Screenwriting : Is Truby's "premise" the same as the logline? by William Parsons

The basic answer is no.

What Truby, and I've taken a number of his seminars and read his book, said to me was the premise is the most basic form of your story told in one line, sentence. It's what you are going to prove in the story. Your logline, is going to be adding a bit more detail.

Truby uses the example of this premise (which is the same as the title): Saving Private Ryan.

The logline could be: Set after the invasion of D-Day, a squad of soldiers lead by a captain goes behind lines to find and return the sole surviving son - Private Ryan - back to the US after all of Ryan's brothers a killed in combat.

DO NOT PAINT BY NUMBERS LOL One of the many gems I took from Truby’s class. The log line should be consolidated, one sentence, explanation of entire key emotional beats/plot. Not rocket science, but would be audience must get the thread.

A logline is a sales pitch. The only people who usually ever see it are those who may finance or help make your movie. It is used to tell a person everything they need to know to want to back your project in as few words as possible. Whether the focus is an interesting premise, an engaging character or an out-of-this-world plot is up to you and the story you’re telling.

I've always found Truby a bit derivative, with only very few things worthwhile to say. IMO. McKee and Vogler are better.

Kay Luke Isn't that also called "theme"? (so many names for similar concepts with slight differences)

To me, it seems like Truby's Principle is nothing more than the theme of a story. I'll stick with theme, it's easier to flesh out when constructing and writing a story.

I've always found Trudy to be rather convoluted.

In a nutshell, he makes things unnecessarily more complicated and adds his own terminology and definitions. Sorry, I'm not going to elaborate more on my personal opinion. To answer the OP's original question: No, the premise and logline generally are not the same. Although the premise certainly gives substance to a logline. Both terms are often used interchangeably and/or are used differently, depending on who is using them and various personal definitions, but they are two different yet related things. A premise or premise line is of the foundation of a story, of the concept idea, the core statement. A logline is a succinct summary of the story narrative.

I don't find Trudy's teachings to be convoluted at all. As a matter of fact, I find them to be quite refreshing and sound and I greatly appreciate his not 'dumbing down' to meet the expectations of new screenwriters. I heartily recommend him.

Great, Doug, to each their own. ;) But I certainly did not say nor imply that things need to be 'dumbed down' to meet "expectations" of new writers—hardly! Not my point about Trudy either. Sorry, I find that statement to be unnecessarily belittling to writers—if that is what you meant? Maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

The logline is short, usually one sentence summary of your movie. A premise is the idea for your movie. Something like, A man goes back in time to prevent an assassin from killing Lincoln. The logline would Identify a protag, an antag and the challenge or obstacle of the story. Something like:

A scientist who invents a time machine travels back to the end of the Civil War, befriends a disenchanted actor and decides whether to murder him or convince him not to assassinate the President.

NO Beth - not at all what I think. I'm glad that he does not 'dumb down' his teachings.

I'd like to chime in! The premise of "Teen Wolf" is a teenager who turns into a werewolf. "Tootsie", an actor who gets roles as a female. "Saving Private Ryan", a GI fighting in the war where all his other brothers were killed. You know the loglines of them. The closer the logline is to the simple premise, the more "high concept" it is :^}