hi guys my name is Robert Macfarlane and welcome to my channel today we're
going to be looking at my technique on how to extract an amazing log line from your script
in this lesson we're going to go over the structure i use to extrapolate from the script
exactly the pieces of information required for the log line kind of enabling you to cut through
all of the other mise-en-scene and dialogue and actions and find exactly what your film is about to create
your log line for those of you who don't know what a log line is first and foremost it's really hard
it is the single hardest one line you're gonna have to write for your entire film now the reason
for that is because you're gonna have to distill a huge amount of information down into that singular
line that line is gonna have to have a lot going for it because ultimately it's the first thing
that many people will read about your story especially those who you want to convince to
either invest in your film or be a part of your film be in the crew or be an actor so the log line
is super important and it's well worth taking the time to get it right i've kind of come up with my
own idea of what a log line should include and that is the inciting incident the protagonist
the action the antagonist and then the stakes now a lot of the time you'll see a lot of these
these breakdowns and they have some order of the first four but not often do they have the
stakes by nailing your log line you know what your film is and what it isn't and it becomes
kind of a guiding light during your entire process of making the film it also becomes
the guiding light for all of your other team members as well because you can always refer
back to the log line without having to read the entire script you can make sure that everything
serves the purpose of the film you intended to create so let's take a script i actually
attached it in the description below feel free to download it read it through and follow along
so we're going to go into this so we're going to start with the inciting incident at the beginning
of this film the inciting incident is when he is cornered before his gig
right so we kind of get an idea of this moment which is about to change everything okay now it's
really important to note where did this happen in your film now if this is a script which is a
short film there is going to be a little bit more flexibility when it comes to structure
but invariably your inciting incident happens at the beginning of the film or a little way in now
this script as you can see is only five pages long so this inciting incident happens within the first
page of the script which is roughly about right structurally now if you find your
inciting incident happens almost at the end of your script then you really need to start
thinking about okay well what's the importance of all this lead up and why can't i have
the film start much closer to the inciting incident what is all of this content for before
that moment and is there any drama happening is there any conflict happening because
ultimately that's what our audiences want to see that's what they want that's what they've come
to your film for because you've told them that there's this question you're asking
and now you're going to show them the answer to that question the answer to this situation so
ultimately your trailer or the premise of your log line starts with the point of conflict
or the point of change which is your inciting incident so if you haven't read the script for
Same Old [ __ ] you probably know The Godfather yeah so the inciting incident for The Godfather is when
a godfather has been murdered all right that's the inciting incident that's what's going to cause
the action for the rest of the film number two the protagonist so straight after your inciting
incident we have the protagonist so this thing happens to this person now you don't want to say
a engineer or Sam or Mark you don't want to say their name because a name doesn't describe the
character and what's important about this is you have to try and describe the type of person
that this inciting incident has happened to so we start to get an idea of juxtaposition
so let's just say a coffee time sorry a swimmer finds himself in the middle of a desert
that's a juxtaposition you've already got an image of what that might look like or maybe you find a
overweight mathematician in a kung fu contest so again you've got a juxtaposition you've
got someone who is very unlikely to be in this situation or the situation they found themselves
in is going to eventually mean that there's going to have to be an action which we'll get to in a
minute it's important to note that it's going to take you a little time to work out the right
word to use for the protagonist because as you've either written your script or you've started to
break down the script that you've received you're going to find that you can write reams and reams
and reams of information about your protagonist but in the case of this log line you need to come
up with a one to three word description of your protagonist otherwise it's just not going to work
so you could use words like naive or youthful or wizard or wiry you want to find words that can
construct in the reader's mind the type of person don't have to be you know this is every nuance of
the character you just need to find an overarching theme which gives us an idea of the conflict that
we might end up watching in the film so in the case of Same Old Sh*t the character is a tamed
rock star so immediately you've got this scenario a rock star who's tamed well then how has he been
tamed that's kind of interesting and you've got him cornered just before his gig so what does
that mean how is that going to play out you will immediately start the audience asking questions
and that's really important what you want is to engage the audience's imagination as they read
