moviefreak81:

Your raise several good points.

I am of the opinion that in a logline,? it’s always better to frame the protagonist’s goal as positive (from the pov of the protagonist, anyway) and proactive.? ? Not negative or reactive.? Because how one defines the goal says a lot about the character. To say he’s trying not to be killed by the mobster’s button men is negative and reactive — it defines the protagonist in terms of what he’s avoiding, not what he’s seeking.

Worse, it implicitly yields the driver’s seat and steering wheel of the plot to the antagonist, the mobster Lonnegan, because it has the protagonist reacting to Hooker’s agenda and purpose rather than acting on his own.

But, of course,??the protagonist should be in the driver’s seat. A logline should tell a reader where he wants to steer the plot at the end of Act 1.

The protagonist, Johnny Hooker, takes the driver’s seat, does put his hands on the steering wheel when he decides to seek revenge.? He could have steered the plot in another direction by not seeking revenge.? It’s his choice — nobody forces him to drive the plot in the direction of revenge.? ?(Whereas? Hooker has no choice but to take evasive actions and weave and operate under an alias to avoid being killed by the mobster, Lonnegan.)?

That road he intentionally takes of his own free will forces him to deal with his worst enemy face to face — adding more tension and suspense.

>>Hooker have a double goal…

The standard convention for composing a logline adheres to Aristotle’s dictum in “The Poetics”? that the plot have a singular, unity of action — one story spine, not two (or more).? Of course, there can be other story lines, subplots. But just as with a skeleton they are subordinate to and must hang on the spine of the main plot.? The main plot is the organizing principle of the drama.

And that is what a logline should convey– the organizing principle that drives the plot and around which all other elements? ?(characters, subplots) will be arrayed.

The subplot of the mobster trying to kill Hooker is a complication that serves the purpose of amplifying –juicing up — the main plot with additional complications, tensions, suspense.

American in Paris (1951).

This is not a film that readily conforms to the conventional logline formula.? Because the central conflict is not about the protagonist’s struggle to become a painter, but about the love triangle he gets caught up in.? First and foremost it’s a love story — a musical no less — not a career story.

And the inciting incident that kicks off the love triangle is when the Jerry? sees Lise in a bar and , of course,? is instantly smitten.? Little does he know that he’s fallen in love with a woman already engaged to another man, Henri.

Complications ensue as a result of?the “Bellamy” character,? a standard issue foil character in romances.? The Bellamy is a competitor for either the affections of the protagonist or the protagonist’s love interest — but he/she is plainly unsuited, doomed to fail. (The role was named after the actor Ralph Bellamy who got typecast playing the role of the doomed romantic foil/fool in romantic movies of the 30’s and 40’s.)

Both the heiress, Milo, and Henri are Bellamy characters.

Anyway, here’s my take:

In post World War II Paris, a struggling American painter falls in love with a French shop girl unaware she is already betrothed to another man.

Yeah, lame. It doesn’t have a strong plot, a great hook.

But it didn’t need those elements.? Because the script had other advantages going for it, two factors that none of our scripts have:

1] The story was scripted by an insider not an outsider.

The screenwriter (Alan Jay Lerner) was already well-established in the Biz.

If you’re not established in The Biz then your script needs a logline with a compelling plot, a great hook.? But if you’re an established writer then what matters more is the gross of your last film and who you know — the network of contacts and power players you’ve built in the industry.

2] The selling feature of the project was the music — not the story line.

The hook is not in? the plot, nor in the characters, but in the spectacle, the song and dance pieces.? The plot line, such as it is, is merely a set up, a launching pad for showing off the music of George Gershwin.? Particularly for Gershwin’s classic “An American in Paris” which pretty well tells you what the real inspiration was for the film.