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Loglines

Every episode covering Loglines.

"what is the story about but a log line is so much more concise like when i say what is the story about i want to talk about themes i want to talk about character. I want to talk about story. I want to talk about vibe."

— Mel Killingsworth  |  DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

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DZ-73: Selling documents - Development Tools 3

How do I write selling documents differently to development documents?
AI✦Stephen unpacks how loglines function differently when written to sell a project versus develop it, making the distinction between these two purposes the structural spine of the episode.✦
⏱ 39m
21 OCT 2020
Listen if you're preparing treatments, loglines, or outlines to pitch to producers or agencies.
▶ More Info
In developing our stories and scripts, we have probably written some combination of treatments and loglines and outlines. Some of us have probably even sent these development materials out to producers or agencies when “selling” a project — as a step towards getting someone to read or gulp produce your material. If so... have you written them differently? Should you have? You probably should have… →

DZ-71: Treatments & Loglines - Development Tools 1

How can I develop my plot before writing the screenplay?
AI✦Stephen Cleary walks through the logline as a foundational tool for plot development, showing how to distill your story’s core before writing screenplay.✦
⏱ 1h 26m
1 SEP 2020
Listen to understand why a treatment isn't something to dread, but the plot-development tool that saves you months of writing.
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Stu and Chas are joined by fan-favourite, Stephen Cleary, to NOT look at what makes great screenplays work -- but what makes great “short documents” work. We draw on Stephen Cleary’s wealth of experience in developing work with writers, as a producer, as a script editor and as a former head of development… →

KEY IDEAS

Log Line as Inciting Incident

"I think what is useful about the log line is the traditional kind of log line of when something happens to this protagonist, they must blah, blah, blah, blah. It's essentially, it's talking about your inciting incident."

— Stu Willis (00:12:31) · DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

The Midpoint as Story Momentum

"I would say that the next thing to think about, and I sometimes think it's useful to write your midpoint in the logline, because a lot of stories will actually run out of their steam by their midpoint if they haven't thought about what it is."

— Stu Willis (00:13:42) · DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

Beyond the Logline: Story, Theme, and Vibe

"what is the story about but a log line is so much more concise like when i say what is the story about i want to talk about themes i want to talk about character. I want to talk about story. I want to talk about vibe."

— Mel Killingsworth (00:18:32) · DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

Honesty Between Logline and Screenplay

"if you write a logline and it's really hooky but it doesn't actually really reflect anything that takes up more than 10% of your screenplay, I find that pretty disingenuous, not just disingenuous, but unhelpful."

— Mel Killingsworth (00:19:12) · DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

Even More

DZ-106: How do you know if you have enough story?

How do you know if you have enough narrative fuel to write a script?
AI✦The hosts discuss loglines as a pre-writing tool to test whether you have enough narrative fuel, using them to pressure-test your idea before committing to a draft.✦
⏱ 1h 36m
31 DEC 2023
Listen you're not sure whether your idea has enough fuel for 90 pages.
▶ More Info
In this episode, Chas, Stu and Mel attempt to answer a listener question: “In your own pre-writing process, how do you know you have enough for a feature? And do you have a specific pre-writing method you’re going to?”… →