A log line or logline is a brief, one-sentence twenty-five words or less (short paragraph) summary of a television program, film, or book stating the central conflict of the story, often providing both a synopsis of the story’s plot, and the emotional “hook” to stimulate interest.
A one-sentence program summary in TV Guide is a log line.
Introduce character, main objectives.
A logline must have the following: the protagonist (and their goal), the antagonist/antagonistic force.
• T a g l i n e G u r u •. G r e a t F i l m T a g l i n e s • 4 0 G r e a t e s t M o v i e T a g l i n e s E v e r. •
Charlie Brown is finally invited to a Halloween party; Snoopy engages the Red Baron in a dogfight; and Linus waits patiently in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.
A talented but irresponsible teenager schemes to steal his college tuition money when his wealthy father refuses to pay for him to study acting at Juilliard.
The logline for Star Trek was “Wagon Train in Space”. Wagon Train had been a high-profile TV show, and anyone hearing the logline would immediately know what Star Trek was about.
The tagline is the branding of your movie. It is that intangible tangible, the “sizzle” of the steak, that shiny part of technology that causes you to part with your money. Taglines below are from Wikipedia
- “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” – The Fly [9][10][11]
- “In space, no one can hear you scream.” – Alien [12][13]
- “Freddy is just at the corner.” – A Nightmare On Elm Street
- “Who you gonna call?.” – Ghostbusters
- “There can be only one.” – Highlander [14]
- “One ring to rule them all.” – The Lord of the Rings [15]
- “Stanley Ipkiss is not the man he used to be.” – The Mask
- “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” – Love Story [16][17][18]
- “To boldly go where no man has gone before.” – Star Trek [19]
- “The truth is out there.” – The X-Files [20]
- “Why So Serious?” – The Dark Knight
- “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” – Jaws 2
- “The night HE came home.” – Halloween
- “Fear Her Curse.” – The Woman in Black
- “Nothing on earth could come between them.” – Titanic
- “Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.” – Army of Darkness
- “Some houses are born bad.” – The Haunting
- “It knows what scares you.” – Poltergeist
- “You will believe.” – Ghost
- “We are not alone.” – Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- “Gable’s back and Garson’s got him.” – Adventure [21]
- “The first casualty of war is innocence.” – Platoon
- “Some people change your life forever.” – Carol [22]