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When a women?s prison workgang is attacked by 19th Century demon possessed, private-school girls, the head prisoner must destroy them to save the new inmate.
retributionfilm: The fundamental principle is that the main character needs to be someone the audience WANTS to watch. Usually, that entails a main character the audience can empathize with, emotionally bond with, root for. Lacking that, the MC must be interesting, compelling, someone the audience wRead more
retributionfilm:
The fundamental principle is that the main character needs to be someone the audience WANTS to watch. Usually, that entails a main character the audience can empathize with, emotionally bond with, root for. Lacking that, the MC must be interesting, compelling, someone the audience will WANT to watch in spite of his dramatic ‘ugliness’ because of the passion and urgency he brings to his struggle for the dramatic goal.
>>>Ocean?s 11, The Italian Job
They are likeable, ergo sympathetic characters, from leader of the heist on down. Yes, they are engaged in illegal activity, but they have compensating virtues, like a sense of humor, loyalty to their comrades. More importantly, the Mark, the victim of the heist, is an even worse crook, has committed worse crimes, is a genuine SOB, cruel, merciless, no sense of humor.
The trick is to cast and use the antagonist in such a way as to make the protagonist look like a saint in comparison. AKA: the Photoshop effect, make a bad, unsympathetic character look good (or at least not so bad) by placing him in relationship to foes who are even worse.
Like Aaron Sorkin did with Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network”. (Although Sorkin had already established his rep as one of Hollyweir’d’s hottest screenwriters. And “The Social Network” was brought to him to adapt from a best-selling book based on real events. With his reputation and connections in the business, he didn’t need to write a logline for that project. Anything with his name on it automatically gets read.)
You want to write a script with an unsympathetic MC? Write it. I’m just saying your goal of SELLING the script, getting it produced is likely to be complicated by the fact that a story with an unsympathetic character is harder to sell in a logline (and in a script) than the former.
See lessfwiw
When a women?s prison workgang is attacked by 19th Century demon possessed, private-school girls, the head prisoner must destroy them to save the new inmate.
>>How do you explain the appeal of a film like Throw Momma from the Train It's a comedy. Is this a comedy? And "Throw Momma..." was written by a screenwriter well established in the industry. He didn't need a great logline to get his foot in the door, get a reading for the script. He had something bRead more
>>How do you explain the appeal of a film like Throw Momma from the Train
It’s a comedy. Is this a comedy?
And “Throw Momma…” was written by a screenwriter well established in the industry. He didn’t need a great logline to get his foot in the door, get a reading for the script. He had something better: a network of contacts.
See lessAfter his girlfriend breaks up with him because he acts too ?white,? a bookish African-American teenager seeks guidance from his estranged, drug-dealing older sister on how to reinvent his image and win back the love of his life.
The idea has potential as a coming of age story about a boy-man's quest for his identity (and love) as a teen and as an Afro-American. But, alas, the logline is about a setup for a plot -- it does not describe a plot itself. For the purposes of a logline, the concept needs to outline a plot, one thaRead more
The idea has potential as a coming of age story about a boy-man’s quest for his identity (and love) as a teen and as an Afro-American. But, alas, the logline is about a setup for a plot — it does not describe a plot itself.
For the purposes of a logline, the concept needs to outline a plot, one that addresses the following questions: As a result of the advice he gets, what does he do? What becomes his objective goal? Who/what opposes him? What’s at stake — what does he stand to gain or lose (like winning back his girlfriend)?
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