Lesson 3
We will sum up our movie idea in one to two compelling sentences.
Lesson Goals
Can I summarize my complex movie idea in one to two sentences?
Can I define a logline and understand the purpose of including a logline in a pitch packet?
Texts
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Activity 1: Read – Discuss
We will review and discuss how to write a movie title and logline.
Review the description of a movie title and logline in the Filmmaking Glossary.
Pay particular attention to the suggested pattern and examples of loglines in the last three paragraphs of that entry and discuss them as a class.
In pairs or as a class, discuss what you will need to include in a logline for your movie, and how you might go about writing one.
Activity 2: Write
We will list possible titles for our movies, considering what we have learned from the Filmmaking Glossary. For our favorite title possibilities, we will draft a logline.
In the Movie Planning section of your Learning Log, make a list of 5-10 possible titles for your movie, considering what you have learned from the Filmmaking Glossary about how a title should embody what the audience should expect from your movie or contain the essence of the story.
Narrow your list to your top three favorite titles. For each of these titles, write an original logline. Try to make each logline unique, capturing the essence of your movie, and relate it to the title.
Activity 3: Discuss
We will review and endorse our peers’ titles and logline ideas, and choose the best logline and title for our own movie.
Your teacher will read or display the three title and logline possibilities for each student in the class without identifying the student.
For each option, briefly discuss what stands out and makes the movie one you would want to see. Then, conduct a quick vote as to which option seems strongest.
Based on your own thinking and what you hear from your classmates, determine which of your three options is the best one for your movie. Consider, too, what you have seen or heard in other students’ loglines. Revise your sentences to sum up your movie idea in a way that might make someone want to make or see it. Explain why that idea is your favorite.