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KeynoJonesLogliner
When a devoted ex criminal desired to start a righteous past completes her prison term, she is dragged back into the criminal underworld after her son is kidnapped by her ex crime mob boss and forced to complete numerous tasks, before he ends up dead.
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One good way to look at a story is to ask, What is the overall goal of the lead character?
In your story, the goal of the lead character is to save her son.
Therefore what sets the story in motion would be, her son being kidnapped.
Now that we know what sets the story in motion we can begin to see a logline. Because that event is what starts the logline.
“When her son is kidnapped, an ex-con trying to go straight, must…” (Then tell us your lead characters plan-but not whether it succeeds or not so you don’t give away the ending)
Now we have a beginning, and also, because your lead character wants to go straight, we also have internal conflict because she may have to do illegal things to save her son. (And internal conflict is great)
To review, the beginning and the end of a story should be like mirror images.
As Richiev said.
In this version, the protagonist is presented as a passive, helpless victim of circumstances. The logline is a statement of the plot. And the plot is about what a protagonist who is defiantly proactive in the face of adversity.? This version casts the villain, the crime boss, as the character in the driver’s seat of the plot.? She needs to be driving the plot — not him. We know what he is doing.? What is she doing about what he is doing?
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A reformed ex-convict is forced to xxxx when her old boss kidnaps her son.
You don?t need to be too poetic. Add words that can have a direct impact on the visuals of the film. So a person can see what you are describing.
Plus a reformed person desires all the things you talk about.