That’s essentially the concept of the movie in one sentence. What are the stakes - a chase to the death. Who the antagonist is - the tyrannical warlord and his marauding clan (Immortan Joe and the War Boys). What the conflict is and what he needs to do to overcome it - he must escape. In the sentence we establish who the protagonist is - burnt out loner (Max). When a burnt out loner of a post-apocalyptic wasteland escapes from a tyrannical warlord and his marauding clan, he must work together with a defecting member of the clan and the warlord’s wives to find sanctuary in a chase to the death. The following is an example of a logline for Mad Max: Fury Road: The ideal logline contains within the sentence who the protagonist is (“are” if dealing with a duo or team) the major conflict that changes the protagonist’s state from ordinary to extraordinary the antagonist or antagonistic force what the protagonist must do to overcome and achieve his / her (or a team) goal and the stakes involved to achieve that goal. In this article, I’ll go into what they are, how to generate them, and how they can help your script before you even write it.Ī logline is a one-sentence (sometimes two) description of what your script is about. In my previous article ( Lessons Learned From Winning A Screenwriting Competition) I briefly mentioned the value of a logline. Your insides melt because even though you may know what a logline is, you never bothered to create one after writing the script - and even more importantly before writing it. Has this happened to you? Well, it happened to me in a similar manner when I began as a screenwriter. Next week we will dissect thoughlines and look at how to create one for stronger writing.A Logline: You’ve just finished writing your script and a friend puts you in touch with a film producer looking for her next project. During your conversation with the producer, she asks you, It gives a glimpse at what to expect, while also hooking the audience’s attention with why it matters. It is a hybrid of a logline and throughline. They go deeper than a logline.Ī tagline is what the marketing department adds to a film poster or book cover to help sell the story. Throughlines focus on why what happens matters to the protagonist and audience. The general rule with loglines is to keep them under 25 words and to focus on what happens in the story. “A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his window and sees one of them commit murder.” Rear Window “A young FBI cadet must establish rapport with an incarcerated killer for insight and advice on how to find another killer who skins his victims.” Silence of the Lambs “Jaws in a lake with a crocodile” Lake Placid It is the description of the plot that helps sell the film to producers and studios. The logline is the short version of what happens in the story. In film and screenplays, writers are often more familiar with the concept of loglines. It doesn’t end until his daughter is safe. Every action he takes is to get him closer to that goal. Everything Liam Neeson does in the film is to either protect his daughter or save her/avenge her. The throughline to the movie Taken is Bryan Mills’ need to protect his family no matter what it takes. It is only when she realizes she is falling for Linus and that her feelings for David were nothing but fantasy that she discovers what love truly is. Everything in the movie revolves around that fact, and that lie. The throughline is Sabrina’s love for David. In the end, it is what makes her realize what love really is and how foolish she has been. It is what brings her back and what drives Linus to intercede to keep them apart. It is what compels her father to send her away from him to Paris. In the film Sabrina (the original version with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart), everything that happens to Sabrina is the result of her love for David. It is what you are trying to say even when you don’t say it directly. The idea that hangs over everything, even plot and theme. Okay, that is well and good, but what is it really? A good throughline is how you propel your story forward in a way that makes sense. It is what holds your story together so it can be a story instead of a random collection of anecdotes and scenes. The throughline is the main motivation driving the protagonist toward the ending. ![]() It drives the writing and organizes the plot, action and character development. ![]() ![]() The throughline is a single thread that winds through your story and off which everything else hangs.
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