High Concept?

[Qazworld]

I see this phrase thrown around everywhere, but I still cant figure out if my script qualifies as "high concept" or not. I see ppl saying that if you cant put your story down in one sentence (or 25 words), it's not high concept.

I took a look at Fight Club's descriptions on imbd.com, which one of these sound "high concept"?

A) A ticking-time-bomb insomniac (Norton) and a slippery soap salesman (Pitt) channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric (Bonham Carter) gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

(http://imdb.com/SearchPlotWriters?Anonymous)

B) When a nameless thirty-ish yuppie grows bored of his comfortable life, he becomes involved in an anarchic subculture called "Fight Club", lead by charismatic Tyler Durden. But is this a hard-edged vacation from normalcy, or participation in the de-evolution of a civilized society?

(http://imdb.com/SearchPlotWriters?kevin)

C) A lonely, isolated thirty-something young professional seeks an escape from his mundane existence with the help of a devious soap salesman. They find their release from the prison of reality through underground fight clubs, where men can be what the world now denies them. Their boxing matches and harmless pranks soon lead to an out-of-control spiral towards oblivion.

(http://imdb.com/SearchPlotWriters?Joe50000)

D) A nameless, desk working man becomes consumed in his emptiness until he meets a Tyler Durden, a cunning soap salesman. The two set off to form fight clubs and eventually turn onto a path towards anarchy and the total destruction of civilization.

[dpaterso]

Too complex. What's the one, most interesting thing about the film that might make you want to look twice? Maybe the counterpoint between the lead character's "normal" world and the world he enters, e.g. and just for fun's sake.

A dull office drone is sucked into the bloody underground world of illegal street fighting.

Optionally, "...and becomes its psychotic leader."

Maybe. Something you can turn to someone and say in one breath, and they'll get an image. Shrug, I could be wrong.

-Derek
My web page - Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror - published fiction and WIPs. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

[Deus Ex Machine]

High concept is simply a story that is driven by a concept that is easy to communicate with a high potential for unique and interesting drama that is immediate and obvious.

How many words it takes to communicate the concept is not nearly as important as the concept obviously possessing a high potential for unique and compelling drama.

My .02

:)

[Qazworld]

High concept is simply a story that is driven by a concept that is easy to communicate with the high potential for unique and interesting drama being obvious.How many words it takes to communicate the concept is not nearly as important as the concept obviously possessing a high amount of potential for unique and compelling drama.My .02

I completely agree Deus Ex.

But dpateso told me on the boards that I need to make sure my logline is said in 20-25 words, otherwise it wont be considered high concept.

I'm having a real tough time doing that, even though I do think my story is a unique (potential) blockbuster movie.

[dpaterso]

I never told you anything. Such a harsh word. I may have suggested it... if only to help keep focused on the central story as opposed to every little distracting detail.

Everyone thinks their story is a unique (potential) blockbuster movie. You're not alone in this.

-Derek
My web page - Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror - published fiction and WIPs. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

[Qazworld]

I never told you anything. Such a harsh word. I may have suggested it... if only to help keep focused on the central story as opposed to every little distracting detail.

Everyone thinks their story is a unique (potential) blockbuster movie. You're not alone in this.

-Derek
My web page - Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror - published fiction and WIPs. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

Oh I didnt mean it in a bad way at all dpaterso. I meant that you just had a different opinion about this then Deus Ex.

Im sorry that came out harshly.

[Deus Ex Machine]

I think an essential part of being high concept is that the concept needs to be easy to communicate. IOW it is a simple story. You shouldn't need more than 25-30 words to communicate a simple story.

Man falls in love with a mermaid. It's simple. Easy to explain. The concept clearly has a lot of potential for unique and interesting drama.

Boy wakes up in the body of an adult.

Feuding daughter and mother switch bodies.

Dog and man switch bodies.

Mouse tries to take over the world.

Man turns into a wolf.


They aren't "loglines" but they do clearly express a high concept which illustrates how easy it should be to sum up your high concept with a few words.

One of the inherent traits of a high concept is that it is easy to communicate, easy to understand and conveys an obvious potential for unique and interesting drama.

Don't worry if your concept is high or not.

