A teenage lumberjack wannabe struggles with his ironically hipster appearance as he figures out what it means to be a man.
Timber
Timber
The scene where the tree falls on the car is a keeper. (Is this a comedy?)
In this case, a logline would describe not what the MC wants to be but what he does to become. So if he's a "wannabe lumberjack" -- if that's his working definition of a manly man -- then it seems to me his goal would be to get hired as a full-time lumberjack.
BTW: Becoming a lumberjack could be the wrong goal to fulfill his subjective need to define himself with a manly occupation. Which he discovers after he achieves the goal -- through hilarious missteps and misadventures-- or discovers after struggling to achieve the goal only to fail -- after hilarious missteps and misadventures. The critical issue is that logline informs readers that he is taking steps, that he is struggling to reach a specific goal.
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I really do appreciate it!
I've been struggling with this idea for about a year now, I just have no ideas on what specific external conflicts could arise.
The MC is basically a scrawny, nearly blind teenager who wears lumberjack attire (flannel, boots, the whole 9 yards.) Because of his obvious lack of manliness, nobody takes him seriously when he wants to be a lumberjack. People also perceive him as a hipster because "nobody understands him." A lot of it just plays off of society's view of the common hipster.
As far as external obstacles, I see the story going in two ways:
1.) MC and a friend drive out to the middle of nowhere to cut down a tree, the tree crushes their car and they must survive in the wilderness.
2.) MC basically goes on a road trip and talks to different people on what they think it means to be a man. Sounds serious, but it wouldn't be. I had one pretty funny scene scripted out where he visits a Wal-Mart (or some made-up store chain) to buy a knife, because all men carry knives, right? But the guy working in the knife/gun section persists that he needs a gun, because all real men have guns. Just trying to focus in on that everyone has different views on what it means to be a man in today's society. Not much conflict in the one though...
I'm not sure how a "...lumberjack wannabe..." will behave in different situations its not a clear character description. There is need for a description that will inspire conflict in our minds when we read the MC's goals.
As previously mentioned best to specify an external tangible goal for the MC to pursue and in the same token describe the main action the MC will take to achieve the goal. The internal journey goal was specified "... figures out what it means to be a man." but this is too vague to give a clear understanding of the way in which the MC learns a lesson and will develop.
Hope this helps, Nir.