Coming up with a title

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  • Coming up with a title

    Just curious, anybody have a particular technique they use for giving a script a title?

    My working title is always just the one word that happens to remind me of the script. If that won't work for the finished title, I pretty much flail around until I get tired of changing my mind and move on.

  • #2
    Re: Coming up with a title

    Sometimes people here ask us to brainstorm titles for them. Some of us have a knack for it and like to do it.

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    • #3
      Re: Coming up with a title

      Originally posted by Joaneasley View Post
      Sometimes people here ask us to brainstorm titles for them. Some of us have a knack for it and like to do it.
      Haha - this is true. I've collected some great titles without even a story idea and have had people ask for a script because they'd watch it just based on the title. Some titles just sell themselves and Joan is right, some people just have a feel for it. I don't think there's a particular technique but to perhaps state the obvious the clues are always in either the story idea or the script.
      "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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      • #4
        Re: Coming up with a title

        Nobody I've worked with cares about titles that much, unless the title of my project is the exact same as another project that was released recently or will soon be released. Even then, I've written a project that was slapped with a really tacky title that a dozen films before it have used and the producers didn't care at all.

        Leave your title for others to have fun figuring out. And let them. You'd much rather a producer or exec picking a new, terrible title for a project than have them spend their tinkering skills on the actual script itself.

        As for your working title, look at the concept or theme surrounding your character's plight and find a word, or string of words, that sums it up. If you can find words with a double meaning, even better. Think FACE/OFF, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS...

        And if you want to join the "it" crowd, throw a swear word or some f**king stars in the mix...

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        • #5
          Re: Coming up with a title

          Originally posted by evan_g View Post
          And if you want to join the "it" crowd, throw a swear word or some f**king stars in the mix...
          This is one thing that gets me. Looking at some of the scripts being offered (on Blacklist, etc), it is clear that they're never going to get made with the title they currently have. Is this just a ploy to get more people to look at it? Maybe it works, because I've sure noticed them.

          Maybe I should title my next screenplay, <HOLLYWOOD A-LIST STAR> IS A **** WHO WOULDN'T DO THIS MOVIE EVEN IF IT BIT HIM ON THE ****.
          Check out my blog:
          Rookie Australian Screenwriter

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          • #6
            Re: Coming up with a title

            It varies from script to script, but there are some strategies I've taken.

            High Concept - If you have a script with a very high concept, then it's pretty easy to come up with a title that just states that concept plainly and upfront. Prominent examples: "Home Alone", "The Hangover", "The Purge," "Let's Be Cops", "Ride Along". Studio execs lean toward these because they're very understandable to the average person. An example of my own is "Hater House", about an actor in a reality show house full of people he's screwed over.

            Strong Character - A script may have a strong, standout type of character that may be the main draw for moviegoers; or, a plot that primarily revolves around the character's personality/behavior. In that case, I consider just naming the script after the character's function. Prominent examples of this: "The Fugitive", "Wedding Crashers", "Spring Breakers," "The Equalizer", "Nightcrawler". An example of my own is "The Savior", a script I wrote about a suicidal man who's forced to protect a young woman from a vicious gangleader over the course of a night.

            Specific World - A script may have a setting that it explores in detail. For these, I often like to use phrases in the lexicon that are associated with that setting, because they grab people with their familiarity. It's even better if they work on two levels to also reflect the theme of the story.

            A prominent example of this strategy is the "The Blind Side", which immediately makes you think about football. Yet it also makes reference to the fact that the main character takes a kid into her home and is caught off guard when she ends up caring for him like her own son. Other examples include "Now You See Me", a phrase associated with magicians, and "Pitch Perfect", one associated with music. An example of my own is "All the Right Notes". It's a script set in the world of music (specifically a cappella), but it also makes reference to the fact that the protagonist is a perfectionist who needs to learn to let it go and enjoy life while in college.

            Hope that helps.

            On a side note, I think the worst thing you can do is use a bland title that does not communicate anything specific about your script. I think one of the best examples from last year was "Edge of Tomorrow", which sounded like a generic disposable action film, or, even worse, a daytime soap opera. They changed it to "Live. Die. Repeat." for the DVD release, which was much better because it perfectly communicated they main hook -- that the protagonist kept repeating the same day whenever he died.
            "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.-- Peter De Vries

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            • #7
              Re: Coming up with a title

              Just put "most excellent" in front.
              http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...d=0CDYQMygDMAM

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              • #8
                Re: Coming up with a title

                I find the 1 to 3 words that not only sum up the story, but connect to other elements in the story (pun like). Or a corrupted common phrase that sums up the story. Basically, I look for the essence of the story.

