Death Note (TV)
moviefreak81Samurai
When a magic notebook that kills who has a name written on it falls in the hand of a student that uses it to kill criminals, the law enforcement must find a way to stop him.
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I could not find the “classics” category to post (category of movies, etc)
The logline is for “Death Note” mang?, by the way.
Moviefreak81:
“Classics” is now “Examples”. So you’ve posted it in the right place.
And it’s an interesting choice. IMDB lists both a manga series and a feature film with the same hook: a magical notebook that is a death sentence for whoever’s name is written it.
But the feature film takes a different tack with the plot than the manga series. In the feature film the objective goal of the boy who discovers the notebook’s power is altruistic,? to rid the world of criminals.
This is a excellent example of the primacy of the hook in a logline. How a potent hook can be be the launching platform for multiple plots that go in different directions.
Indeed, I read of scripts that have been read and sold primarily on the strength of the hook, regardless –? even despite the plot. If the producer loves the hook, but hates the plot, he? can simple acquire the rights and hire a rewrite to suit his preference. So it seems that in terms of marketing a script, a great hook can overcome a bad plot.?
But is the inverse also possible?? Can a great plot overcome a bad hook?
I haven’t seen either the series or the film. My only quibble question with this logline is: in the manga series how does”the law enforcement” translate into a lead investigator, IOW: a specific protagonist?
Thanks for the comment dgp, in fact I’ve read the manga and now I’m watching the animated TV series, before getting into the film since the movie adaptation seems to be a prime example of how to not adapt a story to a movie hehe (4.6 on imdb while the comics and animation have solid reviews). Also in comics, the goal is altruistic, but maybe it’s not. He says he wants to be the God of this new world without criminals, but then, where do draw the line of altruism and vanity??? It reminds me of Saint Anton (not sure if it’s the correct english name) that lived in a cave, refusing all temptations of the devil and when he was dying of old age, the devil said
” Damnit I give up” and turned away. And when he turned away, St. Anton said
“Thank you Lord, now I can die as I lived. As a Saint.”
And at this very moment, the devil turned around and said “A-h?! Vanity!”
But back to the logline, I’ve put “law enforcement” because Raito (protagonist) faces several antagonists from the law enforcement, including his father, L and the L’s successors. Since the line is drawn very clear between Raito’s line of thought/action and the police, it seemed like “law enforcement” could suit well… what do you think?
“Can a great plot overcome a bad hook?”
Funny enough, this is something I’ve been thinking lately. If you think about a logline for Game of Thrones, many producers may be very unimpressed by the logline alone.
a good one I’ve found with google:
“When the king is murdered, noble families from across the realm of Westeros go to war for control of the Iron Throne, even as a supernatural menace looms in the cold reaches of the North.”
“ice zombies”.. “dragons”… “battle for the throne”.. tell me where the hook is, a producer would say.
It’s hard to pin point since the story isn’t finished yet but if we consider Jon snow is the main protagonist and think about the logline
“When an young bastard volunteers to the cold frontier watch, he must convince allies and enemies to unite against the supernatural threat coming from the cold lands of the north.” Needs polishing but something like that.. but not impressive at all and don’t make the story’s justice. Perhaps a case of plot trumps hook?
Daenerys look a little better for a logline, but still, dragons, fire imunity.. can’t find a significant hook.
I suggest we have to be careful not to compare apples to oranges: the hit series was adapted “A Song of Ice and Fire” series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin’s, the first of which is A Game of Thrones.? ?There was no need to worry about simplifying? a? complicated tangle of story lines or singling out a protagonist from a cast of thousands for the purpose of a logline.? The success of the fantasy series WAS the hook that sold it as a movies series — not a logline.
I don’t think the usual logline rules and requirements apply –or may even be necessary — for adapted material with a proven track record of commercial success.
Yes, you are right… I was browing past posts and it was brought up (I guess it was the logline about Big Lebowski) that questioned about that a logline from Cohen Brothers if came from a writer without proven record etc etc it might well be discarded.
What I had in mind when I brought up that example is that, if ASOIF did not exist, and a new author came up with this very same saga, and was pitching to a publisher, maybe he/she would have a hard time to craft a logline (or even a 1 page summary) that truly reflect the quality of the work (and the hook).
>>faces several antagonists from the law enforcement, including his father, L and the L?s successors.
I am unfamiliar with the series.? That said, in drama one has to distinguish between antagonists and rivals.? The antagonist opposes the objective goal of the protagonist — obviously.? In contrast, rivals have the same objective goal as the protagonist — but fight over strategy and tactics, taking credit for success, assigning blame failure. etc.
Take the “Hunger Games” series.? The 12 unlucky kids chosen in the annual games must fight to the death –? but singularly or collectively they are not Katniss Everdeen’s real antagonist.? They are her competition, her rivals, all fighting for the same objective goal, to survive and emerge as the last man (or woman) standing.
Protagonist Katniss Everdeen’s real antagonist, her archenemy,? is President Snow who heads Panem.
hmmmm that makes sense. In this case, the character “L”, a super detective that rivals Raito’s (protagonist) intellect should be in place of the “law enforcement”.
>>>the character ?L?, a super detective that rivals Raito?s (protagonist) intellect should be in place of the ?law enforceme
I’m confused.? Who is the character the audience is supposed to root for to solve the case?? Whoever that is, should be the designated protagonist.? (He doesn’t have to be the smartest, or the strongest.? The audience could be rooting for an underdog.)? And in a logline, fictional characters (as a rule) are not identified by name.? Rather they are described by a character flaw or defining characteristic.
I think basically the author play with our morals… in Breaking Bad, we definitely root for Walt, maybe until the point we think “well.. perhaps he have gone too far…” when he confess to Skyler his real reason.
In Death Note at first we might root to Raito, the student who finds the notebook and decide to kill criminals.. but at then I think it depends on where the audience stand about “vigilantes”. If I. Kant would read the comics he would definitely root for “L” since the beginning hahah.?? But yes, personally I’d put Raito for protagonist and L (and police) as antagonist. It looks like the author twists that at some point in the story as if he is making a point regarding making justice with his own hands.
Now thinking about it, I don’t remember that Raito even has a personal reason to use the notebook, (like Batman who had his parents killed, etc…)
When a student starts killing criminals by recording their names in a supernatural notebook, “L”–a nameless detective must prevent him before he becomes unstoppable