300 word premise
ACT 1
- World and tone
- Establish main protagonist and initial problem
- Introduce 2nd story
- Crisis leading to end of Act 1
- Climax Act 1
ACT 2
- Turning point
- Reflection dramatic pause / intro story 3
- Development story 1
- Development story 2
- Crisis in story 2
- Main story complications
- Climax 2nd story
- Climax Act 2
ACT 3
- Turning point
- Ref / dramatic pause
- Set up final solution
- Second story resolution
- Climax main story
- Closing moments
Current Logline: An uptight English professor journeys into the woods to escape her worries. They are full of ancient magics and she discovers a small child by a secret altar on the forest floor. This initiates her terrifying journey trying to defeat demons while saving the innocent child.
Into The Woods/ Sapien
The real world is becoming an exhausting place, nobody agrees with each other and it’s difficult to tell fact from fiction. Sarah, an uptight English Professor who loves to get lost in historical fiction, decides that the best way to get away from it all would be to visit some ancient woods near her home.
When she arrives in the woods the sun is already fading and she decides to rest a while and sets up camp. She is awoken by a howl and standing in a clearing between the canopy is a little girl. Sarah tries to approach and the girl beckons her to follow and then runs off. Leaving her camping things behind, Sarah dashes after the child, worried about what she is doing alone in the woods.
Suddenly Sarah arrives in a strange part of the forest she has never seen before. The moon creates a bright light highlighting an ancient shrine on the forest floor. The leaves blow up around Sarah as she looks around feeling the magic of the moment, strange dark figures seem to surround her, just outside of the circle.
All of Sarah’s emotions are heightened by the intense energy she wants to run, but is unable to move. The child puts her finger up to her mouth to motion quietness and backs away into the forest. As Sarah goes to find her again, the dark figures start becoming clearer and Sarah realises that they are distorted versions of herself.
Sarah has to battle each version of herself to find a way to get to the child again. Once she has fought off the final demon, Sarah collapses back on the forest floor exhausted. The child appears once more and offers her water, then takes her hand and leads her back to where she began her journey.
