Mastering Loglines: The essential checklist
by Barri Evins - Big Ideas
Screenwriting Lesson
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Mastering Loglines:
One Small Sentence on Your Story,
One Giant Leap For Your Career!
By Barri Evins
Loglines: The Single Most Important Sentence You Will Ever Write
• A logline is a single sentence that must accomplish a big job.
• We're looking for something that draws us in, tantalizes us, and makes us hungry to read the script.
• A few words that do an important job - they clearly convey the idea and they show the potential for more.
• AND PROMISES MORE: The coiled spring is a metaphor for the power of your logline to promise more by making ideas and images spring to mind.
Seven Guidelines For Creating Great Loglines
First - Immediately Put Us IN Your Movie
Establish the world: time, place, and genre including the tone.
Second - How To Start: The Hero or The Inciting Incident?
The hero draws us in, captures our interest, and leads us through the story.
The Hero is The Star of This Logline Historical, war-drama, based on a true story. In 14th Century Scotland, WILLIAM WALLACE, a fearless commoner, leads Scottish warriors in a revolt against a tyrannical English rule in a quest to make Scotland free.
The Inciting Incident Is The Star of This Story Future Sci-fi horror. In deep space, the small crew of a commercial starship headed home is awakened from cryosleep to investigate a distress call, but discover a deadly alien has stowed away aboard their ship, and only one female crewmember remains to prevent the alien from reaching Earth.
Third - Great heroes have a great flaw The most dynamic loglines illustrate how the hero's goals and desires are in direct conflict.
• At the dawn of WWII, a man yearns to be a great leader for his country but, unable to conquer a debilitating stammer, he lacks the confidence, until the crown is thrust upon him as his country is forced to go to war.
versus:
• Just before WWII, a young prince tries to play the role expected of him, only his stammer makes him hesitant, and then he inherits the crown.
Fourth - The Conflict - Without Conflict You Might Not Have an Idea for a Movie or TV Series
• Conflict drives stories forward.
• What is the hero's goal?
• What is standing in their way of achieving it?
• Your logline must prove your story has conflict, and that the conflict will escalate.
Fifth - The Stakes • If there is not something at stake • something to be gained or lost • why would we care?
• What will happen if the hero doesn't achieve his goal?
• Without stakes, we're not going to stick around.
• Stakes keep your audience is involved in the story.
Make Your Logline Stand out With These Extra Points!
Sixth - The Theme
• Great loglines convey the theme.
• Theme - the universal truth; the message that speaks to your audience
and gives your story broad appeal.
• Theme makes your story rich and resonant.
Seventh - Prove Your Idea is One Of A Kind
• We want something fresh, a new spin on a familiar story, a twist we didn’t see coming.
• If you're working in a specific genre, you must to deliver on the expectations inherent in the genre to satisfy your audience, but find a way to do so that is both satisfying and distinctive.
Here's my formula incorporating all seven steps:
When something dramatic happens that changes everything, a flawed hero must face escalating conflict, and confront twists to achieve their goal and ultimately realize the point of the story.
So You've Got A Rocking Logline -- WAIT -- Take It For A Test Drive
• Loglines can serve many functions. A logline at the outset is a guide for your story. It can - and probably will - change!
• Take it out for a spin to see what people think. This is market research.
• Is There An Audience? Will anyone else feel the way you do about your idea?
Connect with me!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigideasforscreenwriters
X/Twitter: @bigbigideas https://twitter.com/BigBigIdeas
Instagram: @bigbigideas https://www.instagram.com/bigbigideas/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/BigIdeasVideos
Website: www.bigbigideas.com
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/big-newsletter
Email: mailto:mbarri@bigbigideas.com
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Barri Evins leverages decades of industry experience to empower writers to elevate their craft, discover their unique voice, and advance their careers. As a producer and longtime industry executive, culminating in President of Production for Debra Hill, Barri has developed, packaged, and sold projects to all the majors. She brings strong storytelling instincts, industry know-how, and extensive connections to create prestigious packages and successfully sell projects. As a writer, she co-wrote a treatment sold in a preemptive six-figure deal to Warner Bros., as well as a Fox Family project. As a story consultant and career mentor at Big Ideas, Barri has a passion for both storytelling and nurturing writers that yields results including contest-winning scripts, published books, and packaged scripts that are on their way to production. She is also a Contributing Senior Editor for ScriptMag, with her monthly column, Breaking and Entering, featured since 2012. |
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