What’s YOUR concept of “high concept”?
On Tuesday in this post, I presented my articulation of what a “high concept” is: “A story idea that can be summed up in 1–2 lines.”
Then in a discussion from yesterday, I made this point:
High concept movies can be made poorly. Or well. High concept should be neutral, not a negative. Hell, “Romeo & Juliet” is high concept.
“Sideways”: High concept. “Little Miss Sunshine”: High concept. “The King’s Speech”: High concept.
You want to make it as a screenwriter in Hollywood? Don’t disparage high concept. Accept it.
THERE IS NOTHING INHERENTLY WRONG WITH HIGH CONCEPT MOVIES!
Basically having a go at the assumption that high concept movies are strictly the domain of big trashy, and often bad movies that come out of Hollywood.
Then Teddy Pasternak posted this:
Sideways is high concept? I always thought high concept films had the goals and stakes clearly spelled out in the premise. If Sideways is high concept, can you please give some examples of movies that are not high concept?
Since everyone seems to have a slightly different view on what high concept entails, maybe the readers and other commenters can give their view on what that term means to them.
To which I responded:
You’re right, high concept is a malleable term, as I noted in my post re it earlier this week. It means different things to different people. My articulation — “A story idea that can be summed up in 1–2 lines” — emphasizes the central conceit of the story. Re Sideways, that would be two wayward friends who go on a debauched road trip through California’s wine country. Boom! I see the movie. So for me, that qualifies as high concept.
And I think that would be a great idea for people to discuss what they think high concept means. I’ll start a thread on that. Heck, later today. Why not? I own the joint!
Why not, indeed. The following post is going to be about how — in my view — one can approach writing a logline, and that involves story conceits and very often high concepts.
So what’s your concept of “high concept”?
What are some examples of non-high concept movies?
Can you name some stellar high concept movies (e.g., Tootsie, Groundhog Day)?
Good way to prepare for the ensuing discussion about loglines.
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