What matters is: That you have a concept that has obvious potential for unique and compelling drama - and that your story fully exploit that potential.

Everything else is doodling in the margins.

My .02

:)

[madmaxmedia]

I think you're mixing some terms up.

Whether you can boil your story down to 20 or 25 words is not what makes it high concept. You can pretty much describe any movie in 20 or 25 words (for the most part.)

The 20 or 25 word limit is for creating a logline. A logline has a very specific purpose- capture the essence, the dramatic storyline of your movie quickly and concisely. A producer, etc. has to be able to basically 'see' the movie from your logline. And if you have a great concept, you can create that short logline that screams potential, so that the reader wants to see if the script is good and fulfills the promise of your premise.

To me, the high concept of Fight Club is underground street fighting as a means of emotional catharsis and rebelling against consumer society. That's why it's a 'club' after all, instead of a Van Damme movie. The logline will have some more description, such as who the protag is, becomes friends with mysterious and charismatic salesman, etc.

[madmaxmedia]

SPLASH is a great example. 'Man falls in love with a mermaid' is the high concept, and it only took 7 words. But that's not the logline, which would be longer.

A high concept is the basis for a story and a logline. For SPLASH, you could take that concept and play it out in various ways, different characters and obstacles, etc.

Maybe you can post your logline here for our memory, and we can give you opinions on whether it is a 'high concept' idea or not.

[Qazworld]

thanks for clearing that all up, you guys. I appreciate the responses.

[Deus Ex Machine]

I personally don't think Fight Club is high concept.

Maybe it is a strong dramatic concept, but not high concept.

A guy trying to stop the members of a men's group from blowing up bank headquarters.

IMHO, this is not exactly full of unique and compelling drama.

Even if you argue that it is unique because the antagonist and protagonist are the same person, I would say that it's been done a million times before.

More importantly, the dramatization of the concept is in the form of one man trying to stop another man. It isn't until well after the story has played out that this twist is revealed.

The story does not hinge on the fact that they are the same person.

If they were not the same person, the story would have been the same so obviously it didn't hinge on the split personality.

So if the split personality is not what is driving the story, you have to look at what remains to see what is.

All that is driving the story is the hero's struggle to stop the men's group from blowing up the bank.

It raises and important thematic debate about the compatibility of consumerism and humanity but theme does not make a concept high, it makes it well executed.

The actual struggle, which is what drives the story, is rather pedestrian and ordinary kept interesting by quirky characters, snappy dialogue and a theme that resonates with it's target audience of disenfranchised young males.

High concept? No.

Solid dramatic concept? Maybe.

Appealing theme and characters? Absolutely.

My .02

:)

[Qazworld]

that's actually why i choose Fight Club as my example. If you tried to describe it in a few words, it sounds like something that's made for Spike TV or something. I think the theme really drove the story, and that's pretty much the same thing for my own screenplay.

And that's why Ive been having such a difficult time creating a catchy pitch for it.

[dclary]

Qaz's high concept:

Genetically created supersoldier rebels against his creators.

[Qazworld]

Qaz's high concept:

Genetically created supersoldier rebels against his creators.

It sounds cliche though, doesnt it? When I say it like that?

The other day I was at this party, and I told someone I was working on this screenplay, and she asked: What's it about?

And then I realized, I didnt have a cool way of pitching this. The theme and the characters are different but the basic concept sounds generic.

sigh. :(

[Qazworld]

Maybe you can post your logline here for our memory, and we can give you opinions on whether it is a 'high concept' idea or not.

here's the logline I have right now:

"When he's forced to take part in a brutal massacre of innocents, a genetically created soldier escapes from his creator's control. To truly be free, however, he must manipulate the rival factions that all want him either enslaved on their side, or dead."

[Deus Ex Machine]

FIGHT CLUB

After starting an underground fight club for disenfranchised men, an apathetic office worker struggles to stop a charismatic drifter from using the club's members to blow up the major banks' headquarters.

I don't think word count matters, but I was able to logline it in 31 words. I could have said it with 25 words, or less, but I like the way this version sounds.

I think you can logline any story if you really understand what the story is about.

Hamlet has a lot going on in it. It is perhaps one of the most complex and often complicated stories ever told.

The character of Hamlet is arguably the most fully developed and authentic character ever created.

