Loglines: 25 words that can change your life
25 words? Sounds easy, doesn't it? But beware, your logline can be the wind in your sails that blows you all the way to Hollywood - or it can be the ton of lead that’ll sink your ship like a rock.
Feeling a bit of pressure? Relax. There’s really nothing to worry about because you have all the time in the world to get your logline just peachy perfect right. First off, though, just to be clear - we’re talking about loglines here, not taglines. A tagline is an attention-grabbing teaser, an audience hook-line you’ll find on every movie poster. The logline on the other hand is a single sentence sales pitch that describes your script in a clear way that will ideally make every producer and/or agent drool over the idea of actually getting his/her fingers on your script.
So how long does the logline have to be? In essence, the shorter, the better. Your logline has got to be exciting in the tightest possible way. Work that one sentence, work it again and again and tighten until it’s as tight as your whole script hopefully is (because you’ve done the same with every sentence in your script, right? Right!?). Question every word in your one sentence, keep improving and keep tightening until you can bounce a million-dollar Hollywood contract off it.
What needs to be in your logline? A lot! But not as much as you'll think when you start out. Everything that makes your pitch unique and crystal clear – while keeping it crisp and tight – is worth considering. Focus on your protagonist, his/her journey, wants/needs/major obstacle. Two great clarifiers in pitches are genre and time period – with a single word you manage to plant a whole world in the mind of your listener.
Here two examples:
Genre: “In this gothic horror tale, a feral orphan street urchin …
Time period: “During the final days of World War II, a pacifist German soldier …
See what I mean? Instantly, the reader/listener will be transported and have any number of images already in their head. Remember, clarity is key. Another element that you really want to find room for in your logline is the hook. Ideally this is the “what makes the story truly unique.” To stay with the above examples:
In this gothic horror tale, a a feral orphan street urchin assembles a team thugs, thieves and worse to find and kill Jack the Ripper, before the Ripper kills her mother.
During the final days of World War II, a pacifist German soldier and one other survives a bomb attack on a convoy - the other is Adolf Hitler.
Neither of these are done, of course. After I’ve only just put them to paper. But you see what I mean with regard to time, genre and hook.
But what a golden logline really comes down to is your passion and your hard work. A great logline takes a good bit of time. Write it, put it a way, rewrite it, show it to friends, rewrite it again - and always trim and tighten. Once you have it, you’re flying. Memorize it and it’ll make any nervousness disappear when you pitch your story. And if you have a great logline before you actually sit down to write the story, it becomes a bright guiding beacon all the way through your months in the script cave.
Want some examples? Just browse your TV guide and see which loglines grab your attention. Figure out what it is that hooks you when you read them. Here’s a fine list of logline examples, and another great collection here. Finally, below my own random collection of loglines – they work (despite their obvious differences in length, style, content). Learn from them and make yours work, too.
ALIEN The crew of an interstellar cargo ship battle a dangerous creature they find in the wreck of an alien spacecraft.
BEAUTIFUL MIND A journey of self-discovery by a brilliant mathematician once he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He eventually triumphs over tragedy and receives the Nobel Prize.
DEAD CALM A married couple, trying to recover from the death of their only child, are terrorized at sea by a handsome maniac.
DR. NO – JAMES BOND An adventurous secret agent is sent on a mission to stop an evil megalomaniac from doing his evil deeds but his passion for women and gadgets help and hinder him in equal measure in his efforts to save the world.
FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL A mild mannered Englishman begins to wonder if he’ll ever meet the woman of his dreams when he always attends weddings as a guest, never the groom, but when he meets a sexy American woman, he decides to pursue her as she could be the one to lead him up the aisle.
GLADIATOR When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by a corrupt prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek his revenge.
GODFATHER An epic tale of a 1940s New York Mafia family and their struggle to protect their empire, as the leadership switches from the father to his youngest son.
HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER A Soviet submarine captain uses Russia’s ultimate underwater weapon as a means to defect to the west.
INDEPENDENCE DAY Aliens try to invade earth on Independence Day.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE A suicidal family man is given the opportunity to see what the world would be like if he had never been born.
JAWS After a series of grisly shark attacks, a sheriff struggles to protect his small beach community against the bloodthirsty monster, in spite of the greedy chamber of commerce.
LAST BOY SCOUT A private detective must team up with an ex-football star to catch the killer of a topless dancer.
LIAR, LIAR An attorney, because of a birthday wish, can’t tell any lies for 24 hours.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN A 17th Century tale of adventure on the Caribbean Sea where the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow joins forces with a young blacksmith in a gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of England’s daughter and reclaim his ship.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK An archaeologist goes on a quest to find and prevent Hitler’s Nazi soldiers from obtaining the Lost Ark of the Covenant.
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE A comedic portrayal of a young and broke Shakespeare who falls in love with a woman, inspiring him to write “Romeo and Juliet.”
SIXTH SENSE A psychologist struggles to cure a troubled boy who is haunted by a bizarre affliction –he sees dead people.
TITANIC A young man and woman from different social classes fall in love aboard an ill-fated voyage at sea.
WIZARD OF OZ After a twister transports a lonely Kansas farm girl to a magical land, she sets out on a dangerous journey to find a wizard with the power to send her home.
WRATH OF KHAN An evil man escapes from his lifelong exile and returns to seek revenge on Admiral Kirk.
Daniel how is this?
When the person he loves, dies, Joseph, an African ‘Looky Looky Man’, who sells fake designer handbags from a pavement in Naples, becomes the Camorra’s greatest threat.