Maybe more important than a logline...
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-titles12-2008may12,0,6148790.story
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-titles12-2008may12,0,6148790.story
good article on titles
- Thread starter brianluce
- Start date
Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
funny, i was working at The Ant Farm when Something's Gotta Give came thru. they sent out a company-wide email asking everyone for ideas, right down to the in-house PAs. It was going under the title "May-December" at the time.
btw, that title consulting company.... has some sh*tty ideas for titles.
btw, that title consulting company.... has some sh*tty ideas for titles.
nextgenneo
Member
Ted Spencer
Veteran
I agree that a movie title is super-important.
It's nothing less than the first line of the script. : )
It's nothing less than the first line of the script. : )
Postmaster
Dark Side of the Camera
It´s even worse when they translate titles.
Here in Germany they named "The Worlds fastest Indian"
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (drumm roll)
"With Heart and Hand" ( Mit Herz und Hand)
DUH! No wonder it floped here, thou it is one of my personal Top 10.
Frank
Here in Germany they named "The Worlds fastest Indian"
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (drumm roll)
"With Heart and Hand" ( Mit Herz und Hand)
DUH! No wonder it floped here, thou it is one of my personal Top 10.
Frank
Prodigi Pictures
Carbonite Member
I've never understood why people think titles are tough.
In film school I was often ridiculed because I'd think of titles first. I always said "But, titles summarize the dramatic question of the movie." I was called "Mr. Hollywood" which is not a compliment at NYU.
In one of our screenwriting classes we were taught this terribly cheesy technique for titling movies. List random adjectives in Column A. List random nouns in Column B. Draw random lines between them and you'll get punch titles! SEE HOW EASY IT IS!
"Deadly Game" "Fatal Attraction" "Lonely Schoolbus"
I told my professor I thought this was a stupid way to title movies. His response...
...how do you think they came up with "Lethal Weapon?"
Whatever. I focus on phrases from obscure poetry, songs or simply come up with phrases myself. And I simply focus on the dramatic question of the movie. What is the core of your film? What is the unanswered question your film pursues?
My current feature is about a father who fears that if he is to die in this remote part of the Chihuahua desert his son will never know what really happened to him and the curse of his family will be repeated. Hence...A Lonely Place For Dying.
My last short film revolved (no pun intended) around the decision to use a cheap, .38 special. It was about cheap criminals stuck in shitty, dead-end lives. Hence, Saturday Night Special. I'm working on a Vampire Western with my writing partner. Superficially, it's an action film filled with gun fights and vampires...but at it's core, it is about the nature of sin, the weakness of most humans and how deceptive evil is. We're either calling it Dead Reckoning or Dark Is The Night.
I've noticed a trend in film titling. The percentage of films with poetic titles seems to be increasing. I think this is a wonderful trend for our art form. Titles like "Before The Devil Knows Your Dead" simply kick ass. I wish the movie lived up to that title!
In film school I was often ridiculed because I'd think of titles first. I always said "But, titles summarize the dramatic question of the movie." I was called "Mr. Hollywood" which is not a compliment at NYU.
In one of our screenwriting classes we were taught this terribly cheesy technique for titling movies. List random adjectives in Column A. List random nouns in Column B. Draw random lines between them and you'll get punch titles! SEE HOW EASY IT IS!
"Deadly Game" "Fatal Attraction" "Lonely Schoolbus"
I told my professor I thought this was a stupid way to title movies. His response...
...how do you think they came up with "Lethal Weapon?"
Whatever. I focus on phrases from obscure poetry, songs or simply come up with phrases myself. And I simply focus on the dramatic question of the movie. What is the core of your film? What is the unanswered question your film pursues?
My current feature is about a father who fears that if he is to die in this remote part of the Chihuahua desert his son will never know what really happened to him and the curse of his family will be repeated. Hence...A Lonely Place For Dying.
My last short film revolved (no pun intended) around the decision to use a cheap, .38 special. It was about cheap criminals stuck in shitty, dead-end lives. Hence, Saturday Night Special. I'm working on a Vampire Western with my writing partner. Superficially, it's an action film filled with gun fights and vampires...but at it's core, it is about the nature of sin, the weakness of most humans and how deceptive evil is. We're either calling it Dead Reckoning or Dark Is The Night.
I've noticed a trend in film titling. The percentage of films with poetic titles seems to be increasing. I think this is a wonderful trend for our art form. Titles like "Before The Devil Knows Your Dead" simply kick ass. I wish the movie lived up to that title!
Chubby Rain?