Screenplay Analysis Components:
Logline: A one line description of your story (you
can also take a free logline tutorial here)
Synopsis: A condensed version of the screenplay plot.
Overview -
your script's general strengths and weaknesses. Addressed also are concept,
characterization and dialog.
Plot
and Structure: How the forward motion of the story is revealed.
Voice and Tone: The uniqueness of your writing voice.
LOGLINES:
A logline
is a one to two sentence engaging description of your story. The ideal
logline makes us want to read
the script.Loglines
have a point of view. An omniscient point of view is in the third person.
It is often the main character’s point of view – it tells
the story from the perception of the main character. Consider the following
OMNISCIENT loglines:
THE WIZARD OF OZ:
This is Dorothy’s experience of the story.A teenage girl is caught in a tornado and whisked from Kansas to the land of Oz where, on her quest to return home, she encounters magical beings and has many adventures.But each significant character in a screenplay will also experience the story from their point of view.
Consider the following examples:
• The Wizard’s POV
A sideshow charlatan is caught in a tornado and travels “over the rainbow” to the strange land of OZ where he is hailed as a god and must keep up pretenses so the populous does not discover he is merely human.
• Glinda The Good Witch’s POV
After a farm girl from Kansas accidentally kills an evil witch in the land of Oz, the good witch, who protects the inhabitants, sends the girl to consult a powerful wizard to find out how she can also kill another, more powerful witch.
• The Wicked Witch Of The West’s POV
When a
farm girl from Kansas accidentally kills an evil witch in the land of Oz,
the witch’s
sister swears vengeance and tries to kill the girl before she can seek the
protection of a powerful wizard.They sound like different movies, don’t
they? Consider varying points of view in loglines for other films:
THE TERMINATOR:
• OMNISCIENT POV (also Sarah Connor’s pov)
A young woman is stalked by a killing machine sent from the future and
learns she is marked for death because she will bear
a child who saves mankind from extermination.
• Kyle Reese’s
POV
A freedom fighter from the future must make a desperate journey back
in time to save a woman targeted for death
by an intelligent cyborg killing machine.
• The Terminator’s POV
An intelligent cyborg must journey back in time and try to kill the human
whose existence threatens the future
of his kind.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
• OMNISCIENT POV – Note that the logline is about both children
because, although Scout is the
narrator, the story is from their joint point of view. Through the eyes of two
young children, the racial drama of a local rape unfolds and teaches them
hard lessons about the
world
• Scout’s
POV
In 1930’s Georgia, a young girl learns about racism for the first time
as she sees her lawyer
father fail to save the life of a black man falsely accused of rape.
• Atticus’s
POV
In defending a black
man falsely accused
of rape
a southern
lawyer must watch
his young
children
learn the hard lessons
of racism
in 1930’s Georgia
• Tom
Robinson’s
POV
When he is wrongly
accused of rape,
a poor black
man must rely
on the
abilities of
a well meaning
defense
lawyer
whose best
arguments are
not enough in
the racist climate
of 1930’s Georgia.
• Mayella Ewell’s POV
Rather than face her forbidden desire, a poor white girl in 1930’s Georgia accuses an innocent black man of rape and sets in motion a series of events which end in tragedy
• Mr. Ewell’s POV
A poor white farmer whose daughter claims she was raped decides to seek revenge on the lawyer who defended the black man convicted of the crime.
• Boo Radley’s POV
A reclusive
man
who yearns
for
the friendship
of
two
young children
must
ultimately save them
from
a madman
bent
on
revenge
against
their
father.
