Categories: Public
Will ‘n Shakespeare
Yes, I did. I just thought the goal (converting beggars to a theatre guild) was a bit weak, and the stakes (being arrested), weaker still, so I threw in something I thought might spike it a bunch.
The last logline, from your last post, is perfect for the story plot as it currently stands, IMO. Great job!
Geno, did you miss my storyline logline or just not like it?
From above:
An illiterate English twit, Will, and a black fry-cook, Shakespeare must convert The Beggars Guild into a Theatre Troupe before the sheriff decides to jail them as a public nuisance.
Btw, that was Geno Scala (sharkeatingman), judge...
I think you should forget the fact that it IS a send-up or a farce, and concentrate on writing the logline as if it were a real story. Starting with "When..."
"When an illiterate twit (Will) and an Elizabethan fry cook (Shakespeare) join forces to "get laid writing plays", they must fight the tyrannical monarchy or risk getting "Barred from Avon".
And in at 30 words...
Thanks Carllord, I hope that is not the case with "the Great British icon' and I think the title, Will 'n Shakespeare, and character names, Will 'n Shakespeare, helps with that a bit. :C)
Debbiemoon, I had a logline that indicated a conflict:
An illiterate English twit, Will, and a black fry-cook, Shakespeare must convert The Beggars Guild into a Theatre Troupe before the sheriff decides to jail them as a public nuisance.
And though the movie follows that plot line it's farcical nature makes it more a joke on language, culture, theater, literature, and such more than any plot line.
But nonetheless, here's the short synopsis:
Will, an illiterate twit has the dream of being a playwright. He won't let a little thing, like not being able to read or write, stop him. He goes as far as trading the family cow for a magic words book. When his dad discovers the book to be fake Will is barred from Stratford-on-Avon.
Will travels to London with his Mum. There he meets the love of his life, Juliet - the Virgin Prostitute, and finds employment at his Uncle Omelet's "Beggars Guild?. On his first day, he manages to have the guild shut down by the sheriff for fraud; seems all the beggars were only actors, faking their afflictions. No longer allowed to work the streets, Will and his uncle form a theater group but instantly realized they are missing something ? a hook ? something that will draw in high society and the big bucks.
Enter the head fry-cook of the Black Friars Pub whose African name was impossible to pronounce, but literally translated, meant easy to anger; not one to shake a spear at?... that's right... Shakespeare. Up until now, all the characters spoke with low-brow accents (English, Cockney, Scottish, Irish, Italian, French) but Shakespeare speaks with such eloquence... such lyrical phrasing... that it has developed into a language of its own ? Elizabethan Ebonics. People found it captivating, but, much like with their opera and ballet, they were too sophisticated to admit that they couldn't understand it!
As Omelet and Mum put the cast and crew together Will 'n Shakespeare work on the play. Will provides the plot and Shakespeare pens the dialog. And now, it's a race to have a successful opening night before the sheriff can close them down... again.
You could cut the set-up, begin at "an illiterate...", but generally, an interesting idea. Like the potential relationship. Where does the later conflict come from? Do they fall out, disagree about their career...?
