1. Your Movie Idea
These three story questions will get at the
guts of
your movie. Sentence length is limited - if you find you can't
add
more letters, use fewer or shorter words.
Think very carefully about each question and
make
sure
your answer is to the point.
a. Your main character (use adjectives,
emotional
state) who wants x (a basic desire)
....E.g., A
shy
young
suburban boy who wants to be noticed...
b. What CRISIS is he/she/are they facing? Hint:
Start
with
an
ACTIVE
VERB.
....discovers a
strange
but friendly alien living in his shed...
c. How does he/she/do they respond to try and
deal
with
it? Hint: Not too much detail.
......
and
tries
to
help
him
get
home
while
keeping
his
existence
a
secret.
(E.T.,
The
Extra
Terrestrial)
(Note: If you already have a logline you like,
consider whether it includes the information above. It doesn't matter
what order it is in. If it doesn't, you should weigh the
reasons and come to your own decision about their relative importance compared
with the information you did include.}
2. Your Theme
THEME is what people want to know when they ask that
annoying
question, "So
what's
it
about?"
Make it a one word answer, as corny as it may sound,
like
Love,
Betrayal, or Prejudice. Philadelphia, for example is a movie
about prejudice;
Star
Wars is a movie about heroism.
If you're not sure just close your eyes and slug in
the
first
thing that comes to mind. Change it later if you think of something
better. Your movie must be about something!!
Your theme:.....
3.
Your
Title
Based on your theme, choose a title for your
story (for now).
Your title:.........
4.
What
type
of
movie is
it?
Genre:..............
Sub-Genre:.......
5.
Rating:.....
Now put the three
answers together as a sentence, and
you
have your movie logline! Option A: Click the button below.
This gives you an easy to cut-and-paste form containing what you typed in above.
However, it also sends a copy to me so I can track how the site is being used.
I delete all messages sent this way - I'm not in this to steal loglines.
But if you're not comfortable with this, use Option B.
Option B: Cut and paste what you've entered above into a word processor, but don't click the button.
Note: IMLC doesn't process your logline, it only guides you to focus on the kernel of your story. For articles about loglines, check out the Free Resources page.
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