Building off of the last blog post, this one is going to talk about movie titles. It is generally the first thing you know about a movie, and one of the main things you will remember. Many-a-times I have been in a conversation about movies and they are referred to by their title.
Duh.
How else would you refer to a movie?
Exactly, the title of a movie can say a lot about it, and thus, it is quite important. Though Shakespeare wondered if a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, I do think that the title of a movie can help you enjoy it more, or at least find a new film because of its interesting title.
The title is also something that can be changed with relatively little effort. There is the original name of the movie on the script, or even the work it was adapted from. Then almost all movies have a production name they work under to discourage locals from wanting to check out the latest big movie. For example: The Dark Knight Rises, filmed in Pittsburgh was shot under the name “Magnus Rex”. Until it finally plays in theaters (or maybe has its first big commercial) the title can change, but once people start watching it, there is no going back. A great movie title can be remembered for years, and even enter the common language, just think of Inception and the -ception phrase used for something with multiple layers.
Marketing plays a large part in the choice of a title. With the Disney-Pixar film Ratatoille, there was likely concern over the title. What kid is going to know how to say a French word with equal numbers of consonants and vowels? Odds are you know the title, and most of them do as well. This is because there was a deliberate campaign to teach people how to pronounce the word on every poster and trailer so that they could talk about it, not simply refer to it as that “R- French word movie”.
Note the phonetic pronunciation
Another Disney example where the title was cleverly chosen is the movie Tangled. It would make sense for the movie to be called Rapunzel, in line with the other princess movies named after the main character. But if you have seen the movie (I have and am not too ashamed to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it) you will know it is not a typical princess movie. There is lots of action and humor that go along with it. The movie as a whole works for boys and girls of many ages, and in order to convey this, the titled was changed because a “Princess movie” connotated a certain genre that would turn others away.
However there are also examples of titles that, while maybe not bad, could be better. One of the most iconic and highly-rated films is Shawshank Redemption. It is a great movie with great acting and a great story. But it did poorly in theaters, in part because of its title. Think about it. What is a Shawshank Redemption? (Shawshank is the prison it takes place in for those who are curious) A movie with the title Twelve Angry Men implies it is a jury of 12 and they are mad about something. It gives you an idea of what is going on (similar to the trailer). Another poorly-chosen title is the Spanish Prisoner. I recently watched this movie and it was very interesting. But it has nothing to do with a prisoner and nothing to do with Spain. The title is based off of an age-old scam much like the Nigerian prince emails, a reward is promised if you can help free a Spanish prisoner. The movie is not really about this either. It suffered from its title and many people have missed out on an otherwise enjoyable film. My last example of a bad title is The Grey. Before you click the link, just think about that title. It could not be much less descriptive, and in my opinion, lacks creativity.
The last title I will leave you with is Back to the Future. A ridiculously awesome title when you think about it. But the head of Universal Pictures wanted it to be changed to “Spaceman From Pluto” based off one small scene. The rest of production thought it was a joke and laughed it off, but it almost came close to ruining the movie.
Imagine this with a different title
Now a title is not the most integral part of a movie by far. But just like a person’s name it is the first thing you hear and as such there should be significant thought put into it before showing it to the world, not just some pun or random line in the movie. It should have real meaning and be able to convey its meaning in just a few short syllables. I know that is a tall task but hey, that is why they print it in big fonts.
I never gave much thought to movie titles and their importance before reading this. However, a title has massive amounts of sway in regards to your perception of the movie and whether you want to see it or not. Full Metal Jacket strikes me as being a really good name for the type of movie it is. Just the name grabs your attention and the attitudes associated with the words full, metal, and jacket set the mood for what is an intense film.
I have never really given much thought to movie titles, but I now see their significance. Looking back, there are plenty of movies I haven’t seen strictly because of the title. I think that writers and production struggle with finding a title that isn’t over complex, but also captivating and iconic. I do find it interesting how some movie sequels change the title completely and how some just add “2” or “3” afterwards. I wonder why that is.
I completely agree with the fact that movie titles are extremely important. There have been many occurrences in which the title of a movie has either made me want to watch it or just skip over it and have no interest. As you mentioned with Shawshank Redemption, the title does not give much clarity about the plot of the movie, and I did not know what “Shawshank” meant until reading this post.
The movie Back to the Future makes me fantasize about going back in the time machine to get all the Mcdonalds menu prices and that yummy sauce they stopped selling, I wet all my nuggets in it, I wish I could go back a few years ago at the store in making stocks.
Watch a French housewife as she makes her way slowly along the loaded stalls… searching for the peak of ripeness and flavor… What you are seeing is a true artist at work, patiently assembling all the materials of her craft, just as the painter squeezes oil colors onto his palette ready to create a masterpiece.
I can’t for the life of me not eat something that I want to eat in Chick Fil A menu. You know how if you turned on a faucet in your sink to wash your hands, the idea of leaving the bathroom without turning it off is insane? That’s how I am about ignoring delicious food.