In Pre-Production you focus on the concept and the pitch of your ideas. Generally you’ll write a Log Line and a brief three sentence outline of your story idea.
Create three Log Lines and three outlines for them.
Post them here in the Assignment Feed.
This is due by Thursday 6/4/2021 at 11:59PM EST.
This is a two part assignment.
Before Sunday 6/6/2021 at 11:59PM EST you must provide constructive feedback to two of your classmates.
What is a Log Line?
A log line or logline is a brief summary of a television program, film, or motion picture often providing both a synopsis of the program’s plot, and an emotional “hook” to stimulate interest.
Post your work and responses in the comment section below. Please include your full name in your post.
Resources:
Darren Le
Hi, before doing any outline for a logline. I would like to read your thought about it.
* After waking up from a coma, a criminal seeks revenge from the assassin who murdered his family.
* Lee is taking three classes now. Last semester, her satisfactory academic progress has failed, and she must hurry up to continue her studies.
* A Psychologist battels to heal a troubled kid who imagines that he sees a dead body.
Hi Darren,
I really like all of them. But here is what I want you to ask yourself: Which one of these can I film in 1-2 weeks?
Though I love movies about assassins and revenge, it might be really hard to film.
In the second one, how do you showcase her classes if you don’t have access to a classroom? You also need to show that she failed in the past and needs to improve.
The third feels a lot like the Sixth Sense.
Here is what I would consider.
A man wakes up from a coma or unconscious. He is tied to a bed or a chair. There are noises outside of chainsaws and screaming. He needs to figure out how to escape with his life before he’s next.
A student struggles learning online. She has a hard time grasping concepts and her grades are slipping. She is afraid to tell her parents and teacher that she doesn’t understand the work. How does she reach out to get the help she needs to pass her classes?
A therapist works with a young boy who witnessed a murder and needs help overcoming the nightmares he has.
-Michael Cannetti
A therapist works with a young boy who has witnessed a murder, and he needs help to overcome his nightmare.
I chose this logline, would it be okay?
Hi Darren,
Sure that works for a logline.
-Michael Cannetti
Hello Darren,
While these ideas sound good on paper, they would definitely be very difficult to execute within such a short amount of time.
Coma Idea
This idea sounds like it could the most difficult to execute. It sounds more like a plot for a big-budget action movie. How can you execute this idea on a low budget? If you want to go through with this idea, how can you circumvent whatever issues may come your way? Do you have the necessary resources to make a film like this? Take some of these into consideration.
Lee Idea
This idea seems more executable than the other two you have mentioned. How will you execute this? Do you have the necessary actors for this film? Seems like it could be a good film that addresses mental health and the pressure of being a college student. What will the mood and tone of this film be? Will you play it more serious or will it be more light-hearted? Seems like it could be a good idea if executed well.
Psychologist and Kid Idea
Seems like a good idea but as stated before, there are some limitations to how this idea could be executed. Do you have the necessary actors? What props will you need to execute your idea? Where will the story take place? Are there multiple locations? If you are shooting somewhere like a therapy office, do you have the permission to shoot in a place like there? If all of the items ae available, I think it could be a hard but good idea if executed.
Thank you for your constructive feedbacks!
Hi Darren
For longline one when your writing the idea out fully maybe you could have the assassin be the criminal old partner so he knows who to go find.
longline 2 maybe changes it to where lee is failing in the semester in the beginning and she has to do good on the finally projects to pass.
longline 3 maybe flip the positions the kid who’s seeing dead a dead body has more potentially to write about then the psychologist.
Logline: A girl learns how to cook by watching video from YouTube.
Outline: Diana, 20 years old, just start her summer vacation and trying to having some fun. While sheās watching YouTube, a homemade Chinese food video get her attention. She decides to learn it by following the steps from the video. She gets food preparation and ready to start it. Finally, she made it and the food taste good.
Logline: A girl goes to grocery store but forget to bring her purse.
Outline: Diana, 23 years old, who invited her friend to come over for dinner. While sheās preparing the foods, she realized that she forgets to buy black pepper. So, she hurried out to the nearby grocery store. When sheās trying to check out, she realizes that she doesnāt bring the purse. While sheās very depressed about this, her friend shows up behind her and paid the items. Finally, they go home together and enjoyed the dinner and having a lot of fun together.
Logline: A girl thought back to her college life.
Outline: Diana, 25 years old, who found her graduation cap when she was tidying up her closet. She looked at her graduation cap and thought back to college years ago. She thought of her favorite lessons, the trees where she often had a nap, the classmates around her, the experiments she had done, the library and the teaching building. Finally, she decided to go back to campus after she had finished her closet and had a walk around of the campus.