Yet despite all that Hamlet is very easy to logline by focusing on what is at the heart of the story, the dramatic essence of it if you will, or what is also called the dramatic throughline, which is the story's dramatic spine and the driving force behind the story.

Hamlet, simply, is a murder mystery with Hamlet playing the detective role.

A prince struggles to uncover the evidence of his father's murder and expose the killers - his own mother and the new King.

In only 22 words I managed to clearly tell you what Hamlet is about.

Or you could try a different approach:

A suspicious prince struggles to elude assassins and expose his father's killers - his own mother and the new King.

That version only uses 19 words.

Both versions give you a sense of the different kinds of things Hamlet does and the modulation in the conflict while making it clear what the central conflict is so we can "see" what is driving the story and how it will unfold.

When someone says that can't logline their story because it is too complex, I use this example to show just how wrong that thinking is. Any story, no matter how complex it is, can easily be loglined if you really understand what the story is about.

Most people who can't logline their story have problems because they don't really understand their own story and can't tell you what it is really about.

They go off on tangents about theme and subplots and character arc. Honestly, if they can't stay focused with only a few lines I seriously doubt they stayed focused for 110 pages.

My .02

:)

[Qazworld]

great example. Ill try to figure something out now.

Thanks again.

[Deus Ex Machine]

And then I realized, I didnt have a cool way of pitching this. The theme and the characters are different but the basic concept sounds generic.

sigh. :(

And that's why loglines are great diagnostic tools.

If your concept sounds generic in a logline, chances are it is generic in the script. While your execution may be unique, you don't pitch execution - you pitch concept.

Maybe instead of rearranging the words of your logline like deck chairs on the Titanic, it would be a better use of your time to revisit and re-imagine your concept so it isn't generic.

I'm not trying to be cruel or discourage you here.

I think you deserve to hear what will help you the most in the long run.

I truly feel developing the skill and attitude to identify story flaws and fix them will serve you better than trying to fluff up a logline.

My .02

:)

[dclary]

Qaz, you need the elevator pitch.

"Hey, Qaz, what's your script about?"

"You remember that Bruce Willis film, Last Man Standing? It's like that, but it's set in the future."

(Normally, I'd say "It's like Yojimbo, but set in the future" but your average American would go, "Um, yeah. Crazy, Party of One" and wander off)


Add on a stand-alone sentence, one at a time, for as long as you have in the elevator.

"You remember that Bruce Willis film, Last Man Standing? It's like that, but set in the future. Basically, this supersoldier realizes he's fighting for the wrong side, but can't do anything about it, because the enemy's no better -- so he uses his skills to pit both sides against each other, in the hopes of destroying them both."


"You remember that Bruce Willis film, Last Man Standing? It's like that, but set in the future. Basically, this supersoldier realizes he's fighting for the wrong side, but can't do anything about it, because the enemy's no better -- so he uses his skills to pit both sides against each other, in the hopes of destroying them both. What I really like about it, is that it addresses the basic human themes of loyalty and betrayal in a way we really haven't seen before, and has some awesome action scenes."

[Rex V]

Honestly, if they can't stay focused with only a few lines I seriously doubt they stayed focused for 110 pages.


I'm not sure it's a lack of focus, Deus. I think people just naturally want to include everything in their logline that they believe makes their story interesting and/or unique.

They don't think in terms of dramatic throughline -- they think in terms of, "Okay, how can I SELL this? What's so special about my screenplay? What sets it apart?"

Or they've been told, or read somewhere, that they should write "everything but the kitchen sink" loglines.

[Deus Ex Machine]

Right now, this is your elevator pitch.

THEM: "So what's your story about?"

YOU: "Do you remember SOLDIER, that Kurt Russel movie about the super soldier?"

THEM: "The one that tanked in the theaters. Yeah, I remember it."

YOU: "My story is exactly the same."

DING. The doors open.

THEM: "This is where I get off"

YOU: "But it's the second floor, you work on twenty."

THEM: "I'll take the stairs."

The doors close.

You need a new pitch - that starts with a new concept.

:)

[dclary]

No, no, Deus. You have to use the Clary method:

"Remember Soldier?"

"Yeah?"

"Just like that, except it doesn't suck."




