Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simmilar

J

Jammill Khursheed

Smell your own dam finger
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Feb 27, 2012
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Just wondering on whether it would be worth starting a "Log-Line" strand in the same place you have the "Describe your story/character in eight words" strand.

If no one else is doing scripts it seems pretty pointless and self centred to start one unless you use them for novels/short-stories.


Jammill
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

What do you mean by "log line"? There's several different uses of the term in relation to screenwriting.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

Like the little couple of sentence (sometimes only one sentence) slogans you see on the poster or front cover that sum up your film/novel.

i.e. the one for the new Avengers film is just 'Assemble' which sums up what the film is going to be primarily about (the Avengers coming together.) For "The Big Lebowski" (not Sci-Fi or fantasy I know, just the first DVD i grabbed off the shelf that had one) the Log line is "Her Life was in their hands. Now her toe is in the mail."

I just thought it might be something useful to discuss, a number of writing books and classes have said working it out early in development helps focus the writer as they continue with the project.


Jammill
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

A, that kind of Log line. They're used to sell a story to either a producer or audiences. Professional screenwriters don't use them, and I personally wouldn't recommend making them part of the writing process.

A better way to focus yourself during the writing process, in my opinion, is to work out your central question really early.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

I don't write scripts, although some of my first drafts look rather script-like. The dialogue is usually the first thing I come up with, along with a few stage directions eg. cry, laugh, punch character B in nose.

It's just the way my writing works. All the poetical descriptions tend to come after that basic framework.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

I write scripts and didn't know what one was lol I've been writing a couple of sit-com scripts

Basic summary of them is:
1) Reverend Jeremiah Allsopp is accused of receiving stolen sheep parts and flees his parish. He is shipwrecked with Captain Salton Bliss and together they go mad on a desert island.

2) Wilf and Doris Jackson are walking in a park. The fair is visiting and they meet up with a small, green, skinny kid. He is sick and they take him home with them. They refuse to recognise he doesn't look like other children. He is actually a five hundred year old alien who is hiding from a deadly universal enemy.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

I've had a bash at writing scripts, but I've never used log lines. That sort of thing, I suppose, would be down to the marketing dept.

A Hero Will Rise

The Hunter Has Become the Hunted

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the writer wouldn't really have anything to do with this sort of thing.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

The book I got a while back on screenwriting, Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need recommends writing the log line first. It forces you to distill your idea down to the essentials before you do anything else.

Unfortunately, with everything else I'm working on at the moment, that's as far as I've gotten! :D
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

Screenplays are some of the longest works I've ever written, but I've never even heard of log lines. I've written three scripts over the years and just mostly outline them at the beginning. It probably doesn't help that I have only read one book on how to write a screenplay, mostly I was reading scripts online.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

TheDustyZebra said:
The book I got a while back on screenwriting, Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need recommends writing the log line first. It forces you to distill your idea down to the essentials before you do anything else.

Unfortunately, with everything else I'm working on at the moment, that's as far as I've gotten! :D
Click to expand...


Pretty much every book on screenwriting ever written is terrible. I would strongly recommend not reading them, particularly one that claims a logline is something a screenwriter would use.

There's an entire industry fueled by wannabes desperate to part with their cash to learn "inside secrets". If you want to learn how to write screenplays, read lots of screenplays.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

Flugel Meister said:
I've had a bash at writing scripts, but I've never used log lines. That sort of thing, I suppose, would be down to the marketing dept.

A Hero Will Rise

The Hunter Has Become the Hunted

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the writer wouldn't really have anything to do with this sort of thing.
Click to expand...

Isn't marketing an art? Or is it a science? Either way, when you say you're writing something and people ask you what it is about, it helps to have a first sentence you can fire off to pique someone's interest

Hero dies. Bad guys win!

Hero gets sued, gets ordinary job and a morgage

I agree it's fun, but thinking about it for more than 5 minutes and you're procrastinating over the real work
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

Famous loglines include "In Space, no one can hear you scream" and "You'll believe a man can fly".

Sounds like it has good game potential, Jammill. Perhaps, describe the film (real or imaginary) and tag it.

Like:

Science Fiction film about a dog that warns of impending disasters.

Logline: They thought it was barking, but who's barking now?

(or something less lame :eek:)
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

There are a few scriptwriters around here, but for some reason they are very hard to pull out of the woodwork. I know, having tried!

Not loglines, but it is a good idea to condense your film idea down into one line.

And that one line should be about DESIRE.

Because the desire is a very important thing in a film. It creates the motivation for the character. It drives the entire plot along for the two hours or however long it is. When that desire is achieved (or not) the film ends. The desire creates the hook that drags the audience along. It'll help shape your character -- don't let them be passive, make them chase that desire. Don't just throw obstacles at them, make them climb over everything in order to get to it.

It's amazing how simple some film desires can be. Strip away all the extra bits and you get to it.

Even something as complicated as Inception, in the end, the driving desire is Cobb's want for his children.

Or on the other end of the scale, you have something like Warrior King with Tony Jaa and the desire is very simple...he just wants his elephant back!

The key is getting the audience on board to that desire. Make it strong. Make it, in the context of everything, believable.


Oops. I got on my box again.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

Flugel Meister said:
I've had a bash at writing scripts, but I've never used log lines. That sort of thing, I suppose, would be down to the marketing dept.

A Hero Will Rise

The Hunter Has Become the Hunted

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the writer wouldn't really have anything to do with this sort of thing.
Click to expand...

Interference said:
Famous loglines include "In Space, no one can hear you scream" and "You'll believe a man can fly".

Sounds like it has good game potential, Jammill. Perhaps, describe the film (real or imaginary) and tag it.

Like:

Science Fiction film about a dog that warns of impending disasters.

Logline: They thought it was barking, but who's barking now?

(or something less lame :eek:)
Click to expand...


Those aren't log lines, they're taglines.

A tagline is a branding slogan, such as you'll see on movie posters ("Winter is Coming" was used for Season One of "Game of Thrones"). A log line is a concise summary of the plot.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

I am a shadowy script writer, or perhaps one who isn't sure of the market yet, but definitely feels it plays to my strengths - dialogue, theatre background, likes to leave the description to the imagination (broad brush strokes, the writer is rarely the producer...) I do think prose is limiting; scripts less so.... am I weird? It's possible. But I have no idea how to sell a script.

Is it worth asking about a seperate category for it? Or is it still possible to set up groups? If so, I'm happy to do that, if there were any interested in it - I'd just need to check with a mod how to.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

Man, I would have such a spasm of joy if a new section for scriptwriting were created.

I don't know if it would follow the rules for getting a new place for authors -- that is, five or more ACTIVE threads about them/it.
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

I know Brian is a bit of script man himself...arm twisting may be possible. *steeples fingers*
 
Re: Does anybody else write scripts here? or Do you use "Log-Lines" or something simm

I'll raise it in the Staff Room, too, but the more support you've got and the more ideas you've got for threads, the better, perhaps.
 
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