-Xiaofei Wang
Hi Xiaofei,
Story 1: Cooking Video
This could be a lot of fun. It could be a great use of montage in the storytelling method. You can have her watch the video and get inspired to create the dish. What would be great is if she makes several attempts at it that are all terrible and she keeps trying until she gets it right. You could really have fun with is idea and play with a messy kitchen or pots and pans. Maybe the youtube video has this amazing kitchen and the character does not have such an elaborate kitchen and has to learn to work within what she has.
Story 2: Forgets her purse.
This is a very relatable and understandable story. Everyone has always had a case of missing ingredients and forgetting their money. You know what would be really cool is if the friend comes up from behind her and uses her phone with Apple Pay to pay for the groceries. So at first it feels like a stranger doing some sort of random act of kindness, but then when our main actor turns around it is revealed to be the friend. They hug, and we cut to them enjoying dinner together.
Story 3: Girl remembers college.
Flashback stories and living through memories are some of my favorite types of films. They give you insight on a character and dive deep into their roots. This one might be the hardest to film because you are going to need a lot of locations and a lot of actors. I love this idea and you should definitely write it and try to make but, I worry it will be hard to produce during this class.
Great stuff!
I can’t wait to read more.
Michael Cannetti
1) This one is nice.. you could show her finishing a job or graduating from school but then she struggles to come up with what she wants to do for the summer. Like Michael said, you can show her watching a Chinese food video which brings her to the a-ha moment. This story looks good overall.
2) The originality of this story is impressive. I envision this having a lot of tracking shots or even being a one shot film.. looks very promising.
3) Loving the college sob story.. you created a lot of directions for this story, which makes it seem complex. Nonetheless, it could be exciting, melancholy, funny, or all of the above.
A criminal seeks revenge from the person who murdered his family.
1.Outline
A person wakes up from a coma or unconsciousness. He was tied to a bed or chair by a woman. There are noises outside of chainsaws and screaming. He needs to figure out how to escape with his life before heās next.
A student struggles learning online.
2.Outline
By logging into the Cunyfirst account Leeās cousin find out Lee ās having problem at school. Lee has failed in the past because of academic probation and needs to file an appeal form to explain why it happens. She told her cousin she has difficulty grasping the concepts, and her grades are declining. She is afraid to tell her parents and teacher that she doesnāt understand the schoolwork. She needs to pass the course by getting the help from tutors.
A therapist works with a young boy who has witnessed a murder, and he needs help to overcome his nightmare.
3. Outline
A male therapist, 32 years old, is with Janet, 26, the mother of a 3-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy. She came to the community mental health center alone. She tells the psychiatric nurse practitioner that her son is here because her husband said he would leave the family if she didn’t get some help from the psychologist. Her son canāt stop seeing a dead body and this matter is driving her husband crazy.
1) There’s a good amount of intensity and vulnerablility to your story. The direction of this is great. A criminal seeking revenge for family makes for some great action and even horror (based on the chainsaw and screams). This criminal can even be portrayed as a hero after their state of unconsciousness. There are so many avenues to this story.. looks great.
2)This is a nice concept.. you should continue with the idea of the protagonist keeping the grades to herself to maintain the thrill of the story. Having the cousin help is a genius idea to also guide her through her story.
3) This can work though finding a cast might take a while given the very specific descriptions. The father has potential to be the ābad guyā. This story looks complex but promising.
Logline 1
A girls quarantine journey
Outline
Jessica, 22 years old, acquired a fairly unhealthy lifestyle during quarantine. Covid changed her life in many different ways. When the world around her suddenly started going back to normal, she has a hard time readjusting. She got used to spending most of her days indoors, with little socialization, and unhealthy habits. While sheās home watching tv, a lifestyle commercial comes on tv. She gets inspired by it and decides to work on changing her habits. She starts seeing her friends again, spending more time outdoors, and realizes how important those things were to her.
Logline 2
A girl canāt choose an outfit for her first date
Outline
Maria, 21 years old, has a date for dinner on Saturday. As sheās getting ready for her date, just an hour before dinner, she spills soda on herself and stains her shirt. She didnāt have a second option and had no idea what to do. She panics and tried to clean off the stain but it only makes it worse. Just in time her roommate walks in with shopping bags. Maria told her what just happened and her roommate happened to have bought the perfect outfit for her to wear instead. Maria was able to get ready just in time for dinner.
Logline 3
A girl and her dream to visit New York
Outline
Jade is 20 years old, and lived in Florida her whole life. She always dreamed about the day she could move to New York. All of her favorite movies were based in New York and she couldnāt wait to see it for her self. One day her best friend surprised her with tickets for the both of them. They ended up having an amazing time, it was everything they expected and more.
Hi Mercedes
longline 1 when you start to fully develop this idea i think it would be good to include scene were Jessica struggle and fails at trying to be social to give her character room to grow.
longline 2 when fully writing out this idea maybe included in scene where the time is counting down ever time she tries and fails to remove the stain.
longline 3 you might want to include some kind of struggle were jade and her friend are run late to movies so the script.