High Concept: Difference between revisions

A [['''High Concept]]''' work is one that can be explained with a short, to-the-point and (it is to be hoped), intriguing description; one that can sell on its own merits. This type is loved by producers who can get a full pitch and explanation of what is going to draw in the viewers within ten seconds. From these few lines they can imagine the trailer, the marketing, the [[Target Audience]] and [[The Merch|merchandise]].

Occasionally, as in the page quote, a line of dialogue or narration from a film [[Lampshade Hanging|will sum up]] its [['''High Concept]]''' for us - it sometimes seems like [[Executive Meddling|Meddling Executives]] demanded a good soundbite to put in [[Trailers Always Spoil|the trailer]]. [[Let Me Get This Straight...]] is a frequent contributor.

[[High Concept|'''High Concepts]]''' can take several specific forms like: "[[X Meets Y|Show A meets Show B]]", "[[Wunza Plot|One's an X, the other's a Y]]: [[They Fight Crime]]", or "Film X in the style of Creator W" as well as the labored [[Recycled in Space|Recycled]] {{smallcaps|[[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]]}} and [[Die Hard Onon an X]]. Sometimes a high concept can become so influential and imitable that it becomes a format trope in its own right as is the case of ''[[Die Hard (Film)|Die Hard]]''; see also [[The Magnificent Seven Samurai]] (based on [[Seven Samurai]]), [[Wagon Train to Thethe Stars]] (named for the high concept pitch for [[Star Trek]]), and [[A Boy and His X]]. Contrast with [[Better Than It Sounds]] which is often taken as a parody of these; unlike [[Better Than It Sounds]], however, these ''do'' get the gist of the experience across.

{{examples|Examples:}}

* ''[[All Fall Down (Comic Book)|All Fall Down]]'': What if all the superheroes and supervillains in the world lost their powers... and never got them back?

=== [[Film]] ===

* ''[[Air Force One (Filmfilm)|Air Force One]]'': [[Die Hard Onon an X|Die Hard on]] [[Air Force One]] with [[Harrison Ford]] as [[Our Presidents Are Different|President]] [[Die Hard (Film)|John McClane]].

* ''[[Alien (Filmfranchise)|Alien]]'' was pitched as ''[[Jaws (Filmfilm)|Jaws]]'' [[Recycled in Space|in space.]]

* ''[[Big (Film)|Big]]'': A 13-year-old kid wishes he was big, wakes up as a 30-year-old man.

* ''[[Die Hard (Film)|Die Hard]]'': Terrorists take over a building, leaving one man to sneak around and thwart them. (It's such an encapsulated concept that it [[Die Hard Onon an X|became a shorthand]] for other high-concept pitches.)

* ''[[Enchanted]]'': Disney Princess from an animated movie gets stuck in cynical live action New York.

* ''[[The Fountain]]'': "[[Tagline|What if you could]] [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|live forever]]... And your lover is dying?"

* ''[[Groundhog Day (Film)|Groundhog Day]]'': Man is forced to relive one day over and over.

* ''[[Jaws (Filmfilm)|Jaws]]'': Giant shark starts attacking humans on New England island.

* ''[[Snakes Onon a Plane]]''. [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|There are snakes. On a plane.]]

* ''[[Speed (Film)|Speed]]'': "Pop quiz, hotshot. There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?"

* ''[[Tower Heist]]'': ''[[OceansOcean's Eleven]]'' in New York.

* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'': A group of toys fight for their owner... will they survive?

* ''[[Transformers (Filmfilm)|Transformers]]'': [[A Boy and His X|A boy and his car.]]

* ''[[Under Siege]]'': ''[[Die Hard (Film)|Die Hard]]'' [[Die Hard Onon an X|on a battleship]] with nuclear weapons starring [[Steven Seagal]].

=== [[Live Action TV]] ===

* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'': ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' as a [[Medical Drama]].

* ''[[Keen Eddie]]'' - New York detective fighting crime in London. Or ''[[Dempsey and Makepeace]]'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] ''[[Starsky and Hutch (TV series)|Starsky and Hutch]]''.

* ''[[Miami Vice]]'': According to legend, the actual pitch was "[[MTV]] Cops."

* ''[[Smallville]]'': ''[[Superman]]'' meets ''[[The X -Files]]'' with [[Teen Drama|teenagers]].

* ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series]]'': ''[[Wagon Train]]''... [[Wagon Train to Thethe Stars|to the stars]].

=== [[Literature]] ===

=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===

=== [[Theater]] ===

* ''[[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead]]'': ''[[Hamlet]]'' from the perspective of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, [[World Limited to Thethe Plot|with absurdism]]

* ''[[Blithe Spirit (Theatretheatre)|Blithe Spirit]]'': A remarried widower accidentally calls back the ghost of his first wife; [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* [[Shoot 'Em Up|Shoot Em Ups]]: Shoot the bad guys. Sometimes seen in a longer form: "Shoot 'em up, eat the dots."

* [[Fighting Game|Fighting Games]]s: Choose your character and beat all the others.

* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' has one called by this name [[All There in Thethe Script|in the vision statement]].

{{quote| The player is a scarred amnesiac immortal in search of his identity. On the way, the player character will kill a lot of people... [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|including himself.]]"}}

* ''[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]'': A hybrid [[First -Person Shooter]] and [[Puzzle Game]] where the only weapon is a gun that shoots portals that you can go through. Oh, and there's an [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|insane killer AI]] acting as [[Mission Control]].

=== Dialog examples: ===

=== [[Film]] ===

* ''[[Hot Tub Time Machine (Film)|Hot Tub Time Machine]]'': "Must be some sort of... hot tub time machine..."

{{quote| '''Trent, age 21:''' I'll make you a deal. We can be friends, if you can keep it a secret.<br />

* ''[[Speed (Film)|Speed]]'': (As above; this was delivered by the villain.) "There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes over 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. When it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do?"

** [[The Simpsons (animation)|We'll call it: "The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down"!]]

* ''[[Transformers (Filmfilm)|Transformers]]'': "I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?"

* ''[[Gladiator (Filmfilm)|Gladiator]]'': "The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor" was frequently used as a tagline for the film.

=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===

* [[Big Bad|Herrick]] in ''[[Being Human (TVUK)|Being Human]]'': "So, [[Monster Mash|a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire]] decide to [[Mundane Fantastic|live like humans do]]. They get jobs, a house, and a TV license..."

* ''[[Breaking Bad]]'': "High school teacher turned meth dealer, brother-in-law's in the DEA? [[Leaning Onon the Fourth Wall|That'd make one hell]] [[Blackmail|of a story]]..."