In Conversation with Michael Hauge: The High Concept Movie

Michael Hauge is a highly regarded script consultant and the best-selling author of 'Writing Screenplays That Sell' and 'Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds'. This is a recording of Michael's evening lecture on the principles of the high concept movie, held in Sydney on 16 March 2011.

[@lerufilminternational5431]

I am moved and inspired! I just could not stop listening to his message! Thank you for sharing.I wish I coukd work with him on my first Screenplay. It would be a miracle if that happens. I watched him talk and took notes before I started my structue. Good luck to all the passionate filmmakers. Wish all of us the best!

[@tag1111]

Michael hauge is amazing. I've watched all his lectures and interviews on KZbin. also read one of his books. Completely recommend.

[@jacobysean1055]

you all probably dont care but does anyone know of a way to log back into an instagram account..? I was dumb forgot the login password. I would appreciate any help you can give me!

[@kendrickkillian2669]

@Jacoby Sean instablaster =)

[@jacobysean1055]

@Kendrick Killian Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@jacobysean1055]

@Kendrick Killian It worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy! Thank you so much, you saved my ass!

[@kendrickkillian2669]

@Jacoby Sean Glad I could help :)

[@GeoffKnoop]

Thank you! I always feel emboldened, and more confident about writing when I listen to Michael Hauge

[@TheSinisterPress]

Exactly what I need. Thanks so much for this video.

[@user-eq1ml3gq1u]

Michael... 'thanks' for your insights... if I can capture just some of your message, you will have helped me succeed in getting one or more of my scripts read... and produced. Brian Couch

[@Superflyproductionsptc]

this is brilliant. thank you so much for giving people like me, a VCE media student, the chance to watch high class lectures from institutes like AFTRS.

[@essensidentity6862]

Do some one know if Michael has a video where he is taking about how to write in diffrent ganeras

[@helium73]

I just realize I've been thinking of high concept and tour de force as the same thing. Maybe they are.

[@DemianJ]

I have a question: isn't The Hangover an ensemble film? so how is it a high concept movie? asking because he pointed it as one

[@DenkyManner]

High concept means the film is sold on the plot idea. Guys regularly crash weddings, hijinks ensue. You can describe the film in one sentence by the set up rather than the mind of the protagonist. Alien isn't about Ripley's inner demons, it a literal monster on a ship. BttF is about time travel to prevent a murder. Matrix is abkut the world being a simulation. The protagonists have inner struggles but they aren't the premise. Wedding Crashers is not ensemble, it's dual lead.

[@maheshkariya5605]

Hello sir, Thank you very much for providing study materials.I have learned so many things from you. Sir, you said that if the genre is drama than it is not high concept. It will be more helpful if you can explain it briefly. Thank you

[@ScreenAustralia]

Hi Mahesh, thanks for your comment. We don't represent Michael, but our understanding of this point that he made is that it could be beneficial to you to have more than one way of describing your genre, rather than leaving it at drama only. In fact, Michael does say that he often calls 'action' films such as Taken, Jaws and Die Hard 'high concept' for example.

[@maheshkariya5605]

Thank you very much for reply

[@richardadesmond]

