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Is there an industry standard written or unwritten rule as to how long logline can be/exceed?
Wondering if 75 words is too long?
Wondering if 75 words is too long?
I'm guessing it's a short film. Either that or they luckily discover the building was built over some old mine workings that go down for quite some distance. "Plunge" might be a good title. Or maybe, "The Elevator That Couldn't Stop." Wow, that's high concept money in the bank.Mac H. said:Maybe I should pitch my sequel to Speed: "There's a bomb on an escalator. If they slow the escalator down, the bomb goes off ..."
Ayup. I would've brushed you down and fed you corn and beans if necessary to get the point across.scripter1 said:And you threw the horse analogy in just for me didn't you?
It's like a Before and After picture ad, you might need the escalator to get in here, but once we're finished with you, you'll be sprinting up and down those stairs!scripter1 said:Ha ha ha ha.
Lazy steps at the entrance to a health club.
scripter1 said:nobody really comes along and counts how many words it is.
scripter1 said:30 to 50 words.
scripter1 said:Typed out in Courier font, 12 point type, standard business letter margins with no indentions the sentence should run about a line and a half to two lines It can be two sentences but most are one sentence.
I'm not sure whether what you're saying here is intended to acknowledge what's been said above or is a new argument against aiming for 25-30 word loglines. If you're complaining that it's a pain in the butt to shrink your loglines to 25-30 words then you're absolutely right, it is! But this thread kicked off with an "industry standard" question, and that is the industry standard, like it or lump it. If you're advising an unoptioned/unsold/unrepped spec writer to go higher then you're not doing them any favors. Everything about their query letter must impress, and that includes the logline size.scripter1 said:Look, the logline HAS to be long enough to convey important info but not too long.
dpaterso said:... aiming for 25-30 word loglines. If you're complaining that it's a pain in the butt to shrink your loglines ... then you're absolutely right, it is!/QUOTE]
.. big AMEN to that, from someone used to taking 125 words just to say hello!
What does any of this have to do with the price of tea in china? This is a thread about logline length - not "Scripter's beliefs about where a new writer's energies should be focused"scripter1 said:Even if you've worked very hard and gotten your logline down to 30 words give or take a few but you've only told a portion of your plot and not revealed conflict then the logline has failed.
Economy of words is important but it is the CONTENT that matters most.
I believe a new writers energies are better focused toward understanding conflict, how to develop it and then how to express it.
Point taken, but they still better express it in 25-30 words.scripter1 said:Even if you've worked very hard and gotten your logline down to 30 words give or take a few but you've only told a portion of your plot and not revealed conflict then the logline has failed.
Economy of words is important but it is the CONTENT that matters most.
I believe a new writers energies are better focused toward understanding conflict, how to develop it and then how to express it.