High Concept
Also known as high-concept premise
A premise so clear and striking that one sentence sells it, such as "a bomb on a bus that explodes if it drops below 50 miles an hour."
In practice
A high concept is a story premise that can be stated in one sentence and immediately understood and wanted. The idea itself is the hook: a shark terrorizes a beach town on the Fourth of July weekend; a man relives the same day over and over; a bus must stay above 50 miles an hour or a bomb will explode. Audiences can picture the film, and its conflict, from the pitch alone.
The term came out of American television and film in the 1970s and 1980s. It is usually credited to Barry Diller, then a programming executive at ABC, who wanted TV movies that could be sold to viewers in a single line, and it became associated with producers such as Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. The film scholar Justin Wyatt studied it in his book High Concept (1994).
High concept is not a measure of quality. A low-concept story, one driven by character and texture that is hard to sum up, can be just as good. But high concepts are easier to pitch, market and sell, which is why studios, agents and contests value them, and why many writers test their ideas against the label.
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A high concept set up in the first scene
INT. BUS - MORNING
Commuters, earbuds, a normal Tuesday. DEV (30s) takes a seat beside a woman with a cello case and thinks, very clearly:
DEV (V.O.)
She's going to take up the whole seat with that thing.
The woman turns and stares at him. So does the driver. So does every passenger on the bus.
WOMAN WITH CELLO
It's a very small cello.
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The premise is clear in the first page: everyone can hear Dev think. A high concept should be visible in action like this, early and simply, because the reader is waiting to see the promise of the pitch delivered.
What makes a concept high
It fits in one sentence: the premise, the main character and the conflict are all present in a logline.
It has a twist on the familiar: a known situation, such as a wedding, a job or a family holiday, changed by one unusual element.
It implies the scenes: hearing the idea, people can imagine the set pieces and the trailer.
It has broad appeal: the hook doesn't depend on knowing the characters, a star or a particular culture.
High concept examples
Jaws (1975): a great white shark attacks swimmers at a beach resort, and the town wants to keep the beaches open.
Big (1988): a 12-year-old boy wakes up in the body of a 30-year-old man.
Groundhog Day (1993): a cynical weatherman is forced to relive the same day until he gets it right.
Speed (1994): a bomb on a city bus will explode if the bus slows below 50 miles an hour.
Liar Liar (1997): a lawyer who lies for a living is magically unable to lie for one day.
High concept vs. low concept
A low-concept story gets its appeal from character, tone and execution rather than from its premise. Lost in Translation or Boyhood are hard to sell in a sentence but rewarding to watch.
Many successful films sit in between: a strong premise carried by specific characters. A good test is whether the logline makes someone want to see the film before they know who is in it.
How to develop a high concept
Start with "what if." Take an ordinary situation and add one impossible or extreme element, then ask what conflict it guarantees.
Write the logline before the outline. If you can't state the hook, the premise, the protagonist and the stakes in one sentence, the concept isn't clear yet.
Test it on people. Tell the one-sentence version and watch whether they ask what happens next or start inventing scenes themselves.
Deliver it early. Put the concept on screen in the first ten pages so the reader sees the promise. In Plot you can keep the logline at the top of the treatment while the scenes grow beneath it.
Common questions
What does high concept mean?
High concept describes a story whose premise is striking and clear enough to be pitched and understood in one sentence, such as a man reliving the same day in Groundhog Day.
What is an example of a high-concept movie?
Jaws, Big, Groundhog Day, Speed and Liar Liar are classic examples. Each one's whole film can be pictured from a single sentence about its premise.
Who coined the term high concept?
The term is usually credited to Barry Diller, then at ABC in the early 1970s, who wanted TV movies that could be described and sold to viewers in one line.
Is high concept better than low concept?
Not in quality. High concepts are easier to pitch and market, while low-concept stories rely on character and execution. Both can make excellent films.
How is high concept related to a logline?
A logline is the one-sentence summary of any story. A high concept is a premise whose logline alone is enough to make people want to see the film.