The Controlling Idea (Part 1)

Andrew introduces the controlling idea (or logline) as a sentence that aligns your story and acts as a North Star when you get lost. He breaks down its four components: the character, how they change, what they need to overcome, a hint of the world, and the conflict. Using The Martian, he shows a well-crafted controlling idea that includes all elements.

He then shows a bad logline for Up and leads the class in improving it. Students collaboratively transform it: "78-year-old Carl" becomes "a lonely old widower," "traveling to Paradise Falls" becomes "fulfilling his departed wife's dream." When workshopping Titanic's logline, the breakthrough: changing "young woman" to "engaged woman from a different social class" instantly creates two sets of stakes. He reveals Cameron pitched Titanic by bringing a model ship and saying "It's Romeo and Juliet aboard this." At Pixar, the controlling idea was what teams returned to whenever they got lost in their story.