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After a graduate student is asked to identify a body?his pot-dealer?s, he enlists the help of two other clients to give the man a proper burial.
Try a logline for each possibility as writing the thoughts is the only way forward. Since you don't have the answer as to what was in the envelope, consider that the story doesn't answer it, either. It could be a McGuffin or running joke or...
Try a logline for each possibility as writing the thoughts is the only way forward.
Since you don’t have the answer as to what was in the envelope, consider that the story doesn’t answer it, either. It could be a McGuffin or running joke or…
See lessA reformed sex addict, suffering intimacy problems with a woman who offers him stability, returns to his former psychiatrist, a twisted and manipulative woman for whom he might still be madly in love with.
What?s wrong with a schmuck as a protagonist? Ha.Well - he?s a rich, playboy plastic surgeon in the Patrick Bateman and Christian Troy vein. He?s a smug yuppie type - with OCD levels of perfectionism. He?s supposed to be pathetic and ridiculous.?There?s even a scene where (in a nod to Close EncounteRead more
What?s wrong with a schmuck as a protagonist? Ha.
Well – he?s a rich, playboy plastic surgeon in the Patrick Bateman and Christian Troy vein. He?s a smug yuppie type – with OCD levels of perfectionism. He?s supposed to be pathetic and ridiculous.?There?s even a scene where (in a nod to Close Encounters) he starts carving a naked women into his mashed potatoes. He?s obsessed.
In a lot of ways he can go head-to-head with the psychiatrist, who is (you guessed it, also a former sex addict). What they have together is unique – they get and understand each other. They can only be vulnerable with each other (which is oddly corny for such a black premise).
What?s interesting and dangerous about them having an affair – is that it?s illegal and unethical to do that with your patient. But yeah – I mostly imagined two beautiful people with huge egos going head to head in a game of constantly shifting power fuelled somewhat by sexual jealousy. The ending for it being – these two cruel, narcissistic people do very much belong to each other. There is someone out there for everyone ha.
Okay. Cheers everyone.
See lessA confirmed bachelor struggles to maintain a life of no commitments, no emotional attachments after a lonely boy adopts him as a surrogate dad.
Jelewis8:You raise valid points.First, of all, the movie was an adaptation of a popular book.? So the premise was "pre-sold", tested and proven to be marketable in another medium? -- an advantage that spec scripts don't have.And you are correct:? the stakes are low for the protagonist; he's quite coRead more
Jelewis8:
You raise valid points.
First, of all, the movie was an adaptation of a popular book.? So the premise was “pre-sold”, tested and proven to be marketable in another medium? — an advantage that spec scripts don’t have.
And you are correct:? the stakes are low for the protagonist; he’s quite content to be a confirmed bachelor.? That’s his status quo.
What upsets his status quo is the lonely boy.? The boy is the character with serious stakes; he? stands to gain or lose a lot.? The inciting incident for his subplot is his depressed mother attempting suicide after being divorced by his father.
So if the boy were tagged as the protagonist in the story then the logline? might be “After his depressed , divorced mother attempts suicide, a lonely boy plots to get a confirmed bachelor to be his surrogate dad.”? (22 words)
And why not, given that the title of the film is “About a Boy” not “About a Bacherlor”?
Well, for one thing the story is told? primarily, though not exclusively, from the bachelor’s pov.? ?He is the lead off and primary narrator.? The boy has his share of? (V.O.) narration, too, but on balance not as much as the bachelor.? And the bachelor gets the last word in terms of the (V.O.) narration.
Further, though the boy has more at stake, the bachelor has the bigger character arc; he? is the character tasked with resolving the subjective issue, the one who has to undergo more change for the story to have a? “all’s well that ends well” denouement.? In comparison,? the boy is the catalyst character for change. (He undergoes a change of fortune, but not a change of character.)
Finally,? a primary job of a logline (and script) is to serve as actor bait, to attract a bankable actor, someone who can attract the money to get the? movie movie.? As the late, great screenwriter William Goldman said, “Stars get movies made.”? And at that time Hugh Grant was a major star; he had a proven track record.? IOW: he was a bankable, actor.? Whoever would be cast in the role of a 12 year boy would not be.? ?Further, it is not likely? that a major actor such as Hugh Grant would? be attracted to a project where he only plays a supporting role to a boy.
So for me that last reason is the trump card, the consideration that supersedes all others in determining how to frame the logline.? And it also happens to be an accurate representation of the plot.
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