logline – Almost An Author

High Concept

Recently, I was motivated to start work on a new screenplay, one that has been a passion project of mine for some time. It involved taking a cult classic from my childhood and updating the storyline for the present day.

Before I could begin plotting out the story events, I wanted to do some brainstorming to see what modern-day twists I could add to a dated story. My first step was to go back to the writing basics:

Who
What
Where
When
Why

We’ve already discussed the what (takeaway,) but this month I want to look at the “why.” Why does this story need to be told? Why is it relevant now? Why will people want to invest time and money into watching it?

In the screenwriting business, this is called a concept and if the stakes are high enough, it becomes a high concept. I cannot emphasize the importance of screenplays being high concept. Producers, studios, and investors want projects that are high concept.

High Concept?

Let’s face it; Hollywood is a business town as much as New York City is. It doesn’t matter what kind of story you’re telling or what your takeaway is, if it isn’t going to make money, studios won’t produce it—high concept typically means a high return on the investment.

In my opinion, this is why the Christian film industry sells itself short; they want to change or save the world, but they only target Christian audiences. Even though their messages about salvation, hope and love should be a very high concept.

If you’re still not sure how to tell if your screenplay is high concept, I found a few pointers in Script magazine:

High level of entertainment value
High degree of originality
High level of uniqueness (different than original)
Highly visual
Possesses a clear emotional focus (root emotion)
Targets a broad, general audience, or a large niche market
Sparks a “what if” question[i]

A way to test if your screenplay is high concept is to ask, what if this or that doesn’t happen? The answer to your what-if should be high risk. This doesn’t necessarily mean complicated. Just that the possibilities are high.

Overly complicated narratives can lose the entertainment factor by overwhelming the audience. A high concept film should be easy to understand: light versus dark, good versus evil, pride versus humility. Keep the stakes high, but keep the story easy enough to follow.

Keep It Simple?

Screenwriting coach and legend Scott Myers suggests “the six-word rule.” “So, if you’ve got a story which has you confused, do this: Try your hand at a logline or short summary. Then zero in on the six words in your description which do the best job communicating the essence of your story.”[ii] I don’t think the descriptions need to be that brief, but no more than two sentences. Below are a few of my favorite high concept movies.

Home Alone What if a young boy is left home alone while the family is on vacation and burglars tried to break in?
Jurassic Park What if scientists cloned dinosaurs and put them in a park for people to visit?
Transformers What if alien robots invaded earth and hid in plain sight?
Groundhog Day What if I a weatherman relived Groundhog Day over and over?

High concept movies have box office appeal, but not necessarily blockbuster budgets. Stories don’t need to be showy or flashy to appeal to a broad audience. Sometimes it’s as simple as touching the heart of an audience or a universal curiosity that makes a movie high concept.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

[i] https://scriptmag.com/features/story-talk-high-concept-yes-it-actually-means-something

[ii] https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/dumb-little-writing-tricks-that-work-the-six-word-test-f1bc38a8122d

Understanding Songwriting Structure

If you have been following my articles on songwriting, perhaps you’re ready to write your first song. There are a few guidelines I would like to show you to get you started. Much like a haiku or even a piece of flash or hint fiction, there’s a definite pattern to successful songwriting, and your verbiage is limited. One of the biggest amateur mistakes is to write a song over five minutes, especially if that song contains little structure or design. Sure, it has happened, but rarely since the 1800’s.

Let’s start with the premise of the song. What is your song about? What is it you are trying to say? What is your point? Without a premise, you lose focus of what you are writing or why you are writing it. Think about it, you only have a few lines of chorus to truly say what you want to say, and then a few stanzas of poetry to support that chorus. Your words have to be carefully chosen: much like a haiku: much like a twenty-five word hint fiction.

Our premise becomes our song’s logline. It’s a song about what? It’s a song about a sinner who finds Jesus? It’s a song about a man who lost his wife? It’s a song about a father having a hard time seeing his little princess grow up and get married? Once you have your logline of a song, you can develop your chorus idea. You don’t have to perfect your chorus at this point. You just want the chorus idea down.

There are literally 3 parts to a great song. There’s the verse, the chorus, and the bridge. We’ve talked about the chorus. The chorus supports the premise or the theme of your song. The verse is what gives us the story. The verse paints different pictures that give the chorus credibility. Most songs on the radio have one or two verses then a chorus, followed by another verse or two, then the chorus. Let’s take a look at one of my recent, favorite songs called All My Hope, by David Crowder.

Studying the structure of a song

As we can see in the first verse, David gives us an introduction to our lead character, in first person.

I’ve been held by the savior / I’ve felt fire from above / I’ve been down to the river / I ain’t the same—a prodigal returned

In four simple lines (most verses are four lines), we learn who he is. But we still don’t know the premise or theme of the song. These four lines lead to that, which is found in the chorus. So what is our song about? Let’s see what David wrote for the chorus:

All my hope is in Jesus / Thank God my yesterday’s gone / All my sins are forgiven / I’ve been washed by the blood

Ah! Now we understand what the song is about! It’s about being forgiven! It’s about erasing the past through the blood of Jesus! It’s about the hope in Jesus that makes it all possible! That’s the premise! Jesus washes away our sins so we can be forgiven!

But then he moves on to the second verse to give us a little bit more into the story and description. The first verse was an introduction to who he is. The chorus told us the premise. The second verse now tells us a little more about who he is. No more need for introductions, this is him, wide open.

I’m no stranger to the prison / I’ve worn shackles and chains / But I’ve been freed and forgiven / I’m not going back—I’ll never be the same

This poetic verse makes you want to clap for him, doesn’t it? It’s a proclamation. The first two lines tell us a little deeper about his sin, the second two lines reminds us of the premise, supporting the chorus! Now we jump back into the chorus, with even more gusto!

If we lay out our structure, we have an ABAB pattern. It’s simple. A is the verses, B is the chorus. David adds another B for emphasis. This song reads, ABABB. The total length of this song is just over three minutes. For playability on radio, songs must be at least 3 minutes, but under five minutes. The target is between three to four minutes. However, if you listen to praise and worship, that’s often not going to happen, unless they make a radio friendly version of the song. There have been album versions of worship songs that are over 10 minutes long, albeit, the actual lyrical portion was under five.

Next month, we’ll talk about a little more advanced songwriting—adding the bridge and the purpose of it. Is there a songwriting topic you would like to discuss? Please feel free to write me at matthewhawkeldridge@gmail.com

Matthew Hawk Eldridge is a sleepless, coffee addicted, Renaissance man currently working in the film industry while attending grad school for creative writing. His latest novel, The Pan: Experiencing Neverland, can be found on Amazon. His album, Overcome, releases June 1^st.