THE LOGLINE/ELEVATOR PITCH Where the rubber hits the road

LOGLINE "If you can't say it in three sentences, you don't know what your story is about."

LOGLINE Think of the logline as a 10 second commercial for your movie.

Reveal the star's SITUATION Reveal the GOAL: the Action the star’s takes Reveal the important COMPLICATIONS Hint at the CLIMAX - the danger, the 'showdown' Identify SIZZLE: greed, humor, danger, thrill Identify GENRE Limit to three sentences or under Use present tense LOGLINE CHECKLIST

LOGLINE: RUNAWAY BRIDE A New York reporter travels to Maryland to profile a woman who left three bridegrooms at the altar.

LOGLINE: DUMB & DUMBER An inept dog groomer and a limousine driver chase the latter's dream girl cross country.

LOGLINE: ET An alienated boy bonds with an extraterrestrial child who's been stranded on earth; the boy defies the adults to help the alien contact his mothership so he can go home.

ELEVATOR PITCH The Elevator Pitch is a short narrative treatment which gathers up the threads of your story: character, motivation, agenda, setting, conflict, action, key scenes, and storyline - combining them into a short treatment that gives you the first hint of the impact of the final script.

ELEVATOR PITCH Focus on large actions stemming out of character motivation. The verb is WANT. What does your character WANT? Before writing The PITCH make a list of wants for your character. There will be one main WANT.

Reveal the star's SITUATION Reveal the GOAL: the Action the star’s takes Reveal the important COMPLICATIONS Describe the star's CRISIS decision Hint at the CLIMAX - the danger, the 'showdown' Hint at the star's potential TRANSFORMATION Identify SIZZLE: greed, humor, danger, thrill Identify GENRE Limit to one paragraph Use present tense ELEVATOR PITCH CHECKLIST

THE “ELEVATOR” PITCH "Secret Of Algonquin” Shawn Miller, a handsome 29-year-old scientist, wants to make a difference in life. But to many he seems to have lost direction. However, to those who know him he still seems to have a strong sense of confidence and purpose. Confidence and purpose, however, could not be farther from the truth as the emotional instability of being unemployed begins to consume him. Having always been known as an “outsider”, he obsessively decides to get back into the game at any cost. As the obsession starts to envelop and control his life, Shawn begins to experience strange and unearthly events surrounding his endeavors to get hired at a top-secret research center. He is drawn to the brink of near death as the dark secrets at the research center began to unfold and reveal an off world intelligence searching for evidence of Mankind's origins. Deceptions surface and truths are reached among the characters, yet not one of them has an answer to the question that looms: What is the secret of Algonquin?

SHORT ELEVATOR PITCH: RAINMAN A self-centered hotshot returns home for his father's funeral and learns the family inheritance goes to an autistic brother he never knew he had. The hotshot kidnaps this older brother and drives him cross-country hoping to gain his confidence and get control of the family money. The journey reveals an unusual dimension to the brother's autism that sparks their relationship and unlocks a dramatic childhood secret that changes everything.

YOUR TASK  Think about five movies you’ve enjoyed and create loglines for them.  Next, using your smartphone, find the actual loglines for the films and record them below your own.  Question: How did your loglines compare to the originals?  Without consulting the web(absolutely no copying), create an elevator pitch for your favourite film.