Film Courage: Why does a screenwriter need a log line for their television or film?
Steve Harper, Screenwriter/Writing Coach/Podcaster/Youtuber: The log line is the map, it’s the through line, it’s the space that I think guides everything.
I certainly know in the playwriting world there’s lots of opportunity, and I’ve done this and do it sometimes myself, where I come up with a character and I just start writing or come up with a small circumstance. But what I’ve learned in the TV world is without knowing who the central character is, what they’re trying to do and what they’re up against, those three things which I think need to be in every log line then a piece will just sort of ramble. It’ll sort of become this kind of thesis of a character’s opinion or it just won’t feel galvanizing for an audience.
The log line, that sort of central thought, that central idea, crystallized in language is an essential piece to hold on to I think when creating anything dramatic.
Film Courage: What is your log line formula?
Steve: My favorite log line formula:
Is this is a story about _____
Who’s trying to _____
In spite of _____
Again, you get who that protagonist is. You can fill in other stuff, not only their name but some relevant detail about who they are in the world or how they come across or where they are in their lives:
Who is trying to or struggling to _____
Which is about:
–What they’re trying to get done?
–What’s the goal of this person?
–Where are they headed?
–What are they trying to achieve?
Then in spite of X and there could be several Xs:
–There could be a person.
–There could be a circumstance.
–There could be a physical ailment.
–There could be a mental impairment.
–There could be something as big as the end of the world.
But as long as you have those three elements, you know the person…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
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