Part LII: Titles and Character Names

When a newer writer sends me a screenplay to read, the first thing(s) I notice are the title and the character names. I think I’m pretty good at coming up with good titles, and I always try to find interesting character names for my stories- assuming they’re fictional.

The title always seems to be the first place I see issues. Usually, the writer has been working on the project for months, and has continually referred to this project by their title, so it’s deeply ingrained in their psyche. They are forever attached to this title, and love it above all else. To me- the title is generally blah- often too long, too boring and too common;

A Rare Red Moon; Class Act; Divine Comedy; Epic Fail; Inside Out; Elephant in the Room; Never Too Late For Love; The Key to Our Success;

Do any of these titles have you clamoring to read the screenplay to find out what it’s about? Compare those to these;

#RIP; The Dieter Tully; Below; Amongst Us; Lots Brewing; Sex Tape; The Backyard; The Den;

There’s a reason these titles draw more interest; they’re short, ominous, and somewhat tell the genre and tone of the movie. Could they be misinterpreted? Of course, but you wouldn’t know it until you read it. I’m willing to bet that the titles “#RIP”, “Below”, “Amongst Us”, “The Backyard”, and “The Den” are probably horror movies. I’d also guess that “Lots Brewing” and “Sex Tape” are probably comedies. "The Dieter Tully" is just so unique and interesting- to me- that I’d want to read it just to find out what it was!

I would classify these among the better titles for a screenplay.

The best titles are usually short and to the point; one or two words max. Look at this list of “Best Picture” Oscar-winning titles:

Chicago; Titanic; Unforgiven; Gladiator; Platoon; Patton; Braveheart; Rocky;

One word titles fit on the marquee, and they have room for BIG, BOLD letters! This isn’t by accident; more than 25% of all Best Picture titles are one-word titles. They are easily memorable, and have stood the test of time.

Another “skill” is properly naming characters. Again, with newer writers, I see a lot of Johns, Jims, Toms, Marys and Sues. Not only are they all too-common names, but there is little diversity in them. I recently read a screenplay and commented on how the character names all seemed straight out of the Declaration of Independence!

Now, I realize “John” is a popular first name, even in the movie world;

John Wick; John Rambo; John Constantine; John Blutarski;?John Matrix; John McCLane; John Kimble; John Shaft;

…but you’ll notice that these badasses weren’t much referred to as “John”. They had their POWER surnames; Rambo; Matrix; SHAFT.

Some of the great character names in movie history include;

Captain Jack Sparrow; Verbal Kint; Darth Vader; Sam Spade; Stanley Kowalski; Mary Poppins;?Holly Golightly; Norma Desmond;

So, next time you're writing, put forth the effort of giving the script a great, short title, and giving your main characters really creative names. It'll jump-start your script. Believe me.

Now, if you were a little creative with your character names, you might come up with something to rival the greatest character name in movie history; Atticus Finch. Atticus was an ancient Roman philosopher, and a finch is a small common, gentle bird. The name matched the character’s personality perfectly.?

What are some of your favorite character names in movies? Have you given any characters in your own screenplays really standout names? If so, include them in the comment section.

WRITER'S BIO:?Mr. Scala spent 22-plus years in the Hollywood community, and was the?Executive Director?for the?72nd Annual Academy Awards, as well as?The Soul Train Awards,?The Grammys,?The Blockbuster Video Awards Show?and?The Saturn Award Show.?

He is working on his 41st adaptation; the fascinating autobiography?"Call Me Zena", by?Sally Barnard?who, after a brief illness, developed high-level artistic skills overnight. He is also developing biopic projects of rock pioneer?Jimmie F. Rodgers,?Motown star?Tammi Terrell?and iconic folk singer?Harry Chapin- all while continuing to mentor hundreds of new writers and self-published authors.

Geno has two screenplays produced and currently on Amazon Prime;?"Assassin 33 A.D."??and?"The Tombs", and-at present-?is the?Executive Script Consultant?of a major motion picture scheduled to begin filming Spring, 2022.