Names!

So, one thing I seem to have avoided is the topic of naming my characters. Whilst this doesn't necessarily need to be told in the trailer, I think it would benefit the entire media package, if the three main characters were to be named, even if it is only for reference in areas of planning and evaluation. This in mind, I need to come up with some names!
Now, when we look at other films, there are many different names for characters, from films like 'Saw' where the main character is called John Kramer, yet often goes under the alias of 'Jigsaw' to comedy films where the characters are simply named things like Chuck Levine (I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry).
Whilst mine isn't a horror or a comedy, names are still pretty standard anywhere you look! In the sports film 'Facing The Giants' the lead character is simply called Grant Taylor and in 'The Longest Yard' the character is called Paul Crewe. What is to be noted is that many sports films have a comedy aspect to them, which is different to mine, as mine is far more dramatic, with very few comedy aspects to it. What is also to be noticed, is that most sport films are American, unlike 'The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner' which is British, where the main character is called Colin Smith. Again, very simple. This in mind, I can start looking at names that sound British to put into my media package.

What I want to do is capture quite modern times in my film, so I want to go with modern names. The top boys name last year was Oliver and actually, I took quite a shine to the name. So, the main lead character, shall be called Oliver. Now, I also want last names to the character, so they have more character and feel more real. The theory is that if they feel real, then the film will be more real! So, picking a last name isn't that easy, as there are no 'popular' last names, if we don't look at it on a historical basis. If we did that, then every character would be named Smith. So, I decided to just come up with one that took my fancy! Simple as that! The last name I liked was Young. Now, Young also has some great connotations with it. As my film is essentially focusing on British Youth Culture, the name Young is pretty much directly focusing on 'Youth'. As simple as it sounds, my hopes are that the name Young, will directly influence a younger generation to watch my film. So, now that I have the main characters name, I need to move onto the 'Love Interest'.

Picking a girls name is going to be slightly harder than the boys, as my female character is designed to be a love interest, so the name needs to be pretty and elegant, yet relatable. A film that does this very well, is 'Bend It Like Beckham'. One of the main characters is played by Kiera Knightley, who is more often than not seen as a very attractive actress and so her name is one to be looked at. She is named Juliette 'Jules' Paxton. The name is simple, easy to shorten and pretty. So, with this in mind, I need to come up with a good name myself, following pretty much the same guide as before! Something modernly popular with a random last name. Unfortunately, I didn't find a name I liked in the top names until I reached close to number forty in the list. The name I found was Scarlett. Whilst not a particularly conventional name, I took a shine to it and thought it would fit my female character well! As for the last name, I decided to go with Stevens, as the double 'S' sounded quite nice and free-flowing.

The last name I needed to come up with was the Antagonist. Now, for this I do want a popular name, but without wanting to offend anyone when I choose the name, I want something quite sinister. As I'm sure many people would agree with, sometimes names like 'Randall' and 'Darius' can sound quite evil, if taken in the right context. So, I wanted to create something like this. After checking out a few different sources, I realised that I actually quite liked the name Sebastian, as even though it's not particularly sinister sounding, it's quite harsh to say and is very unconventionally British, making it quite perfect! As for a last name, I decided I wanted something else quite similar, so I decided on Powers. Okay, so actually yes, it is conventionally British and before someone says all I did was copy Austin Powers, I have my reasons!
The Antagonist in the film has a considerable amount of 'Power' in a sense, so the name Powers, implies that directly.

What is also to be kept in mind here, is that these are just the main 3 characters and more characters will more than likely make an appearance in the trailer, although they aren't that important. Also, these are just references and will most likely not even be said across all three of the media products I am creating.
But, it's good to have names for many reasons, and here I have them!