Logline Examples for Feature Films
Film logline examples are short paragraphs (25 - 50 words) you find in movie guides that promotes and hook the audience to watch the film. Loglines are also used to pitch your film to industry professionals for development and financing.
Goal of a Logline
The purpose of a logline is to lay out the key parts of your screenplay that includes the main character, their goal and conflict in an intriguing way, but never gives away the ending.
- pitch to film producers and executives: get your film developed, financed, produced and distributed
- test your concept: get key crew and cast on board
- sell your film: to distributors and streaming platforms
- market your film: to capture the audience
Imagine you have a Producer standing in front of you in an elevator, now pitch your film in 10 seconds. The logline is your core selling point.
Logline Length
How many words in a Logline?
The length of a logline is just one or two clear, short sentences between 35 - 50 words that describes your screenplay main characters, setting, plot and genre to explain what the movie is about.
Logline vs Tagline
The difference between a logline and a tagline is the logline is an informative description you find in tv guides, while the tagline is the slogan up to 5 words that you find on a film poster.
Logline vs Synopsis
The difference between a logline (30 - 50 words) and a synopsis (up to 500 words) a synopsis is the length. The synopsis a one-page summary of a script that presents a scene-by-scene breakdown of the film storyline. Screenwriter often pitch a film synopsis to producers before writing the full screenplay.
Film Logline Examples
Use the best film logline examples to perfect your logline and highlight the most intriguing aspects of the plot in order to captivate the reader.
- The Shawshank Redemption | 142 min | Drama:Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
- The Godfather | 175 min | Crime, Drama: The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty in postwar New York City transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant youngest son.
- Fight Club | 139 min | Drama : An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
- Edward Scissorhands | 105 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance: An artificial man, who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands, leads a solitary life. Then one day, a suburban lady meets him and introduces him to her world.
- Parasite | 132 min | Drama, Thriller: Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
- The Sixth Sense | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller: A frightened, withdrawn Philadelphia boy who communicates with spirits seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.
- Titanic | 194 min | Drama, Romance: A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic
- Seven | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery: Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives
- American Beauty | 122 min | Drama: A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
- Leon | 110 min | Action, Crime, Drama: 12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade
- Schindler's List | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History: In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- A Quiet Place | 90 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi: In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing.
- Taxi Driver | 114 min | Crime, Drama: A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
- The Shape of Water | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance: At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.
- Braveheart | 178 min | Biography, Drama, History: Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
- The Help | 146 min | Drama: An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
- The Game | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller: After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.
- Spotlight | 129 min | Biography, Crime, Drama: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
- Trainspotting | 93 min | Drama: Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.
- A Beautiful Mind | 135 min | Biography, Drama: After John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.
Logline Writing Tips
Loglines have the following qualities.
- The logline example creates a visual world in the readers mind.
- The logline describes how the journey begins.
- The audience roots for the character to succeed.
Summary
The logline is your core selling point when you pitch a film or TV show to film producers and execs. The length of a logline varies from between 35 - 50 words to describe the main characters, setting, plot and genre of the film. Loglines are also used to pitch films and TV shows to industry professionals for development and financing.