your log line to want to read your major your full script now if you don't know where that comes from
if you can't work out what this character is then you're gonna have to go back and really do some
work on who your lead is and to do that you're gonna have to start thinking about the character's
moral and psychological needs and their desires and their wants and their fears
we're going to go into that at a later date when we actually go through my techniques on how to
extrapolate your character from the script so now who is the protagonist for The Godfather
so what would be a really great juxtaposition and that's exactly who they've written into
this film the protagonist is a straight-laced naive son so you see how that leads on from our
inciting incident when a godfather or when a mob boss is murdered their straight-laced naive son
right we now understand who this event this inciting incident has happened to
and we're starting to get an idea of the world that they are now thrust into
it's really cool so number three the action this is a little trickier than it sounds
but really go back into your script and analyze all of the actions that the protagonist does from
start to finish after the inciting incident and try and keep in mind what the inciting incident
is who your protagonist is and then really trying to come up with a really brief summary of their
actions in the case of The Godfather he must get revenge that's it that is the core pushing force
for the film in the case of Same Old [ __ ] he must escape that's the core that's the core
force and push for the film other films might have slightly more description in like Star Wars you'd
have Luke Skywalker is going to be a naive warrior all right because ultimately that's who he is must
battle the forces of evil to save the galaxy number four the antagonist who is going to be
the major force against this action all right so if you remember with Godfather we've got that he
gets revenge or who's going to be the person who he gets revenge against because they're going to
be the main the main point of conflict so as you go through your script and you're working out who
you see who is your key antagonist because many scripts will have many antagonists at different
points in the script but who represents the main force against the protagonist sometimes
that means that as the person who caused the inciting incident sometimes it isn't
sometimes you'll find that it's a force which comes into play because of the inciting incident
so just keep watch and find in your script ultimately who is the key force against your
protagonist so we know in Same Old [ __ ] our key antagonist the only other character in the
film is a disgruntled uber fan now much like many short films we can keep the cast nice and small
which keeps the overall action and conflict really nice and clean it doesn't always mean
you have to have a small cast but for this film it really worked for us now we're on to number five
we're on to the stakes this will allow your audience to understand the weight of everything
they've read up until this point so what have we got up until this point let's review we've got the
inciting incident when he is cornered before a gig and we've got the protagonist a tamed rock star
we've got the action must escape and then we've got the antagonist a disgruntled
uber fan so what's the stakes of the film now if you've read through the script you'll see
that the stakes for the film for our protagonist is to get back to his gig in time
now that gives us immediately a time limit and audiences love time limits they love when they
realize that there is a limit to how long this battle can go on for so the end of the film our
stakes have to ultimately give us what is super important to your characters so your audience
knows what to care about if they don't care about your characters and their stakes then ultimately
why would they watch now don't forget these stakes have to be absolutely integral to your protagonist
and somewhat your antagonist so in Same Old [ __ ] you've got an uber fan a disgruntled uber fan
is confronting and cornering the tamed rock star so why do you think the disgruntled uber fan is
cornering the tamed rockstar because he's been tamed he's no longer this wild and free rock star
so ultimately by stopping the rock star getting back to his gig she is forcing him to confront
who he is has become as a rock star we are empathic humans we are empathic beings
and when we see that someone cares about something we immediately connect to their
journey we immediately connect to them as humans so when we see that what they want is in danger
or they might not get it we care about their journey to get to what they want and when they
have to struggle through it we are really actually seeing our own struggles in their struggle so and
and to be honest audiences love that they they really want to see your characters go through this
journey to reach the end goal to reach their desire because ultimately we want to know that
that's possible for us too so now you may or may not have your own script with you but do take this
out and start looking at other films and start applying these rules to the films so in review so
you've got one find your inciting incident then find your protagonist then what's their action
then you're gonna find the protagonist that will be in between the action and their desire and then
finally you've got the stakes and that's going to enable you to fully show your entire film
ultimately you want your log line to be able to entice and invigorate your audience to want
to watch or read the film wherever your film is at so let's look at the log line for the script
Same Old [ __ ] so we have when he is cornered just before a gig a tamed rock star must escape
a disgruntled uber fan in order to get to his gig in time if you have any questions chuck them
in the comments below and also post your log lines i'd love to read about your films below