Anyway, his script is similar to Universal Soldier, Black Mask, Soldier, or any number of Manga releases, with the addition of the Yojimbo "man in the middle" twist. He's not just rebelling against his side. He's rebelling against his side AND taking out the other side at the same time, using them against each other.

[Qazworld]

i cant help but laugh and cry at the same time. that was pretty funny deus ex.

But, dclary has come to my rescue. The fact that he is in the middle is really what supposed to set it apart.
It's essentially a story about individualism and the lengths people would go to control an extraordinary person.

Dclary, hows this logline now? Any other (American) movies that I can say it's similar to? That, preferably, didnt bomb. :o

[dclary]

"It's like Star Wars, except the hero's a genetically altered supersoldier, and instead of a Death Star, there's two rival military factions, and instead of Ben Kenobi teaching Luke the Force and then dying and turning into space vapor when he fights Darth Vader, the hero plays a cat and mouse game of trickery and deception to defeat both enemy forces."

[Deus Ex Machine]

I'm not sure it's a lack of focus, Deus. I think people just naturally want to include everything in their logline that they believe makes their story interesting and/or unique.

They don't think in terms of dramatic throughline -- they think in terms of, "Okay, how can I SELL this? What's so special about my screenplay? What sets it apart?"

Or they've been told, or read somewhere, that they should write "everything but the kitchen sink" loglines.


Rex, I agree that there is a lot of bad advice out there regarding loglines.

I agree that what is special and makes your story unique absolutely must be in the logline. But if what makes your story special has nothing to do with the "story" that says there really is nothing special about the story other than a few incidental aspects, like putting a funny hat on a sheep dog and trying to say the dog is not like other sheep dogs because it is wearing a hat.

But when an agent or a producer reads a garbled unfocused vague logline they don't think the writer got some bad advice, they assume the script will be as poorly written as the logline is, after all there is plenty of bad advice about how to write a script out there too.

But I stand by what I said.

To me, it's all about being a story teller.

Tell me your story in a few words.

Those who can do it are able to do so because they understand their story enough to know what it is really about so they can communicate it with one word, ten words or a million words. It doesn't matter how many words they have because they know exactly what their story is about and how to communicate it.

Those who don't know exactly what their story is about, or how to communicate a story, are the ones who usually have trouble with loglines.

I did use the word "usually" because there are some, the minority, who are so blinded and paralyzed by bad advice that they don't allow themselves to trust their natural story teller instincts.

I am going to suggest that those people are exactly the kind of people who are also likely to take bad advice for script writing and follow it blindly - which brings us full circle to they write a bad logline because they have a bad script.

That's just my opinion though.

:)

[dclary]

REPORTER
In a word, what's this script about?

CLUBBER LANG
A word?

REPORTER
Yeah.

CLUBBER LANG
Pain.

[Qazworld]

"It's like Star Wars, except the hero's a genetically altered supersoldier, and instead of a Death Star, there's two rival military factions, and instead of Ben Kenobi teaching Luke the Force and then dying and turning into space vapor when he fights Darth Vader, the hero plays a cat and mouse game of trickery and deception to defeat both enemy forces."

....:rolling:

[madmaxmedia]

I agree that what is special and makes your story unique absolutely must be in the logline. But if what makes your story special has nothing to do with the "story" that says there really is nothing special about the story other than a few incidental aspects, like putting a funny hat on a sheep dog and trying to say the dog is not like other sheep dogs because it is wearing a hat.

But when an agent or a producer reads a garbled unfocused vague logline they don't think the writer got some bad advice, they assume the script will be as poorly written as the logline is, after all there is plenty of bad advice about how to write a script out there too.

I think some writers realize their finished script is in trouble when they can't come up with a compelling logline afterwards. A lot of great movies may not have spectacular loglines, but as spec writers it's generally much wiser to write scripts for great, well developed ideas. Writing a logline is a great way of checking yourself, and getting a sense of what is truly unique and compelling about your story.

For the OP, the LAST MAN STANDING thing where he's the one good guy standing in between 2 rival bad factions is the only thing that really sets it apart (conceptually) from movies like SOLDIER or UNIVERSAL SOLDIER. SOLDIER is actually a whole lot like UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, except with a family thrown in.

