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Lecture 1b:Lecture 1b:Your LoglineYour Logline

Professor Christopher Bradley

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

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Previous LessonPrevious Lesson

• What kind of distance learning course is this?

• How can you succeed in this course?

• What do we study in this course?

• What are the assignments?

Thelma & Louise (1991) Written by Callie Khouri

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In This LessonIn This Lesson

• How Do I Find Inspiration?

• The Writing Process

• Creating a Logline

Shakespeare in Love (1998) Written by Mark Normand and Tom Stoppard

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Finding InspirationFinding Inspiration

Lesson 1b: Part I

Disturbia (2007) Written by and Christopher B. Landon and Carl Ellsworth

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Writing is a ChallengeWriting is a Challenge

• Aristotle said, “We become brave by performing brave acts.”

• Every writer, no matter how great or famous, confronts the blank page.

Barton Fink (1991) written by Joel & Ethan Coen

Meeting the ChallengeMeeting the Challenge

• Meeting the blank page

courageously brings

endless rewards. • The truth can be terrifying.

For example, what might

your writing reveal about you? (Wouldn’t it be cool to find out?)

• The more you write, the more you become who you really are.

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Poltergeist (1982) Written by Steven

Speilberg

Strategies for StartingStrategies for Starting

• Use your current habits. • When are you most productive?• Associate joy to writing

(It’s Terrific!)• Reward yourself!

(A cookie a page?)

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Written by Orson Welles (1941)

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Examples of StrategiesExamples of Strategies

• Write at the same time each day.

• Write at the same place each time.

• Before you write, read, watch a film or listen to music that inspires you.

• Have everything you need right there so you won’t have to get up.

• “Warm up” with “freewriting,” writing whatever comes into your mind.

Journal KeepingJournal Keeping• Think of a journal as a gold mine. You

can go to it again and a gain for inspiration and ideas.

• A journal is an excellent place to practice.

• You might write down

– Story ideas

– Conversations you overhear.

– Events that made you react passionately9

FreewritingFreewriting

• “Freewriting” frees you to write!• A screenplay is written in a specific

format, but you can loosen your mind by writing randomly with no expectations. If it sucks, it sucks! No problem!

• Write down whatever comes to you. You’ll be surprised at the valuable jewels you’ve created when you sift through it later.

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The Writing ProcessThe Writing Process

Lesson 1b: Part 2

Cat People (1982) Written by DeWitt Bodeen, Alan Ormsby and Paul Schrader

Writing is a ProcessWriting is a Process

• Great art often looks like it “just happened,” but almost without exception, the artist did extensive studies and planning to get that “unplanned” look.

• Narrative is like architecture.

• There are so many aspects to writing a great screenplay– shaping the story itself, building characters, creating authentic dialog, staying true to the theme– planning is imperative! 12

Steps in the ProcessSteps in the Process

• The Story

• The Logline

• The Step Outling

• Treatment

• Pages

• Rewriting13

Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiter) (2007) Screenplay by Stefan Ruzowitzky

Step #1: The StoryStep #1: The Story

• Inspirations for writing

– Personal Battles and Victories

– Personal Lessons and Losses

– The News

– Listen!

• “Write what you know.”

• And find out what you don’t know!

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The StoryThe Story

• Bring your experience to the table, not as an end, but as a jumping-off place.

• Don’t just dictate what happened, reinvent what happened as a metaphor.

• Take what actually happened and ask, “What if…?” What if I could bring him back to life? What if I could have controlled that roulette wheel with my mind?

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Choosing a SubjectChoosing a Subject

• Write about what ignites your passion!• Questions that might lead you to a story

might include:– What makes you angry?– What makes you terrified?– What do you want very badly? Even if you

don’t think it’s possible?– Who made you a different human being?

• Freewriting and journaling can help with discover these!

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The “Size” of Your StoryThe “Size” of Your Story

• What is the overall tone of your story?• Is it an epic?• Is it small, intimate and observed in

detail?

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Writing in a GenreWriting in a Genre• Not everything in your writing comes

from your own life. Writing movies often involves writing genre stories such as the Thriller, Western or Romantic Comedy.

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Unforgiven (1992) written by David Webb Peoples

Being Original within a GenreBeing Original within a Genre

• Copying another movie’s elements can make your story stale. You want a fresh story!

• It’s okay to take inspiration from other movies, but ultimately you must add something of yourself to make it interesting.

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Step #2: The LoglineStep #2: The Logline• You should be able to tell your story in

three to four sentences.• For example:

The Wizard of Oz: DOROTHY GALE is transported by a cyclone from the drab plains of Kansas to the magical world of Oz. A fraudulent wizard promises to transport her home if she destroys the great enemy of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West. She succeeds, but the wizard is unable to make good on his promise. Dorothy learns she can transport herself back to Kansas using tools she already has.

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The LoglineThe LoglineBuild a logline by asking yourself:1. What is the conflict or dilemma my protagonist faces?

2. What major complication makes the problem something that seems insurmountable?

3. How does my protagonist overcome the problem (or how is my protagonist defeated by it)?

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The LoglineThe LoglineA Logline includes:1. A Set-up (The Johnsons adopt a baby of mysterious

provenance and promise to raise it safely.)

2. The Main Complication (The baby sprouts antennae.)

3. The Climax (An alien spacecraft attacks, takes the baby and decimates Happyville, leaving only the Johnsons alive.)

4. The Resolution (Mrs. Johnson finds her infertility unexplainably healed. She’s with child.)

So now you have a beginning, middle & end

for your story! 22

AssignmentsAssignments

Meet the Parents (2000) Screenplay by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamberg

Lesson 1b: Part III

Eboard PostEboard Post

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• Write out your logline, keeping it to no more than 4 sentences. This can be difficult, yes, but it forces you to know the most basic spine of your story!

• You’ll give it another look once you complete your treatment.

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End of Lecture 1bEnd of Lecture 1b

Next Lecture: The Treatment

The Exorcist (1973) Screenplay by William Peter Blatty