1. Posted: May 3, 2019In: ,

    A suicidal mercenary sets out to rescue the girl he was hired to protect, the girl who gave him a reason to live, after she’s kidnapped for ransom.

    dpg Singularity

    Robb Ross:I agree that redemption is the theme in this movie.? The theme is planted in the 6th minute of the film when? the main character, John? Creasy, a troubled man, troubled about his past, asks "Do you think God will ever forgive us for what we've done?"That said, loglines are about objectiveRead more

    Robb Ross:

    I agree that redemption is the theme in this movie.? The theme is planted in the 6th minute of the film when? the main character, John? Creasy, a troubled man, troubled about his past, asks “Do you think God will ever forgive us for what we’ve done?”

    That said, loglines are about objective goals, not subjective needs.? Objective goals are a concrete problem a character intentionally struggles to solve.? Solutions to subjective needs are never intentionally sought.? In Act 1, the protagonist still has all his defense mechanisms up; he? cannot admit he has a subjective problem,? Or if he (reluctantly) admits he does, he’s discounts its gravity and at best is only coping with the problem, not solving it.

    Solutions to subjective issues are unintentionally arrived at in the course of working out the objective problem.? As events play out, the ultimate solution to Creasy’s subjective problem, the answer to the thematic question raised in the 6th minute, is to sacrifice his life to save hers.? That is not a solution he would have accepted? in Act 1.? (Because he had not become emotionally bonded to the girl.)? Nor, I think,? immediately after the midpoint.? He knows his life is at risk, but he intends to save her if he can, wreak revenge no matter what.? And stay alive.

    So in a logline the subjective need and the implied character arc is stated in terms of a character flaw.? In this case he’s suicidal.? A symptom of that is excessive drinking.

    My favorite definition of a plot is “a conspiracy against the protagonist”.? And that is certainly the case here.? The plot conspires so that the only way he can save the girl is to sacrifice his life.?

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  2. Posted: April 25, 2019In:

    During a harsh winter, a frontiersman with a violent past must protect the family he?s taking refuge with from an unscrupulous company that wants their land.

    dpg Singularity

    thedarkhorse: When you've cleared the moat , crashed the gate to be become an Hollyweird insider like Tarantino, you can do homages . But until then -- not! As you said, homages are a form of recycling. of imitation.? I suggest that? producers and directors? aren't looking for recycling or imitationRead more

    thedarkhorse:

    When you’ve cleared the moat , crashed the gate to be become an Hollyweird insider like Tarantino, you can do homages . But until then — not!

    As you said, homages are a form of recycling. of imitation.? I suggest that? producers and directors? aren’t looking for recycling or imitation in spec scripts from unestablished writers. The primary reason they are even looking at spec scripts from unknowns? is that that they want to discover something new, a fresh take, an angle nobody has ever thought of before.

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  3. Posted: April 25, 2019In:

    In 1977, a reformed ex-con, desperate to pay for his mother?s hospital bill, returns to his old life of drug dealing but soon learns the game has changed and the players are more ruthless than before.

    dpg Singularity

    Hook, bait, gimmick... whatever.I believe that a hook to be whatever is the element in the story that grabs and holds attention, piques interest in the script.? It could be a person, place, event or even a prop.? ?Whatever does the job.BTW:? I was persuaded of its importance by someone who knew whatRead more

    Hook, bait, gimmick… whatever.

    I believe that a hook to be whatever is the element in the story that grabs and holds attention, piques interest in the script.? It could be a person, place, event or even a prop.? ?Whatever does the job.

    BTW:? I was persuaded of its importance by someone who knew what he was talking about, an insider, a Hollywood player,? Alex Epstein.? ? Have you noticed that most books on screenwriting? are written by people who have never sold a script , never had a script produced?? Their books focus on plot, characters, action, dialogue — the staples.? ?They say little or nothing about the hook, what it is, or why a script needs one.

    They may know theory, how to write the script,? but they don’t know marketing,? how to sell it.

    The first chapter of Epstein’s how-to, “Crafty Screenwriting: Writing? Movies That Get Made” is devoted solely to The Hook. “If your story does not have a hook, you are probably wasting your time writing the screenplay… If your objective is to get a picture made, and if you are not pals with influential people in show business, then it is a rule you should pay attention to.”? (Page 8-9)

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