In the first chapter of Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! he discusses the most important element of selling a successful spec-screenplay: The Log-line.
Snyder is adamant in saying that a screenplay is nothing without a hook. What is the hook you ask? Well quite simply it’s the log-line . He advises supplementing a catchy log-line with an eye-catching title. In doing so, a writer can explain what the movie is about while not dispersing crucial information giving away the plot.
So why is it so important to grab a person’s attention so early? I’ll let Snyder explain:
“the competition for our attention spans has gotten fierce. There are movies, TV, radio, the Internet, and music. There are 300 channels of cable; there are magazines; and there are sports. In truth, on any given weekend, even an avid moviegoer only has about 30 seconds to decide what to see”
Essentially you could have written a masterpiece and not a single person would care because they weren’t hooked in the beginning. It is especially crucial for the spec-writer to grab attention early if they wish to sell their script.
In addition to the log-line, Snyder poses us with the question of “What is it?”, which coincidentally is also the name of his first chapter. He asks us this question to help us return to roots and analyze what is the story we are trying to tell the world. He attributes 3 elements with successfully steering us towards finding our answers, the first being Irony.
“The number one thing a good log-line must have, the single most important element,is: irony.”
Snyder provides examples of irony at work, among which is Die Hard. “A cop comes to L.A. to visit his estranged wife and her office building is taken over by terrorists”.
The second element is being able to mentally picture an entire movie within the text of the log-line, and the third is thinking far ahead into audience and cost. Quite simply, brainstorm and think ahead to costs your movie might incur and to which audiences you are trying to target.
According to Snyder, if you take these elements into account and come out on the other side with a successful log-line then there is no reason your movie won’t be picked up and bought. Snyder isn’t saying to throw our ideas into the fire, he’s just making us aware of what sells in an industry we are trying to break into, and for that I thank him.
One other tip Snyder promotes in his first chapter is the use of test marketing. He adamantly expresses his love of just walking up to random people and asking them what they think of his log-lines. In his eyes, if he can’t get a stranger to hold their attention, then why would his movie ever sell in theaters? If a person wants to know more, then you’ve got a winner. This is also good for weeding out bad ideas before you start writing. Imagine sinking hundreds of hours into a script only to find out that nobody is interested in your idea? That’s the kind of time-wasting Snyder is helping us avoid; by teaching us how to be more efficient.
I’ll be honest, I’ve learned more from one chapter of Snyder’s book than any other resource I’ve read so far. I’m excited to keep reading and will continue to update on my findings.
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