logline definition

What is a logline?

A logline, or log line, is a brief (one to two sentence) summary of a movie, tv show, or other piece of media that hooks the reader and describes the central conflict of the story.

If someone asks you what your screenplay is about, respond with a logline. We’ll get into what makes the best loglines grab our attention – but it’s important to note that movie loglines are concise.

Concision may be the most important part of a logline definition.

LOGLINE VS SYNOPSIS

While your logline is a short summary of what your movie is about, your synopsis is a beat for beat retelling of your story's plot.

Whether you're crafting a documentary logline or tinkering with loglines for short films, your logline is never the same as your synopsis.

LOGLINE VS TAGLINE

While your logline tells us what we're getting into... the tagline gets us excited (and is almost always a play on words). For more on taglines, check out our article on "What's a tagline?"

The TV logline example for Silicon Valley is "A shy silicon valley engineer tries to build his own company," while the tagline is "He's got called company."

While no two TV or movie loglines are alike, inserting your story into a logline template can give your idea direction. Use the following formula to get started:

how to write a logline

1. Create strong protagonists

A beautiful assassin. A hot-headed anchor. A culinary-gifted rat.

The first part of your logline should give us insight into who your movie is about.

While you have a great sense of your main character, it's important to focus on the key elements that make your character unique. Usually two conflicting adjectives can grab our attention and explain who the protagonist is. 

Napoleon Dynamite Example

A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, all while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.

whats a logline used for?

2. The best loglines are goals

Character studies are fun, but characters are defined by the actions they perform. A great logline sets up what the character wants... we’ll have to see if they achieve it. The best logline examples pose questions that we'll have to watch play out. 

If you wrote a movie logline that stated, "a man sets out to build a robot," it may be a goal, but it is a bit too bland (and possibly too broad).

That same logline can be strengthened by adding a specific, testable goal. "A man sets out to build a robot to win a competition." Immediately, we can visualize a competition and a clear way to benchmark the protagonist's success.

Django Unchained Example

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

logline examples

3. Irony is your friend

An airhead blonde goes to Harvard Law School. A Christmas Elf goes to New York City.

Peruse any great logline examples, and you'll be sure to find irony. While irony is the bedrock of any comedy movie logline, it also makes the protagonist's journey as hard as possible.

By pairing opposite personalities together and placing fish out of water, you begin to shape your story.

In The Silence of the Lambs, irony comes through as a serial killer is recruited to capture other serial killers.

The Silence of the Lambs

A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.

lOGLINE EXAMPLES

4. Movie loglines should have stakes

Is it the end of the world? Will a bomb explode? Is there a dastardly villain? How to create the ultimate villain is no easy feat, but it's easier to achieve if you have strong stakes. 

Stakes are great when coupled with a goal–when stakes are increased, it makes our desire to see the whole thing play out even greater. The stakes in Star Wars are of "galactic" proportions.

Star Wars: A New Hope

Luke Skywalker, a spirited farm boy, joins rebel forces to save Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader, and the galaxy from the Empire’s Death Star.

the best loglines

5. Don't use character names

Since your characters only exist in your mind's eye, it's important to describe who they are.

People didn't know who Ron Burgundy was before Anchorman... but the log line tells us that he's "San Diego's top-rated newsreader" – which is more important than his name. Of course, names can still be included in titles; the movie is subtitled "the legend of Ron Burgundy" after all.

ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY

In the 1970s, an anchorman's stint as San Diego's top-rated newsreader is challenged when an ambitious newswoman becomes his co-anchor.

SAMPLE LOGLINES

6. Use active voice 

Passive voice is fine in some styles of writing – but it should generally be avoided when writing loglines; it's best to explain how the subject of the sentence performs an action rather than how an action is performed upon the subject.

Here's an example of a passive voice logline:

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (PASSIVE VOICE)

"Five years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings."

The Friday the 13th 2 logline could easily be rephrased to active voice. Check out the sample logline

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (ACTIVE VOICE)

"The infamous Camp Crystal Lake re-opens five years after the events of the first film... but the legend of Jason weighs heavy on the proceedings."

more logline examples

7. The best loglines break the rules

A producer's assistant will pore over loglines all day long to the point where they all sound exactly the same.

While the tips we've outlined should give you structure and direction, what makes movie loglines truly great is riffing on conventions.

The Pirates of the Caribbean logline does just that. Although it states character names, it gets across character with careful placed quotation marks around the word "Captain." It shifts the inciting incident half way through the logline. And most importantly, it delivers a twist right at the end of the sentence. 

Pirates of the Caribbean

Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate “Captain” Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor’s daughter, from Jack’s former pirate allies, who are now undead.

WHATS A LOGLINE FORMAT?

8. Try using a logline generator

There are tons of tools that can help you generate loglines. Artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT can serve as logline generators; just type in a prompt and ask them for a list of logline examples. 

I asked ChatGPT to generate me three loglines for a script about a dog that gets elected president but has to contend with a majority cat House and Senate.

It promptly responded with:

Paws in Power
When a loyal Golden Retriever is unexpectedly elected President of the United States, he must navigate a gridlocked Congress dominated by cats determined to claw back control, proving that bipartisanship can bridge even the deepest divides.

Fetch the Vote
The first canine Commander-in-Chief faces his greatest challenge: uniting a politically polarized nation and taming a feline-controlled legislature intent on toppling his tail-wagging administration.

Bark and Balance
A dog’s dream of leading the free world turns into a political circus as he contends with a crafty cat-led Congress, testing whether charm, wit, and wagging tails can overcome partisan paw-litics.

Whether you’re stuck for ideas or getting tripped up on syntax, a generator is a cool way to brainstorm. 

the best logline

How to write a logline that kills

Have these loglines from popular films not been enough to kickstart your creativity? Let's review our tips on how to write a logline:

• Describe your protagonist with strong adjectives
• Give your protagonist a clear goal
• Use irony
• Increase the stakes
• Don't be afraid to break convention
• Avoid character names
• Use active voice
• Consider a logline generator
  
  

The best loglines take multiple drafts and lots of experimenting. It can also be helpful to visualize what your film or show will look like. Knowing how to use storyboards will make this process much easier. 

Once you've come up with a logline that you're really excited about, you can use StudioBinder's free screenwriting software to write your entire script.

If you're not sure where to start, check out our article on how to write a screenplay – and read up on the industry standard format that has been used by professionals for decades. 

up next

How to Format a Screenplay

If you're the type of person that comes up with a logline before the script is complete, you're not alone. But the logline means nothing without a script. So now it's time to get writing.

Our next post explores the process of formatting a screenplay to industry standards. You may already know how to format, but the article gives insight into some not-so-obvious formatting tricks.

Up Next: How to Format a Screenplay →