious 6-year-old niece during New York City's longest power outage. It won't deliver the fireworks people expect to see in a superhero movie. But what makes this superhero different from the thousands of other superheroes we've seen in movies, comic books, and television? There's nothing to makes me believe this character is particularly creative, new, or exciting.Īlso, if this protagonist's number-one biggest issue is his love life.that's not exactly a large enough conflict to be worth a producer/studio investment. Actually, it's a pretty good first draft. When an all-powerful superhero falls in love with his arch-nemesis's daughter, he must decide whether to reveal his true identity to her. So a yoga teacher who is somehow put into the position of sharpshooting to protect the president-now THAT has potential. But once the protagonist is out of his or her comfort zone, it creates major conflict. To see those people doing those jobs isn't extraordinary that's just life. In other words, there is no sense of, “This person is the least-suited to complete this task, so this movie will be a lot of fun.” Yoga teachers teach yoga sharpshooters sharpshoot. There is no hint of out-of-the-ordinary peril or major conflict here this logline contains no surprising juxtaposition of any sort. Thus, anyone the Secret Service hires is probably quite good at his or her job. It's the Secret Service's job to protect the president. Does your logline suffer from one or more of these issues?Ī Secret Service agent must risk everything to save the U.S. Now, here are seven major logline problems that I frequently encounter.
#LOGLINE IN FILM HOW TO#
And these are just some of the missteps I see most often! You'll learn about many more logline mistakes-and exactly how to fix them in order to create a sellable, irresistible premise-in my upcoming Writers Store webinar, Logline Master Class.
However, their flaws are 100% based on totally real loglines I see every single day as a script consultant and screenwriting teacher. I made up all of the loglines below from scratch.
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