Logline: (per Wikipedia) A brief summary of a movie, often providing both a synopsis of the film’s plot and an emotional “hook” to stimulate interest.
Sounds thrilling, don’t it? Log lines, however, can be crucial when it comes to building interest in your film, raising money for it, or marketing it once it’s done. They’re simple, short, and should (among other things) make others really want to see the film in question when they hear one. Here are a couple of examples:
The Game
A wealthy financier gets a strange birthday present from his wayward brother: a live-action game that consumes his life.
Memento
A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.
Old Boy
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to discover that he must find his captor within 5 days.
The last two, especially, are gangbusters. Even if you know nothing about the films in question, their loglines are intriguing. I certainly want to see Old Boy now.
Creating a compelling logline can be incredibly difficult, however. Attempting to hook someone with a single sentence (two at the most) is not as easy as you might think
Blake Snyder, in his invaluable book Save the Cat, posits that a good logline must include four things:
- Irony. It must be in some way ironic and emotionally involving - a dramatic situation that is like an itch you have to scratch.
- A compelling mental picture. It must bloom in your mind when you hear it. A whole movie must be implied, often including a time frame.
- Audience and cost. It must demarcate the tone, the target audience, and the sense of cost, so buyers will know if it can make a profit.
- A killer title. The one-two punch of a good logline must include a great title, one that “says what it is” and does so in a clever way.
I’ve tried my hand at whipping up a few loglines for Project Echo that incorporate Snyder’s first three principles (I’ll worry about my ‘killer title’ later), but I’m not entirely pleased. Take a gander, let me know which ones stick, which ones fail, and, by all means, offer your own suggestions.
He’s the Man Who Never Forgets, cursed to remember everything he’s ever done, but when his daughter goes missing, he’s horrified to realize he can’t remember the one thing that may save her: his own past.
A night watchman cursed with perfect recall - he can remember what he had for lunch 3 years ago to the day - begins to doubt his own sanity when new memories start to surface.
Simon Echols can ’see’ his own memories - they surround him like ghosts. But when a madman from the past kidnaps his daughter, he discovers that he can no longer separate reality from illusion.
The accident took his wife and damaged his mind, but when a psychopath hellbent on revenge kidnaps Simon Echol’s daughter, he begins to question whether it was an accident at all.
Do you want to see any of those films? Are they ironic? Do they present a compelling mental picture? Or are they utter rubbish? (please, let me know) I believe there’s a good logline in there somewhere. By all means help me find it!
22/07/2009 at 3:53 pm Permalink
First two grab me much more than the last two. Bringing in the antagonist, however interesting they may be, steals precious words from the interesting situation we’re following the protagonist through. /Everyone/ has a dark past anyways, so setting up a villain from his past improperly doesn’t interest me.
What the synopsis has going for it is the complete recall. That’s what I find unique about this… that’s what I want to see a story about because it’s unique. A missing daughter… I’ve seen that… bad guys? Every movie’s got ‘em… Promise me I’m going to see cool things about a guy having to frantically go through all of his memories at once… I’m hooked.
22/07/2009 at 3:53 pm Permalink
…now, I should probably go write a logline for Greyscale to put my money where my mouth is…
22/07/2009 at 4:23 pm Permalink
I’ll be honest, I don’t really like loglines in general - not yours, just the idea of them. Something about distilling the movie to one sentence like that - in a marketing way as opposed to a summarizing synopsis - rubs me the wrong way. I don’t even like the “good” ones.
So, with that in mind I agree with Ryan about the first two here. I think #4 is definitely out because it’s not unique enough. Number 1, to me, gets to the crux of the character trait - the memory. So does #2, but the example about the lunch seems awkward placed, even though I understand why you have it there. I might play with the order on that one a bit. Anyway, my two cents.
Also, I mentioned it on another comment and I’ve missed if you’ve mentioned it here somehow: have you seen Keane? The character has a different makeup (though still a mysterious mental disorder), but the dilemma about a missing daughter under questionable circumstances is really similar. Maybe check it out for some ideas?
22/07/2009 at 5:40 pm Permalink
I understand where you’re coming from, Daniel. As a lover of film, it seems absurd to force a movie to live or die by a single sentence. And really, the world of independent film doesn’t function this way. The films of Herzog or Van Sant or Jarmusch would be D.O.A. if their existence had to be justified by their logline.
But in terms of classic Hollywood storytelling, there is a lot of value to a logline. The average audience goer is not as educated as you and I. They don’t comb through reviews and watch for advance praises/pans out of Cannes or anticipate potential Oscar noms. They show up at the multiplex, look at the films, and say to themselves, “What’s that one about? How about that one?” The films that have the simplest, most effective hooks are the ones that succeed at the box office. Think about “The Proposal”, which won the weekend a few weeks ago. I have little interest in the film, know barely anything about it at all, but I can tell you what it’s logline was: “By-the-book corporate executive must fake a wedding engagement with a younger, rebellious underling in order to keep from being deported.” The simple hook of that logline is one of the reasons the film won its weekend.
And, of course, it’s not all about box office gold. But I really need every advantage I can get, and a strong logline/hook will really help when it comes time to raise money and eventually sell the film.
And score! Keane is on Netflix’s Instant Viewing list. Already added to my queue - thanks for the head’s up.
23/07/2009 at 5:36 am Permalink
I think logline #1 is probably the best. It contains the irony - he can remember everything except the one thing he needs - and sets-up the plot of the story. Although I do think it might be slightly too long? Maybe you don’t need the ‘Man Who Never Forgets’ bit?
I do think it’s worth avoiding using characters’ names in these things, they don’t help create a mental picture, whereas using their job/position gives you more of a feel of who they are and what their life is like.
23/07/2009 at 9:48 am Permalink
Thanks for dropping by, Rich! Good thoughts, all. And I’m glad you pointed out the difference between using a character’s name and using their job/position. I hadn’t thought of that but you’re spot on.
24/07/2009 at 1:51 pm Permalink
I think the first one grabs the most. Provides enough to draw you in without telling you too much. Of course I had some other brilliant comments to offer but Ryan, Daniel, and Rich already stole them
Things are looking good Evan! Keep up the good work.
02/08/2009 at 5:51 pm Permalink
I like #2. The first one seems to contradict itself. If he can remember everything he’s ever done, it seems he should remember his past.
03/08/2009 at 7:25 am Permalink
Thanks, Mom. I was concerned about that as well with the first logline.