Baja
When a father and son novice racing team decides to enter the Baja 500 they face challenges to survive not only the race but drug dealers and corrupt Mexican military.
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Okay. That they are thrill seeking junkies works for me as far as an initial motivation.
Thanks Tony. Interesting spin.
DPG: There will always be reasons not to do something in life. Life is hard. But, many are driven just by the thrill of attempting to do something. Can I face this and come out the other side?
Entering the race is not unreasonable. Hundreds of teams, both professional and amateur do it every year, but once they are in it they are in it. The whole point of the film is they are trying to get back home but must face life threatening challenges to do so. They no longer care about the race.
And, as Tony pointed out, if the relationship is estranged, then racing together could bring them together. Ultimately it divides them at first, but the challenges force them to work together (their arcs).
Hope that makes sense.
Hi LoglinesRUS,
Just thought I’d add my two cents to this —
atm the logline feels as if it’s missing out on some dramatic potential that you’ve touched upon in the above thread –‘…Maybe the son, or father, did not really want to go on this adventure and is an unwilling participant…’
For me, this would be the most compelling element to this story — especially if the Father and son are either estranged, or have a bad relationship and the Father has entered them in the race to repair it… What about:
‘When his estranged Father, his co-driver, is taken hostage by a corrupt Mexican military during the Baja500, a spoilt college drop-up must choose between winning the race and saving his Father.’
Anyway — that’s just what I see in my head… Best of luck with it.
LoglinesRUS:
That they are rank amateurs going up against seasoned pros plus the hazards of the course very reasonable, very good reasons NOT to race. Yet, despite the odds, despite the jeopardy, they choose to race.
So again, why do they feel they MUST race? What is the imperative that motivates them to act so “unreasonably” as to race? And will keep them in the race, despite the higher and higher hurdles, despite the escalating danger?
dpg:
Great questions.
First, many off-road teams are two people. Yes, there are single driver vehicles, but in this case my focus is on the dynamic not only of a racing team (amateur I might add) as well as the father-son relationship. The fact they are amateur is integral to this particular story because it means they will not have the experience and possibly know-how to deal with some of the problems that more seasoned drivers can. This also sets up two additional conflict.
1. The pro drivers don’t want to deal with the amateurs.
2. Maybe the son, or father, did not really want to go on this adventure and is an unwilling participant not in danger.
The inciting incident at the end of the first act can be that their vehicle breaks down or suffers some mechanical trouble that the two must figure out, seek help from locals, and thus the real trouble begins.
The race actually becomes secondary to the more pressing problem of staying alive. The race is the easy part.
What do you think?
LoglinesRUS:
What is your thinking as to why father & son MUST partner up, despite the danger, despite of the odds? What’s at stake for them (between them?) besides the prize money? (Which per the genre formula is a necessary triggering reason in Act 1, but not a sufficient moral/thematic reason for the Act 3 wrap up)?
DPG: NIce. I admit, your version could be very exciting as well. Thank you for confirming the entire reason LoglinesRUs exists: to explore storytelling and development through the use of loglines. I love the fact that my simple logline could cause you to come up with something similar yet different.
Cheers.
LoglinesRUS:
No, I didn’t miss the point. I just liked mine better. 🙂 But it’s your story. Whatever works for you…
DPG, by recasting as championship racers you have completely missed the point of where the conflict comes in and why the audience should be invested. If the father and son are Nikki Lauder and James Hunt of off-road then they are just like all of the other racers like you said, BUT, if the two are novices we have a fish-out-of-water story where they are out of their element by racing a 500 hundred mile trek through treacherous desert in Mexico. Now you have the makings for a strong conflict.
The father and son not only have an arc of learning to survive and becoming stronger because of it, but their relationship is enhanced because they must work together.
Thanks for all of the comments! I appreciate workshopping ideas.
Father and son championship racers must overcome their bitter rivalry to survive a gauntlet of vicious drug lords and corrupt police in a Baja 500 death race.
I recast the logline as a motorized Gladiator contest to the death because as predicated ALL THE RACERS –not just the father and son — will face the same peril, corrupt police, vicious drug lords. Consequently, the stakes for ALL THE RACERS will be the same: mere survival. And the prize money.
But the prize money is only the objective goal. Which is not sufficient reason for the audience to become emotionally invested in the father and son. (Or any of the other racers for that matter.) So what is there to make the father and son stand out, make the audience want to make an emotional investment in their fate? Why should the audience care more about them then all the other racers?
The logline for BAJA has the objective and subjective storyline. With all the parts of a screenplay in place it could be economical.
Definitely potential here.
First: I can’t remember ever seeing a movie about the Baja 500 so that’s a plus,
Second: the only thing I would add, if you could give us the reason the drug dealers and corrupt Mexican military are after them (Without adding to the word count) it would help the logline
However that’s a small point. Hope that helped, good luck with this!