I don't understand "High Concept"

[yeehi]

Is high concept better than concept, or is it just like red or white wine?

Should we be pushing our concepts until until we get them high, or just let them be?

Could somebody show me an example of converting a concept into a high concept?

And why were the producers looking for high concept at the script expo:

http://www.screenwritingexpo.com/Scr....htm:confused:

[Qazworld]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/...ad.php?t=19513






(im still confused)

[yeehi]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

Am i on the right track here:

Concept
A fishing boat goes down at sea (Perfect storm)

High Concept
The largest passenger liner in the world goes down at sea
(Titanic)


Keep the posts coming!

[Ravenlocks]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

Try this article. It gives a good explanation.

Beachcombing by Terry Rossio

[Deus Ex Machine]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

Concept - man falls in love with a woman.

High Concept - man falls in love with a mermaid.

Concept - man owns a dog.

High Concept - man and his dog switch bodies.

High Concept basically means the story is driven by a concept that is easy to communicate what makes the story unique, interesting, sexy, funny and compelling. This means it's easy to pitch to execs and easy to sell to audiences.

It's nothing new.

Since before Orpheus and Oedipus high concepts have been sought after and ruled drama.

That link in Qaz's post takes you to a semi-recent (long) thread where what exactly a high concept is and how it is used is discussed in some detail.

[vanpet]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

High-concept = good trailer, bad movie

[Joaneasley]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

High concept = good advertising poster, but not always a bad movie. Sometimes, not always.

If it is a high concept but a bad movie, there's a good chance people will show up anyway -- at least on the opening weekend -- because they are attracted to the concept. That's what high concept means. Appealing, unique concept that makes people want to see the movie.

But sometimes, like 40 Year Old Virgin, it's a high concept that's also written with truth and humor and heart, and people like the movie as much as they hoped they would when they first heard the concept.

[Cyfress]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

A High Concept means that the drama/conflict can readily be seen in the logline. In other words, a good and creative concept.

[wcmartell]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

High concept is a great idea. A creative idea. Not a bland idea.

When we go back to movies from the 30s and 40s, they tended to have high concepts (my favorite is the one about the dog murdered while protecting his master who is reincarnated as a man... who then tries to find the killer of himself and his master... while peeing on fire hydrants and sniffing butts and other dog-like activities).

The *idea* is creative and interesting... and then you add great characters and scenes and all of the other elements needed to make a great film.

Everyone wants a script with a great idea. Why would you want a well written script with a dull, unimaginative idea?

- Bill

[Prosaics]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

The idea of concept being made "high concept" because the character is given super powers is saturday morning cartoon material.

High concept is just a very good idea. A kid adopts an extra-terrestrial as a pet. A painting ages instead of the person it portrays. A maniac chases a whale that's god or nature or nothing. A guy turns into a cockroach and wonders what to do with his life. A doctor obliterates memories of bad relationships and yet those relationships come back to haunt the helpless characters.


It *isn't simple. High concept is a good idea applied well. It's not gilligans island WITH the harlem globetrotters.

[wcmartell]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

Great examples! Kafka as a high concept writer!

- Bill

[BROUGHCUT]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

AWESOME post here.

Genre-bending high-concept: Cowboys and Indians join forces to repel an alien invasion of the old west.

[GreyGhost22]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

A kid adopts an extra-terrestrial as a pet. A painting ages instead of the person it portrays. A maniac chases a whale that's god or nature or nothing. A guy turns into a cockroach and wonders what to do with his life. A doctor obliterates memories of bad relationships and yet those relationships come back to haunt the helpless characters.

TITANIC - the highest-concept ever. This one word tells it all


.

[dpaterso]

Re: I don't understand "High Concept"

<throws spanner>

Genre-bending high-concept: Cowboys and Indians join forces to repel an alien invasion of the old west.

I'd vote against calling that "high concept" -- it sounds more like a conceit than a great idea. Easy to mistake one for the other. And for this film you need an audience that likes Westerns and Sci-Fi, and isn't immediately ready to dismiss such an idea as trivial.

TITANIC - the highest-concept ever. This one word tells it all

That's just the setting. Story requires character, conflict and setting. In the Jack & Rose version, the ship was a bit player. You could have set their story aboard a space station and it wouldn't have made any difference.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Stop reading this and get some writing done instead.

[odriftwood]

Re: I don't understand &quot;High Concept&quot;

Don't forget who started the concept of high concept. It wasn't the writers, it was the studios. That want something they can sell in thirty seconds on TV or two minutes during a trailer. That's what drives them. Doesn't matter what we as writers think is a good high concept or not... it's what they think. If you can sell them with one word good on ya. Dan Akroyd pitched/sold the remake of Dragnet by merely humming the theme song. Was it a good movie? Doesn't matter. The theme song sold it because that's how it was sold to the rest of us...