How doest that part of it play out in your script? That might be the central focus of your logline, rather than the whole setup about witnessing brutal murders, etc...

PS- At the same time, it shouldn't just be "It's like SOLDIER crossed with LAST MAN STANDING." (If SOLDIER had been a $200 million grosser, then maybe.)

[Happy Camper]

Fight Club needs a logline?

How about just saying: An adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's brilliant and critically acclaimed debut novel?

It wasn't a spec but a requested script, right? All loglines, in this case, are written in retrospect and not as a sales pitch... or are written by someone other than the screenwriter... or such is my understanding.

[Hairy Lime]

I must say "Happy Camper" is one of the best debut usernames to hit this board in quite some time.

[Happy Camper]

I must say "Happy Camper" is one of the best debut usernames to hit this board in quite some time.

Thank you, Hairy...
I'm trying not to use too many exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

so that I can attempt to be taken seriously despite my surplus of joy and glee.

[wcmartell]

the basic concept sounds generic.

And that's a big big big problem. A high concept is different than any film we've seen before - at least a new spin. If we've seen the film before, why pay to make it again? Even if it's a better version? "Been there, done that."

What you need to do is *start* with an idea that is at least different than a bunch of other films we've seen. With sci-fi, the core idea is the film's identity. PLANET OF THE APES - title tells all. LOGAN'S RUN - future where everyone over 30 is killed (unless they win the lottery). GATTACA - future where everyone is judged by their DNA. (I have an old sci-fi comedy where the Americn Bowlers Congress is the only governing body left after WW3, so your bowling score decides your position in society.) PITCH BLACK - a planet with *years* of darkness and nocturnal preditors. ROARD WARRIOR - gasoline is so rre that people *kill each other* over a few drops!

So what's the original idea in your script - the sci-fi thing we haven't seen before? It may be that your super-soldier is just a character, and the *story* provides your high concept. What makes your future world unique?

Without an interesting idea (what they used to call a "hook" and now call a "high concept") you're in trouble. I discard a bunch of ideas until I find one that's cool enough to script.

- Bill

PS: And Happy is right - FIGHT CLUB wasn't a spec, it was an *assignment* - a screenwriter was hired by the producer who bought the novel to adapt it. It was also a major theatrical *flop* - a studio chief got fired because he greenlighted it. Deus makes the point - don't compare your script (or make it sound like) a film that didn't make truckloads of money. And make sure that you don't claim "It's just like KING KONG" if it's that Rene Russo raises a chimp as her child movie. You don't want to false advertize your script.

[Qazworld]

And that's a big big big problem. A high concept is different than any film we've seen before - at least a new spin. If we've seen the film before, why pay to make it again? Even if it's a better version? "Been there, done that."

What you need to do is *start* with an idea that is at least different than a bunch of other films we've seen. With sci-fi, the core idea is the film's identity. PLANET OF THE APES - title tells all. LOGAN'S RUN - future where everyone over 30 is killed (unless they win the lottery). GATTACA - future where everyone is judged by their DNA. (I have an old sci-fi comedy where the Americn Bowlers Congress is the only governing body left after WW3, so your bowling score decides your position in society.) PITCH BLACK - a planet with *years* of darkness and nocturnal preditors. ROARD WARRIOR - gasoline is so rre that people *kill each other* over a few drops!

So what's the original idea in your script - the sci-fi thing we haven't seen before? It may be that your super-soldier is just a character, and the *story* provides your high concept. What makes your future world unique?

Without an interesting idea (what they used to call a "hook" and now call a "high concept") you're in trouble. I discard a bunch of ideas until I find one that's cool enough to script.

- Bill

my "interesting idea" is this:

For the past 5,000 years there has been a race of genetically enhanced beings who have been hailed as gods. In all that time, mankind has killed for their secrets, but now a nation has created someone just like them. And these gods are not happy about this.

They view this creation as something that can one day challenge them and so they set up an elaborate scheme to destroy him.

that's kinda it in a nutshell.

[Deus Ex Machine]

For the past 5,000 years there has been a race of genetically enhanced beings who have been hailed as gods. In all that time, mankind has killed for their secrets, but now a nation has created someone just like them. And these gods are not happy about this.