                Bill
                Free Script Tips:
                http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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                • #9
                  Re: Coming up with a title

                  Originally posted by evan_g View Post
                  Leave your title for others to have fun figuring out. And let them. You'd much rather a producer or exec picking a new, terrible title for a project than have them spend their tinkering skills on the actual script itself.
                  Strongly disagree. Even before the opening frame of a film the title sets the tone.

                  More often than not titles have come easy to me so I haven't thought about them much. UpandComing and wcmartell's posts are probably as helpful as it gets in this area. Don't overthink it and the title will come.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Coming up with a title

                    Originally posted by TheConnorNoden View Post
                    Strongly disagree. Even before the opening frame of a film the title sets the tone.
                    I think you missed my point. If you re-read what I wrote, you'd see I stated that in the end, what you call your project doesn't matter as it will most likely be altered. Just do your best and give your project a title that works for the stage your project is at and move on.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Coming up with a title

                      Keep it short and make sure it starts with a "B" or the word "American."

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                      • #12
                        Re: Coming up with a title

                        Sounds like AMERICAN F***ERS is the winner, then? I did just hear that names at the top of the alphabet are helpful for VOD...

                        For real though these have been some helpful posts.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Coming up with a title

                          For starters, I try to think of something that can help convey my premise and the tone.

                          Beyond that, I try to think about "mental real estate," as Terry Rossio once put it (though not specifically about titles). My goal is to think of a title that, if you ever heard it again, even out of context, you'd think of my script.

                          Also, I try to think about what sounds right just on a phonetic basis. I'll plug it into a phrase as simple as "Did you see BREAKING BAD last night?" Some titles just don't sound like something you'd hear in a random conversation at work, or a bar, or wherever.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Coming up with a title

                            I think title is critically important. It is the opening line of your masterpiece...the very first line any reader is going to read.

                            I keep a list of potential titles that cross my mind in everyday life even though I have no stories to go with them yet.

                            The story I'm working on at the moment I originally titled "Charitable Causes" knowing that was bad...That is not something that says "Read Me"...I have something much better now.

                            Basically, a title is a really short logline that might get the project read and that marketing can work with if it ever gets to that point.

                            I'm not going to post what I think are some of my better title ideas, but here are a few almost mediocre ones from the bottom of the list:

                            Forty Acres and a Duel
                            Disgruntled
                            Void In North Dakota
                            Void Where Prohibited
                            The Fine Print
                            Run Over
                            Crude
                            Bad Impression
                            Not Safe For Work
                            Is That a Knife in My Back?

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                            • #15
                              Re: Coming up with a title

                              Originally posted by TheKeenGuy View Post
                              For starters, I try to think of something that can help convey my premise and the tone. Also, I try to think about what sounds right just on a phonetic basis.
                              Originally posted by RogerOThornhill View Post
                              I think title is critically important. It is the opening line of your masterpiece...the very first line any reader is going to read.
                              Originally posted by UpandComing View Post
                              On a side note, I think the worst thing you can do is use a bland title that does not communicate anything specific about your script.
                              Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
                              I find the 1 to 3 words that not only sum up the story, but connect to other elements in the story (pun like). Or a corrupted common phrase that sums up the story. Basically, I look for the essence of the story.
                              Originally posted by TheConnorNoden View Post
                              Even before the opening frame of a film the title sets the tone.
                              All of these and:

                              A title to catch the eye as written in Sharpie on the edge of a screenplay bound with brads and shelved along with other 'keepers,', or a title on the electronic page of a PDF? Both are required to perform the same task.

                              A working title ought to work for the writer.

                              Seeing a title every time (these days) as a file is opened makes both a conscious and subconscious difference. Dialogue or action may spark another choice title to appear. Research can and often does discover title selections. And sometimes, before any of all the other methods, inspiration gets it correct the first time.

                              The reason for so much attention to the title?

                              The belief that screenwriters need to believe in their titles as much as they believe in their story, otherwise speaking the title in conversation or in a pitch may not sound as convincing, a subtle aural clue for the very person to whom the writer must 'sell' their work.
                              “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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