What is a log line?

A log line or logline is a brief summary of a television program, film, or motion picture often providing both a synopsis of the program's plot, and an emotional "hook" to stimulate interest. The aim of this is to create enigma to leave the audience interested and asking questions. It is not a long summary only two or three sentences.

1. A logline must have the following

–       the protagonist
–       their goal
–       the antagonist/antagonistic force

2. Don’t use a character name

It has no intrinsic information and so is a useless word. Instead, tell us something about the character.


3. Use an adjective to give a little depth to that character
This is your chance to show some character. Beware of cliché, and also of the power of irony. It’s helpful if the characteristic you describe will have something to do with the plot.
- A mute sous-chef
- An alcoholic ex-superhero

4. Clearly and quickly present the protagonist’s main goal

This is what drives your story and it will drive your logline too. Make sure that the goal is present early in the script – if you don’t make good on your logline’s promise early enough the rest of the script won’t get read.
- A mute sous-chef wants to win the position of Head Chef at her boss’ new restaurant
- An alcoholic ex-superhero searches for his daughter

5. Describe the Antagonist

The antagonist should be described in a similar, but preferably shorter, manner than the hero. If the hero faces a more general antagonistic force then make it clear that they are battling something, not just life’s bumps and buffets.
- A mute sous-chef wants must fight off an ambitious rival to win the position of Head Chef at her boss’s new restaurant.
- An alcoholic ex-superhero searches for his daughter after she is kidnapped by his dementing, jealous former sidekick.

6. Make sure your protagonist is pro-active

He or she should drive the story and do so vigorously. A good logline will show the action of the story, the narrative momentum that carries you through the script. In some cases the protagonist will be reactive, but note, this is not the same as passive.

7. If you can, include stakes and/or a ticking time-bomb

These are very useful narrative devices that add urgency tou your script. If they fit in easily, include them in your logline.
- To save his reputation a secretly gay frat-boy must sleep with 15 women by the end-of-semester party.

8. Setup

Some scripts operate in a world with different rules to our own and require a brief setup to explain them, e.g. most science-fiction stories. Others have a protagonist whose personal or psychological history is crucial to the story and needs to be explained. Again, be brief.
- In a world where all children are grown in vats…
- Driven to a mental breakdown by an accident at work, an aquarium manager…

9. About the ending

Do not reveal the script’s supercool twist ending, even if it is the next The Usual Suspects. The story, and thus the logline, should be good enough to hold up by itself; a surprise ending should be a lovely bonus found when reading the script. N.B. This all changes when you get to writing your treatment.

10. Don’t tell the story, sell the story

Create a desire to see the script as well as telling them what’s in it. Loglines are like poetry, every word counts. Tinker, test, and tinker some more.

Bonus

If you can’t write a decent logline of your idea before embarking on the script, then maybe reconsider writing that thing. If it’s unfocused and muddled at the logline stage, it’s not going to get any better as you write.

http://www.raindance.org/10-tips-for-writing-loglines/

The link above is where I got my information which I have written above on log lines. I feel it was very useful and gives a clear explanation of what is needed to create a good log line. I would recommend to anyone looking on how to make one.


Examples of Log lines.


-Title: Silent Night
Writer: James Luckard
Genre: Thriller
Logline: With a brutal serial killer stalking Nazi Germany at Christmas, the Berlin detective on the case gets reluctantly partnered with a Jewish criminal psychologist released from Auschwitz to profile the killer.


Title: Synapse
Writer: Matthew Sinclair-Foreman
Genre: Thriller
Logline: During a brain operation, a man has an out of body experience in which he witnesses a murder in the hospital. Debilitated by neurological post-op side effects, he must catch the killer before his investigation turns him into the next victim.

Title: Incision
Writer: Patrick Donohoe
Genre: Action/thriller
Logline: A black NYC coroner about to run for public office must struggle to prove his innocence when he is set up by white supremacists as the main suspect in a series of grisly murders.



My own Idea- Retired Father Sets out on a race against time as his son is mysteriously kidnapped. Evidence begins to show its not what the father had first suspected.

OTS designers

I feel in this video he is making very important and helpful points, such as how an opening title sequence should set expectations , it should make the viewer feel excited. Also Typography is an important factor as It should add to the tone and type of film you are producing. Just as he has done when producing his films. Which have turned out to be huge successes.

Sound in OTS

Foley-
Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass





Types of sound-
Sound can be divided in two areas:

• Diegetic
• Non-Diegetic

Diegetic- These are things that are generated within the picture such as dialogue.
Non-Diegetic- Things generated from outside the picture e.g. voice over, music.