Do you honestly think this idea stands the test of a good dramatic concept, or even a high concept?

Do you think its dramatic (source of and result of, conflict) potential is high, obvious, unique and compelling?

A group of powerful genetically perfect people are upset.

Does this concept seem like it is bursting with inherent and compelling conflict that people can relate to and will be enthralled by?

It doesn't seem that way to me.

If that really is your big idea, you are in big trouble.

Happy,

Welcome to the group.

I understand Fight Club was based on a book and may or may not have been pitched with anything resembling my logline for it.

In fact, I am pretty sure Shakespeare didn't have to create a logline for Hamlet, but I am equally sure he did have to answer the question: "what is this new play of yours about?".

The loglines I gave were not intended to be mistaken as authentic and exact version of those, if any, used by the authors of those projects. They are examples of how such stories can easily be expressed via a logline.

The point is, any story can be concisely and clearly communicated by a logline. The belief that some stories are too complex or too original to fit into a logline is false.

:)

[Qazworld]

Do you honestly think this idea stands the test of a good dramatic concept, or even a high concept?

Do you think its dramatic (source of and result of, conflict) potential is high, obvious, unique and compelling?

A group of powerful genetically perfect people are upset.

Does this concept seem like it is bursting with inherent and compelling conflict that people can relate to and will be enthralled by?

It doesn't seem that way to me.

If that really is your big idea, you are in big trouble.



well, no. When you put it that way, it doesnt sound compelling.

However, I was answering wcmartell's question of what the wider world was for my story. A world that (at least to me) brings something more to the table then a simple ultimate soldier fights his creators story.

anyways, we'll see what happens. and thank-you for your input.

[Deus Ex Machine]

Okay. Good luck.

:)

[BROUGHCUT]

High concepts do not come in nutshells. They are kernels that go POP and explode into story beats and set-pieces as they are read or pitched.

Short logline, heavy concept:

CONCRETE (http://www.stuffandnonsense.co.uk/archives/black_and_white_day_three.html) (Uni): The brain of a senatorial speech writer is transplanted by aliens into a concrete body.

several long lines, high concept:

"At the age of two, Wong Kar Mun went blind. Eighteen years later a new and risky corneal transplant operation restores her vision, but a series of inexplicable events leads her to believe there is much more than meets the eye to her newfound gift of sight. Mysterious black-clad figures seem to foreshadow sudden deaths, and horribly disfigured denizens of another side haunt her everyday existence. Unable to define her own identity, she comes to understand that whenever she looks into a mirror she doesn't see herself but instead sees another woman: Ling, the original owner of the corneas. It seems that Mun has inherited Ling's fate and the misery that comes with the ability to see more than what she wants to behold."

The story can be reduced to 20 words that will nonetheless evoke this fuller synopsis, particularly if the reader is a fan of the genre.

[Qazworld]

Concrete's amazing.

But the concept sounds silly, when said aloud. Alien takes over the brain of a speech writer?

Anyways, you have a very good point about the high concept being in the story itself.

[Deus Ex Machine]

High concepts do not come in nutshells. They are kernels that go POP and explode into story beats and set-pieces as they are read or pitched.


Well said.

I'm going to steal that.

:)

[wcmartell]

Nope. I didn't ask about the wider world of your story. I said, since the soldier thing has been done before, you NEED to have the high concept come from the world of your story.

I don't read "genetically enhanced beings who have been hailed as gods" and think "Cool! I've gotta see that!" Instead, it sounds kind of boring to me.

It's not the soldier thing, and doesn't seem to be the world, either. So... what is it?


- Bill

[madmaxmedia]

For the past 5,000 years there has been a race of genetically enhanced beings who have been hailed as gods. In all that time, mankind has killed for their secrets, but now a nation has created someone just like them. And these gods are not happy about this.

Do you honestly think this idea stands the test of a good dramatic concept, or even a high concept?

Do you think its dramatic (source of and result of, conflict) potential is high, obvious, unique and compelling?

A group of powerful genetically perfect people are upset.


1. When you reduce you long description to its essence, that's what you get. It doesn't sound very appealing, because it's not a high concept idea. Even if you might have thought it was after being pumped up with adjectives.

