Tag Archives: breakdown

Even More Loglines from The Black List

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Back by popular demand, here’s part three of a series breaking down (and often fixing) loglines from The Black List. For ten more loglines, check out part 1 and part 2.

Story of Your Life: Based on the short story by Ted Chiang. When alien crafts land around the world, a linguistics expert is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat. As she learns to communicate with the aliens, she begins experiencing vivid flashbacks that become the key to unlocking the greater mystery about the true purpose of their visit.

Those who have read my previous logline breakdown posts or who have had my help with loglines before will know right off the bat what I’m going to say here: A logline is one sentence, not three. Other than that, though, the bones of a good logline are here. Let’s make it follow the rules.

“When aliens land and she is recruited to communicate with them, a linguistics expert begins experiencing vivid flashbacks that hold the key to learning the purpose of the extraterrestrial visit.” Continue reading Even More Loglines from The Black List →

More Loglines from The Black List

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My post about loglines from The Black List only covered five out of the enormous list of choices. I’ve decided it would be good to see more, including some that I think are excellent loglines (can’t be negative all the time!). So, without further ado, here are five more loglines from the 2012 Black List.

Americatown: In a China-dominated near future, a former LAPD officer attempts to save his family from destitution in Los Angeles by working for a crime lord in the American ghetto within a thriving Hong Kong.

While I don’t find this logline compelling to me personally (not my kind of story), it is a well crafted one. We have a setup (“In a China-dominated near future”), a main character who is well described (“former LAPD officer”), and a good grasp of the situation (“working for a crime lord” to “save his family”). All of the necessary elements are here, and this is pretty much perfect. Continue reading More Loglines from The Black List →

Wait… Two Prologues?

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Back in June, I saw the new Pixar movie Brave, and I enjoyed it a lot. A couple weeks ago, I watched it again at home and sat up straight in my chair with amazement at the first ten minutes. Why?

The movie has two prologues!

I’ll say it again, because it completely flabbergasted me… The movie has two prologues!

That shouldn’t work, right? A prologue should be one set-up sequence at the beginning of the story, then we should move right into the rest, right?

So what was Brave doing with a prologue scene of Merida’s birthday, followed immediately after the title card by a voiceover prologue? And even more mystifying, why does it work? Continue reading Wait… Two Prologues? →