Film Courage: Houston, what do you talk about regarding loglines in your current book?
Houston Howard, Author and Instructor: So I always like to approach a logline of one
being able to explain the story that you are talking about.
The plot of your story needs to be teased in the logline.
But at the same time if you can also take, if you can also set up the larger play in
the logline which primarily is creating a world and be able to communicate the story
world in that logline, then not only do you tease the plot, you also tease the world which
is the bigger play.
So the logline is just the starting point that your project has to exist beyond the
logline.
So your logline is just one story that is going to take place (hopefully) in this larger
world where multiple stories take place and crossover and connect in all of these interesting
ways.
But if you can even approach your logline with an interesting world attached and embedded
in the logline, then that’s going to give you, that’s going to intrigue people maybe
even more than the plot itself.
So if you remember The Trailer guy, a guy name Don LaFontaine, he was “In a world…”
[imitates the famous voice], he as the movie trailer guy, he would always do those voiceovers.
He sort of coined that “In a world…”
thing and what he’s doing is “In a world…” he sets up the context of a story world.
Then he’s going to tell you in the midst of a trailer what the story is inside that
world.
So in a world where one day a year all crime is legal, we have a family who is being terrorized
by somebody, right?
So that’s how to set up THE PURGE.
The story world (THE PURGE) is a country where one night year, all crime is legal.
Interesting story world, interesting concept that is far bigger than one individual story.
But if you can say “In a world where all crime is legal for one night a year, then
you move into your individual plot.
Now you’ve intrigued me based on the plot, but you’ve also intrigued me because there
is a cool world.
So it’s like an establishing shot of the movie.
So an establishing shot of the movie is if instead of cutting directly into here where
we are doing this interview we are going to first show the outside of the entire building
and then movie in here.
So the reason an establishing shot is a normal thing in filmmaking is because the audience
is more comfortable knowing where we are then moving into something very specific and this
is just the way we like (humans and audience), this is the way we think and this is what
we’re comfortable with because if you jump directly into a scene, it can be disorienting.
This is why you need an establishing shot.
So I look at seeding a story world inside of a logline like having an establishing shot
for your logline…
“In a world where all crime is legal for one day out of year…” that’s the establishing
shot.
Then we are jumping into the scene which is your individual plot which you know you have
a husband and wife who seek to survive the night from a guy who breaks into their house.
So it’s an interesting thing of like how do we create big concepts from the beginning.
How do we create the big IP?
But then ultimately we get down to the point where we need to be able to execute and communicate
it on a very small level.
So how do we create STAR WARS, how do we create something massive that can sustain for 20,
30, 40 years.
But then when I’m talking to you as a producer or I’m at a pitchiest or whomever I’m
talking to, how do I boil it down to a line?
Because again, we need a good story world and we need a good story.
How do I do both in a log line?
Typically the log line focuses on the story.
But at the same time, I need the cool story world.
But I don’t want to just pitch the story world without the story because then my product
is not going to work and so I need both and so I think you craft the logline in a really
interesting way to do both.
It’s just a different type of process to approach it, but I think it’s always very
helpful.