Now that doesn't mean it can be the basis for a high concept idea, if you twist it. And twist doesn't always mean throw in fat lady, or a shaggy dog, etc. It means you twist in such a way that is both unique and compelling.

What if Terminator didn't have the time travel plot, and it was just about an evil scientist who made a really badass robot? Could that have been a good movie? Sure, I guess. But would it have ever gotten made if that's what James Cameron wrote? Probably not. And where would James Cameron and Arnold Schwarnegger be right now?

Looking at your story, the fact that these are genetically enhanced people is interesting. In what unexpected ways might their genes be affected by this (known or unknown)? That's just one obvious possibility, I am sure there are others.

2. Not all great stories have a high concept idea. No one is saying your story idea is bad per se (at least I'm not), it's just not high-concept.

3. As a spec writer, your chances will go up dramatically if you write scripts based on catchy, compelling high concepts. Some would say your chances go from zero to slightly higher than zero, but no matter.

A sci-fi scenario without a compelling high concept has a much better shot as a novel than a movie. This movie is probably a $80 million + budget. If you're going to try to sell a script for a big budget movie, you better be able to sell it in about 10 seconds to someone (whether in its current form or altered.) Any longer and their eyes will start glazing over. Because that guy is going to have to sell it to his boss in the same 10 seconds anyways.

It sounds like you are really in love with your story (which is or at least can be a good thing.) I would strongly suggest exploring ways to tweak it so that it is a compelling high concept idea.

[madmaxmedia]

For the past 5,000 years there has been a race of genetically enhanced beings who have been hailed as gods. In all that time, mankind has killed for their secrets, but now a nation has created someone just like them. And these gods are not happy about this.

Do you honestly think this idea stands the test of a good dramatic concept, or even a high concept?

Do you think its dramatic (source of and result of, conflict) potential is high, obvious, unique and compelling?

A group of powerful genetically perfect people are upset.


1. When you reduce you long description to its essence, that's what you get. It doesn't sound very appealing, because it's not a high concept idea. Even if you might have thought it was after being pumped up with adjectives.

Now that doesn't mean it can be the basis for a high concept idea, if you twist it. And twist doesn't always mean throw in fat lady, or a shaggy dog, etc. It means you twist in such a way that is both unique and compelling.

What if Terminator didn't have the time travel plot, and it was just about an evil scientist who made a really badass robot? Could that have been a good movie? Sure, I guess. But would it have ever gotten made if that's what James Cameron wrote? Probably not. And where would James Cameron and Arnold Schwarnegger be right now?

What if the Matrix was just about AI agents vs. humanity, but there was no 'matrix', no such virtual reality fooling all of humanity? Let me tell you, those agents are really badass and really, really, really smart.

Looking at your story, the fact that these are genetically enhanced people is interesting. In what unexpected ways might their genes be affected by this (known or unknown)? That's just one obvious possibility, I am sure there are others.

2. Not all great stories have a high concept idea. No one is saying your story idea is bad per se (at least I'm not), it's just not high-concept.

3. As a spec writer, your chances will go up dramatically if you write scripts based on catchy, compelling high concepts.

A sci-fi scenario without a compelling high concept has a much better shot as a novel than a movie. This movie is probably a $80 million + budget. If you're going to try to sell a script for a big budget movie, you better be able to sell it in about 10 seconds to someone (whether in its current form or altered.) Any longer and their eyes will start glazing over. Because that guy is going to have to sell it to his boss in the same 10 seconds anyways.

It sounds like you are really in love with your story (which is or at least can be a good thing.) I would strongly suggest exploring ways to tweak it so that it is a compelling high concept idea.

[madmaxmedia]

It's not the soldier thing, and doesn't seem to be the world, either. So... what is it?

- Bill

The only thing I can think of (in terms of combining the 2), is the irony of people creating a genetically enhanced soldier, in order to fight a genetic super race than dominates them. Not high concept, but it's at least ironic.

Kind of like George Bush reserving to right to use nuclear weapons to prevent other countries from developing nuclear weapons... ;)

But I think OP's story is different, the soldier is created by the master race, and then wakes up when he witnesses a massacre.

I could see a possibly interesting futuristic and exagerrated twist on racism here, with the genetically superior people actually considering themselves a separate and higher race than the regular humans.