just because you have conflict does not guarantee you'll elicit emotion for the reader/audience. A character with a goal who encounters an obstacle and must overcome it because there are consequences doesn't mean I'll automatically feel anything in the scene, there's more to it than that, why should I care?. You need to either tell me or let me experience why the consequences mean so much to the character, internally. To add, the consequences have a spectrum, the good ones are immediate, they are the absolute worst thing for the character, external, specific, assured, a lot of films/scripts don't achieve this, stakes are the bedrock of any film, that's why most fall short. Well.....high concept is not visible goals, that's any movie really, if they weren't visible/external the we the audience couldn't experience it, that's just standard, that's not high concept. The reason they're external is because film is a visual medium, as opposed to a novel, but that doesn't make it high concept. 15:00 you know what that's in the ballpark, you seem to have the grasp there or there abouts, kudos. But not an explanation of how to do it, and actually with regard to Die Hard he actually stumbled upon a fairly high concept film, BUT didn't explain why it's a HIGH concept film. He's a cop out of jurisdiction, one against an army of terrorists on christmas eve, a seemingly impossible situation, but Michael never elaborated on the "nuts and bolts" The concept of "simply described" for your premise seems to generic to hold any weight. Huge conflict being tied to a high concept idea is a thing, but conflict is one of a few tools that delivers essential context, doesn't mean the writer of a high concept film will use conflict to drive the film, now...there may be conflict in the film, doesn't mean it's ultimately driving it, wrong Michael...wrong. There are other compelling tools, such as the question tool, the bad news for the character tool. Michael can't demonstrate this... 18:00 - 19:42 to be fair that's well said Mr. hauge, well said. Great point's made there. Throw your character into the worst situations, well said sir. But you know, he's there in the ballpark, to be fair he's almost got it... ...but, here's what I've learned, premise e.g.: a person wants to find and kill the rapist and murderer of their partner! Pretty average/generic right? yes, don't worry this is the starting point. Now, ask yourself, what does one need "to find and kill the rapist and murderer of someone's partner"? Well, access to the police file on their partner for one, access to the crime scene would help. to be skilled in tracking the killer and efficiently killing them. The ability to solve a crime/able to process information, problem solving etc. So the next step is where the generic idea is elevated, or should I say heightened/high concept generated. Start to take away those abilities: -what if the protagonist has no access to the police file, all records were destroyed...ok kind of interesting to see how that would play out - what if the hero couldn't access the crime scene, what if he/she was in prison/trapped somehow somewhere and had to solve the crime there, hmmm that's interesting enough, how are they gonna solve it there? huh -what if they're blind, they can't track and kill their partners killer too well but it will happen, NOW you're on to something huh, that's compelling and interesting, I gotta see how that plays out. -BUT.....let's go one step further.....what if the protagonist can't essentially put the pieces of the crime together, it's impossible for him. What if, he has no short term memory and he has to solve the murder and rape of his wife....YES...that film is 'Memento' and that's a high concept idea!

[@trains889]

is benjamin button a high-concept movie?

[@lise4369]

Trains. It happened through a long period of time. He says that doesn't count.

[@afishcalledwanda]

So: Saving Private Ryan is not High Concept? Erin Brockovich is not High Concept?

[@DenkyManner]

Saving Private Ryan is high concept. The premise is the selling point. It's not about ww2, or the psychology of Hanks's character, its a rescue movie. His psychology is part of the story but the details of it could have been totally different and the concept would remain.

[@PianoforSadness]

what is for dinner. greek salad, sea food appetizer, red wine and lets not forget the armenian roteserie of a whole lamb with chutnee from banglore. guess which part is the high concept?

[@ArabKatib]

Armenian roteserie of a whole lamb. :-)

[@claumeister1]

I'm 20 minutes in and I still don't know what High Concept is. He says a lot about what it isn't. Here's a quick definition from the Writer's Store website: "But only High Concept projects can be sold from a pitch because they are pitch driven. Non-High Concept projects can't be sold from a pitch because they are execution driven. They have to be read to be appreciated and their appeal isn't obvious by merely running a logline past someone. This is the reason why films like "Pulp Fiction," "Star Wars" and "Sideways" could never be sold from a pitch." If you can grab the producer or the audience from a brief pitch alone, that's High Concept, as far as I can tell. If you have to read the whole script or watch the actual movie to be grabbed, it's not.

[@nandoflorestan]

Not only that, but it appears that the concepts in question are not really so high... Why not call them the opposite: low concept? If it's easy to describe then surely it's a low concept, not a high one? I am asking because I want to know.

[@eriksmith2514]

High concept is b.s. Hollywood regularly requires famous, overpaid actors in their movie roles because of their fear that the "high" concept isn't enough--that a high concept alone WON'T WORK..

[@veritas6335]

Bourne Identity was a boring movie. I walked out of it.