Group as protagonist?

[Randall_Oelerich]

A group can be the protagonist, typical in many horror stories. Can one have a group as protagonist, but also have a main character protagonist in addition to the group protagonist? Examples of films where this is done?

I am struggling with horror story. I have a single character protagonist venturing to the New World where she, her sister and niece, and a group of strangers become trapped at a location and then are attacked by a supernatural creature. The same creature that traumatized her as a child. So there is a character protagonist, but also a protagonist-as-group. Can I get away with this (e.g by using the group as protagonist for the logline), can it work? ~randall

 

[kylekmd]

In the group situation, to me, the flawed Character who undergoes the big transformation is the MAIN character, and consequently, the most important. Others can (a should, in certain cases) have an arc as well.

Your logline is just a tool. Don't let it restrict you. It doesn't rule your story, you do me Lord.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

I fricken hate figuring out a logline, but I know I need to do that to be crystal clear on my protagonist, her goal, the antagonistic force. So Kyle/anybody-- can I make a story work with a group killed off one by one by an antagonistic force, but with a main protagonist single character (flawed, goes through an arc)?

Actually as I am writing this a classic screenplay that comes to mind is I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. A group of friends stranded on an island, killed off one by one, and yet there is the main protagonist (Jennifer Love Hewitt) who is part of the group, and who survives to tell the tale, etc. So it just be doable.

Loglines, yuck. I just hate them. So hard to pare down a sequenced story to one sentence, or two.

In the group situation, to me, the flawed Character who undergoes the big transformation is the MAIN character, and consequently, the most important. Others can (a should, in certain cases) have an arc as well.

Your logline is just a tool. Don't let it restrict you. It doesn't rule your story, you do me Lord.

 

[kylekmd]

Loglines, yuck. I just hate them. So hard to pare down a sequenced story to one sentence, or two.

Usually, I write a logline very early while breaking the story.

In this current story, sounds like you sequenced first? If so, that's not wrong (obviously) because it's up to you how to approach the story. But it seems easier to go from the GENERAL to the MINUTIAE.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

yeah i goofed, i vaguely remember having a logline of some sort way back, but as i sequenced the story the beats and scenes starting taking a life of their own and the original logline got lost a bit along the way. General to specific is certainly a better strategy; everything i have read says to get the logline nailed down first, tattoo it on your knuckles (LOL) so as to always have it in mind as you write. i am going to have to refine my story sequence to fit the logline, just a bit, not a complete makeover.

EDIT: Whew. I have my logline! Just did some soul searching, and a few emails back and forth with my mentor, and she confirmed my logline was good to go. It is rather good I think, has the essential elements (WHO the story is about, the external visible GOAL to accomplish by the end of the story, and the ANTAGONISTIC FORCE working against the goal). Without giving away the story, it is very similar to The Cave, in that there is a group but with a main protagonist, struggling to survive and get out of an isolated world they have been thrust into, all while being hunted by a formidable supernatural creature (never before seen in film).

Usually, I write a logline very early while breaking the story. In this current story, sounds like you sequenced first? If so, that's not wrong (obviously) because it's up to you how to approach the story. But it seems easier to go from the GENERAL to the MINUTIAE.

 

[Doc Bernard]

I can see it. You have to really grasp and convey the group mentality, though.