Screenwriting : Movie Titles by Renee Miller

Renee, I'm all over the map when it comes to naming my own screenplays.

Sometimes, I title a script after its main character(s), as was the case with "Andrea," "Shorthose and Flaxbeard," and "Gayle Strawberry and Her Soda Pop Music Makers."

Or else, I try to be clever, subtle. Wanted to write about ragtime musicians...so I titled the ensuing screenplay "Really Old School." (After all, ragtime was the first form of popular music to come out of these United States...and you can't get more old school than the music that made Scott Joplin famous.)

Another tactic is to use a line a character utters and turn that line into the movie's name. That's how "Got Any More Bullets, Sister?" and "Pixie Dust" got their handles.

All the VERY BEST to you, Renee! Glad you're here on Stage 32!

I generally just give a new project a working title for the file only - something like 'Current Project'. The final title usually evolves over time and is related to the theme. It's not uncommon for multiple titles to show up. Aces and Eights became Dead Man's Hand...

Try "What + Where" and you might come up with a title like Star Wars, . Often only What is enough - Halloween, E.T...

Lots of good suggestions above! I usually have a title in my head, but I also usually change it after I've done a couple pitches! Jalapeno became Misguided, A True Christmas became Christmas in Distress, Crazy Little Athol became Crazy Athol. You almost have to ruminate on it as a whole project for awhile. I know we're not supposed to judge books by their covers or films by their titles, but I do. No pressure ;)

I find the main topic and state it.

The Valley

The Hostage

Amy

Drug King

The Trial

I always suspect that a producer will change it. They haven’t yet. But I consider the title a working title.

Make it clever, but not too clever. I originally titled my script Stealing Poseidon. It was a screwball poker comedy with a title that sounded like some sort of Warhol-esque arthouse film.

My wife came up with the new title on accident: Cracked Aces. It's a poker term for when you have Aces and still lose (heartbreaking!), it is an event that also HAPPENS in the film, AND they are all "aces" at poker and are "cracked" (in the head.) Only took 3 years...

My newest script I had the title before I had even written an outline. Ya nevah know.

What’s it about ? I would love to help.

Believe it or not there's an actual horror movie titled - Horror....now, that's what I call creativity!

On a serious note, yeas I would go with Craig's suggestion...

Single word titles particularly in the horror genre seem to both work well and be popular.

Rk Epps it's about a blind clairvoyant who becomes the target of the serial killer she's trying to help the police track down, but when her abilities fail her she must rely on her wits and intuition to unravel the clues before she becomes the next victim. My working title is Blind Justice, but there have already been two films made with this name, so I'm trying to come up with something else before I pitch it next week.

Thanks for all the input on this everyone. It has given me a lot to go on as I work through the process.

Story in 1-3 words.

A phrase that has multiple meanings, all that apply to the story.

Something visceral and memorable.

Something that doesn't require that you have already seen the film to understand it.

Try mixing and matching words in other languages (example: a two-word title would have one word in English and another in Greek or Latin). :)

Stephano hit in on the head, It can give you a variation of something ordinary and add a layer of mystery to it.

I just found this sight and I love it here. I agree with Jim Boston. I used a line from one of my characters for my title. Not only that, I actually wrote the script around the title. How crazy is that? Best of luck to you!

I just keep writing until it just hits me like a diamond bullet.