Example of a logline how to#

You can also mention the stakes of the events in your film. You can start normally and then incorporate a major twist at the end. There are many ways you can raise tension in your story logline in order to pique the interest of anyone who reads it. For example, if the plot of your film is about a man’s struggle with alcoholism, you shouldn’t just say in your story logline that he “deals with alcoholism.” You could instead put something more powerful, like that he “battles his crippling addiction” or “fights to climb out of his alcohol-induced downward spiral.” Raise Tension You should phrase it as your protagonist actively going through something. You shouldn’t merely phrase your logline as something happening to your protagonist. Good story loglines should also use powerful verbs. For example, if your protagonist is an ordinary girl, you should stress how in your film she gets caught in an extraordinary predicament. However, you should do so in a way that is routed in contrast.

If your protagonist is very ordinary, you can also include this in your story logline. Really, if there’s anything unique about your characters whatsoever, indicating this makes your story logline more rich. If your character has any sort of superpower or any weakness or illness, that is a necessary element to put in your logline. If there are unique facets to your characters, you will probably want to include them. This includes all historical fiction films. Likewise, if setting, whether it be time period or geographical location, is integral to the story, it belongs in the logline. For example, if your film falls under the genre of science fiction and doesn’t take place on Earth, that should go into your logline. In general, though, you should not be too vague in your story logline. Examples of character types could include “a starving artist,” “a single mother,” “a corrupt attorney,” or any similar description. Often, this will mean simply stating their professions, preceded by adjectives. Instead, you should simply describe your characters. You should avoid including specific character names. When you write your story logline, you’re trying to convey the general idea of your film. Don’t be mistaken though just because technically you can rattle out a logline in a few minutes in one sitting doesn’t mean that’s what you should actually do. More often than not, a logline will just be one detailed sentence. The key with loglines is to hover around 30 words, and have between one and three sentences. Maybe you want to let the film speak for itself so much that you’re left with an extremely short logline that barely explains anything and doesn’t capture anyone’s attention. Or maybe you’ll have the opposite problem. You might end up with the problem that your script feels like your baby, and leaving out any important aspects of your film in your logline feels like cutting off your baby’s arm. Screenplay synopses can be numerous pages long, but script loglines don’t even go near such lengths. Have the Right Logline Lengthīrevity is a key aspect of what is a logline. These four elements are usually introduced in this specific order, but they can be rearranged if necessary.Īn inciting incident is an event that happens to your characters that ends their lives as they knew it before, and begins the next chapter of their lives.Īs a result, many loglines end up following this basic format: When, a leads to. Loglines should introduce most (if not all) of the following: the inciting incident of the film, the protagonist, and the protagonist’s goal, and the main conflict.

Example of a logline how to#

How To Turn Your Logline Into A Screenplay