Ambient sound is used to create realism.
Dialogue is an important part of diegetic sound, and depends on vocal delivery. A good actor can vary pitch, tone, volume and accent.


Soundtrack-Previously-recorded music chosen because of its fit to the rhythm, content and mood of a sequence. If a song, the lyrics may add meaning to the images. I feel this is key in an OTS as it sets the mood and atmosphere for the film.

Recording sound with a microphone- You will learn very quickly that, with a video camera, there is no such thing as silence. If you are filming indoors your camera will pick up what is known as 'room noise' Outside there is also a lot of background noise, or ambient sound - passing traffic, birdsong, wind, nearby or distant people, aircraft, reversing trucks, squawking sirens - a whole cacophony of sounds that you cannot control.


http://www.mediaknowall.com/sound.html

The link above is where I got my information on sound I feel it is very useful and is easy to understand I would recommend anyone struggling with sound to look at this website as it helped me a lot.

Credits – Length of / Number of / Placement of and Top Billing and Single Cards for Main Actors and timelines

Normally an opening title sequence credits can be anything from 2-5 minutes long, my opening title sequence will be around 2 minutes.  

The average number of credits per opening title sequence is around 24, starting with the main characters first and the director last. Titles must be consistent and around the same time per credit, for example the main actor cannot be 10 seconds whereas the director being 2 seconds. Each credit is usually around 5 seconds long, however can be longer.

Jennifer Aniston has a contract where her name only must be displayed on a card, this is because she wants to show the significance of her role. 

Analysis of TypeFaces/ Positioning and Movement

Typography- The Style and Appearance of printed matter.

Serif and San Serif-

Serif fonts are usually easier to read and therefore are used in most newspapers.

San serif fonts are mainly used on computers as they are much harder to read on print.

At the moment Sans Serif is most popular due to the fact many more people are using technology such as computers.

Typefaces are very important in an OTS because they help to establish the genre of the film before actually watching it. For example If they were to use a red colour this my connote that the film is horror or thriller. Also if a if a typeface was to be fast paced across the screen this may show the film is going to be fast paced and action.

Covention of the order of the titles in OTS

Order of the Titles:

• Name of the Studio
• Name of Production company
• Producer Name
• Starring
• Films Title
• Featuring
• Casting or casting by.
• Music or Music composed
• Production design or Production designer
• Editor or Edited by
• Director of Photography.
• Producer or Produced by, Executive producer.
• Based on the book
• Based on the characters
• Story or Story by
• writers or written by
• Director or Directed by.

Conventions of an OTS

The Conventions of an OTS

• Name of production companies.
• Director
• Producer
• Other key crew
• Executive Producer
• Top Billing actors
• The movie Title

                  

                  

                  

                  

                  

                  

                  

                  

                  

Conventions of Title Sequences from reigatemedia

History of an OTS

Making an OTS

Film Openings

Pre-Production- explination.

Pre-Production


Location- In the film industry there are many crew members working for 'locations'. A starting point for someone in this department is a location scout who must travel around the required location searching for appropriate locations taking photographs of each possible place. Bring them to the director for consultations which include some technical detail such as lighting, power and permission.

Technical-  

Encoding/ Decoding

 

 

Stuart Hall

 

 

 

 

Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and a professor of sociology. He looked at the role of audience positioning in the interpretation of mass media texts by different social groups.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Encoding and Decoding.

 

 

Dominant Reading-  Audience fully accepts the preferred reading the way the author intended them to, so that the code seems natural and transparent.

 

 

Negotiated Reading-  This is when the reader partly believes the code and broadly accepts the preferred reading  but sometimes modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests.

 

The Oppositional Reading-  The readers social position places them in an oppositional relation to the dominant code, they reject the reading.

 

 

Media Power.

 

Hall was concerned with media power, including how it propagates particular social values , to create a dominant ideology. In other words framing public debate surrounding certain issues. E.g. the role of women, asylum and immigration and the welfare system.

 

Hall believes that the mass media create and defines issues of public concerns and interest through audience positioning

 

Polysemy is the capacity for a text to have multiple meanings. It is to do with how individuals interpret and decode readings in different contexts and cultures.

 

 

 

Halls Theory-

 

Halls theory has influenced me as it has given me the opportunity to decide what way I would like my audience to be thinking when I make my OTS, and how I would like them to analyse it. It would be ideal if I was able to create a dominant reading as then the message would be clear.