WHAT DOES "HIGH CONCEPT" MEAN?
Our industry uses a lot of specific jargon, and every once in a while, some of those terms make their way into more everyday usage. But, that doesn’t mean people are using those terms correctly. So, we figured that from time to time, the team at Scofield Digital Storytelling might try to help clarify some of these terms in case you ever find yourself a part of a production and don’t want to feel out of the loop.
Today’s topic is the phrase “high concept”.
“High concept” is one of those rare terms that you will likely hear used incorrectly more often than correctly. To be fair, the term itself does sound like it means something different than what it actually means. To just hear someone describe a movie, television show, or any story for that matter as “high concept” you’d be forgiven for thinking that the story was very literary, or striving to be grandiose in some way. Nope. In fact, I’d argue that most high concept stories are the opposite of that.
In truth, the term “high concept” means a story that can be described clearly and effectively in just a sentence or two. That’s it. It simply means that a single sentence can tell you, with a high level of accuracy, what the story will be.
For example, if you heard someone describe a movie as being about a theme park, filled with living dinosaurs, that suffers a security failure allowing the dinosaurs escape, I think you’d have a pretty great idea of what that movie was actually going to be.
One of my favorite examples is from the 1997 film Liar, Liar. You could describe that movie with the following sentence: When his son wishes he will only tell the truth, an attorney, and habitual liar, is magically compelled to be honest for one day and struggles to win the biggest case of his career without telling a lie.
To be sure, “high concept” has almost no correlation with the quality of a story. It’s more of a marketing tool. Studios and networks, etc. often need to be able to distill a project down to its simplest possible form so the audience knows exactly what they’re paying for. Many projects cannot be distilled this way. Most romances, and many character based stories can’t really be adequately described in one sentence. But there are countless examples of great character based films and television.
Of course, as with anything, there is more involved with this term the deeper you go. But in short, don’t fall for the trap of thinking “high concept” is the same as “high art”. No matter how much you might love Jim Carrey, I’m not sure Liar, Liar could ever qualify as “high art”.
