A bitter yet compliant African slave is killed for a crime he didn?t commit and is revived through black magic. Upon discovering he?s immortal, he?ll spend decades trying to recover what was stolen from him. New Logline: After a revived African slave discovers he is immortal after being framed for murder, he spends each passing century fighting bigotry to end how blacks are viewed in America. 5/3/2017
uzumaki12Penpusher
A bitter yet compliant African slave is killed for a crime he didn?t commit and is revived through black magic. Upon discovering he?s immortal, he?ll spend decades trying to recover what was stolen from him. New Logline: After a revived African slave discovers he is immortal after being framed for murder, he spends each passing century fighting bigotry to end how blacks are viewed in America. 5/3/2017
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>>>After discovering immortality
Wonder if that could be re-phrased better. ?How does he discover it? ?This is obviously the inciting incident that kicks the whole saga in the pilot episode. ?So it has to be a good one — and one that inducesa viewing audience to suspend disbelief.
>>> a former African slave
Wouldn’t it make for a stronger pilot episode and story line if he becomes immortal while still enslaved and the through line for the 1st season would become his struggle to win his freedom. ?(And freedom for his family? ) ?I’m assuming that becoming immortal has conveyed no other boon or power, so he would have to wrestle with obtaining his freedom like mere mortals.
>>filled with anger
Isn’t that so obvious that it doesn’t need ?to be said? ?Or is subjective need to somehow, over time, transcend his anger? ?His anger can serve as a two-edged sword of emotional motivation. ?There is plenty of cause to be angry because there is so much injustice and oppression. ?But on the other hand, if not tempered, it can lead to rash behavior and self-defeating consequences. (And the character has to be flawed; even though fighting to overcome evil, he’s can’t be portrayed as a saint.)
Anyway, overall, I suggest the logline needs to frame his objective goal more directly: to wit, to obtain his freedom and fight for the freedom and equality for all his people. ?(That is his long term objective goal, isn’t it?)
This latest draft is convoluted and a bit messy as it lacks a description of his action throughout the series. In Forever the MC is a medical examiner for the Police, and the action he pursues in each episode throughout the series is catching killers. In this logline you wrote he fights against racism against black people, why not change it so he fights bigotry – it’s not just black people who suffered from racism…
More so why not be more specific and write that he fights slavery? Slavery is the source of his pain so it would be fitting for him to want to stop it.
My suggestion:
After a revived slave discovers he is immortal on a slave traders ship, he spends each passing century fighting bigotry and abolish slavery around the world.
Newest logline:
After discovering immortality on a plantation in 1785, a former African slave filled with anger will be shaped by centuries of racism against black people in the United States, while simultaneously fighting against it.
An African slave is murdered for a crime he didn’t commit and later resurrected to find his killers.
Slaves aren’t supposed to have things of value so including him on a quest to find what was taken from him is pointless.
Decades to find something… while this may sound epic, really only sounds boring to me.
Bitter, yet compliant isn’t a description that adds to the protag.
If his goal is to recover what was stolen from him; then the inciting incident should be about his possession being stolen. And why what was stolen was so important or personal.
Great concept for a series, one that I’d like to hear more about (it’s rare for me to write such a comment on this site, as most members will attest…)
If you want more details on how to logline/pitch a series in general and episodes in particular, it would require more than I am able to in a thread response. So here are a few thoughts, this sounds like a logline that’s trying to describe the series as a whole instead of the pilot, for that reason I suggest making a few changes:
Beware of hinting at a premise pilot, describe the series as an ongoing affair after the start of his journey. In other words, make the logline describe him as an immortal with an agenda in the 19th century and onwards instead of a reincarnated slave in an earlier century.
I would also suggest you change the genre to supernatural instead of drama, his ability defines him and will provide the hook for most audiences. Like DPG said, time is on his side and not being able to die means he needs other big obstacles to overcome.
Perhaps there could also be an English officer, unbeknown to the MC, that was brought back to life who keeps chasing the MC throughout history?
Otherwise, the colour of his skin will provide him with many obstacles which can be exploited in the series.
The concept is very similar to the series Forever only instead of an English man it’s a slave that becomes immortal, for this to work the concept needs to be made different in the motivations driving the MC. Therefore, the logline needs to focus on the major obstacles he will have and his ongoing goal.
For example:
After a revived slave discovers he is immortal on a slave traders ship, he spends each passing century fighting bigotry in order to abolish slavery around the world.
Given that he’s immortal, there’s no urgency implied in his struggle, no ticking clock. ?If he doesn’t succeed ?year or century he can always try, try, try again until he succeeds. What’s to worry about? ?Time is on his side.
Also there seems to be a disconnect between the inciting incident and his objective goal. ?The logline says he was killed for a crime he didn’t commit. ?And then it says he’s trying to recover what was stolen from him. What was “stolen” from him that he wants to recover? ?There needs to be a common denominator between the inciting incident and the resulting action and I don’t see it what it is.
fwiw