4 The Essence of Your Movie – The Logline

The Logline

We have gotten an idea, identified a theme, decided who it is about, and crafted that into a premise, so next we have to figure out the core of our movie. A logline is a sentence that gives that core. Loglines are important. Before a producer or agent or actor reads a script, they want to hear or read the logline. If the logline doesn’t grab them, they will not read the script. To get anywhere in the “business” you need a good logline. Loglines give producers, agents, actors, etc. the concept of your movie. These people want to be able to picture what TYPE of movie this is. A great logline allows them to do that.

The logline is also important to you, the writer. Because it is the core of your movie, the logline really is the condensed essence of the movie. If someone were to ask what your movie is about, give them the logline. That’s the real story of what you are writing.

A logline is between 25 and 50 words. Let that sink in. It is brief. You need to be able to give the core of your screenplay in 25 to 50 words. Don’t cheat and give yourself 100 words. Keep it brief.

Start with these elements

1. Character type (don’t use character names; rather, use a type)
2. The world is turned upside down (remember how you know the main character’s normal? Here, that normal, that status quo, is turned upside down by something)
3. Goal (the main character wants to do something)
4. Conflict (the major opposition to the main character)
5. Stakes (if they don’t achieve their goal, something bad will happen)

Let’s look at these individually.

1. Character: this is your main character. This is who the movie is about (as discussed in the last chapter). In the logline, do not use a character name. Instead, you use a character type. At the logline stage, no one knows a character’s name. If you tell someone about the movie you are writing, you don’t start with, “Rick is trying…” They don’t know who Rick is. So you give them a character type. “An average construction worker…” “A retired cop…” A character type allows others to visualize the person.
2. The world is turned upside down (also known as the inciting incident): we talked about how you have to know what your main character’s normal is. That is their status quo. Well, that has to be turned upside down. Something happens to completely upset their world. They find out that their spouse has been cheating on them. They find a message from a princess in a droid. They think they are going to get engaged only to be dumped. Generally speaking, the world being turned upside down comes from something outside the main character; it is something that happens to them, or something they learn. In Legally Blonde, Elle’s boyfriend breaks up with her. In fact he tells her she is not serious enough to be his wife. She’s just girlfriend material. That completely upends her world. She had her whole life planned out. Now? She is rudderless. Captain America learns that Fury is lying to him, hiding things from him. He thought he knew everything about his missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. but he does not. Cap has been trying to find his way in this modern world and the one thing he thought could count on was being a soldier. Now? He doesn’t know if he can count on anything.
3. Goal: the main character wants something. They have some objective they are trying to reach and it is connected to their world being turned upside down. They want revenge on their spouse. They want to win back the guy who dumped them. They want to get the droid the Princess owns to her home planet. After being dumped, Elle is determined to be with Warner again. That’s her goal. Notice how her goal is also connected to her personal desire (which we discussed last chapter). For Elle, her personal desire is to show people that she is not a stereotype. She wants to prove that she’s way more than the surface. Going to Harvard to win back her boyfriend also shows her seriousness. Cap has to figure out what is going on with S.H.I.E.L.D. His goal is to uncover the truth of S.H.I.E.L.D. and this connects to his personal desire because it helps him to have purpose in this modern world.
4. Conflict: there has to be something opposing our main character, something trying to keep them from their goal. What is that central conflict the main character is fighting against? Could be an ex boyfriend. Could be the evil empire. Could be HYDRA. The central conflict has to be represented EXTERNALLY. Internal conflict is conflict that comes from inside, things like shyness, lack of self-confidence, fear of change, etc. These are all internal conflicts. Your main character, to be a well-rounded character, needs internal conflict. However, if an internal conflict is to be the central conflict, it has to be represented externally. We are not going to watch a movie where someone just talks about their internal feelings. Rather, we need to see those internal fears represented externally. Cap fears his values don’t matter in the modern world. How do we show that externally? Well, he has to fight an enemy from his past – HYDRA. He has to face his best friend (the Winter Soldier). Your central conflict can be connected to an internal conflict of the main character, but it has to be external in nature. It has to be something physically in their way.
5. Stakes: there has to be something at stake. If the goal is not achieved, there are consequences. Those consequences can be physically disastrous (the planet will be destroyed!) and/or they can be emotionally crippling (they will live a life of loneliness). Further, as the movie goes along, the stakes should get higher. For Elle, the stakes go up because she gets involved in a real case with crucial consequences for someone else. For Cap, the stakes go up because now he has to decide what to do about his best friend, someone from his past. Furthermore, for Cap, the stakes go up because HYDRA is basically going to take over the world.

Let’s put all of these together using our story of the average guy becoming mayor.

After his house is marked for demolition by the town, a blue collar construction worker must become mayor to stop corrupt business leaders from destroying the home his great grandfather built.

That’s a straightforward, solid logline. It makes for a solid, straightforward story.

But it is kind of bland. It feels, well, run of the mill. We want to stand out. We want our story to have something special. We need our logline to sing. It needs to grab people’s attention.

Let’s do it again.

When the current mayor marks his home for demolition, an average construction worker must run for mayor against the incumbent, his own father, to save the house his great grandfather built.

This is much more interesting. He’s not just running for mayor – he’s running against his own father! This is more personal. Now we can acutely feel the main character’s investment in this plot.

The second logline, and thus the plot, has irony in it. We don’t expect the main character to run against his own father for mayor. We don’t expect the mayor would want to demolish a house his grandfather built either. Irony is interesting.

This logline raises questions. Why does the father want to destroy this house? Why is the construction worker going to oppose his own father? Raising questions like those gets us interested in the story right away. We want to know more.

This logline gives us the main character as a character type (average construction worker). It gives us the world being turned upside down (the house being marked for demolition). It gives us a central conflict (son versus father). Lastly, it gives us stakes (if the main character doesn’t win, the family home will be destroyed).

Here are some other logline examples.

A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated Titanic. (Titanic)

The main character in this logline is clear: the aristocrat. What about the world being turned upside down? That is falling in love with the poor artist. The stakes and conflict? They are on the Titanic!

A young man is transported to the past, where he must reunite his parents before he and his future cease to exist. (Back to the Future)

Again, the main character is clear: the young man. The world being turned upside down? Yep, being transported to the past. Conflict? He has to unite his parents. Stakes? If his parents don’t fall in love he will cease to exist!

After his daughter is kidnapped, a retired CIA agent must travel across Europe using his violent skills to save his daughter before she is lost in the seedy world of sex trafficking. (Taken)

The main character is clearly the retired CIA agent. His daughter being kidnapped is what turns his world upside down. He must fight against this sex trafficking world to save her. The stakes are her life.

After his son is swept out to sea, an overly nervous clownfish must overcome his own fears, and the dangers of the deep ocean, to rescue him. (Finding Nemo)

Who is the main character? The clownfish. What turned the world upside down? His son being swept out to sea. Conflict? His own fears and the deep ocean. The stakes? Ever seeing his son again.

The logline forces you to focus on the essential elements of your movie. Later on, when you are writing the script, you may feel a bit lost. You’ve been writing for a while. You have pages stacked up but you feel like your movie is getting a bit off track. What was it I was writing about? The essence of my movie? It is the logline. Refer back to the logline.

After crafting the logline, we know how the main character’s world is turned upside down, what their goal is, what the central conflict is, and what is at stake. Now we can expand on these.