1. Constructing my film title

2. To create my own film title, I need to research into
existing film titles to help me decide and think of my
own. As my film is a psychological thriller, I need to
look at existing psychological thriller film titles.

3. Existing titles
The title for Black Swan could mean a few different things.
The film’s plot revolves around a young woman who has to play the role of the
Swan Queen in a ballet, which is considered a big and important role as that
includes the white swan and the black swan. The white swan represents
innocence and purity, while the black swan represents evil and pain. Throughout
the film the woman goes from being a naïve and innocent woman to her physical
and psychological metamorphosis into the black swan. Therefore, the character
represents the Black Swan, which could be the title of the film.
Similarly, Black Swan is like an oxymoron, because swans are usually seen as
elegant, beautiful birds but the word black represents darkness, evil and
sometimes even death. The plot of Black Swan is like this as it is about an
elegant, beautiful ballet dancer but with dark underlying themes and an instant
of death.
There is a famous theory called the Black Swan Theory by Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
which is a ‘metaphor that describes an event that is a surprise (to the observer),
has a major effect, and after the fact is often inappropriately rationalized with
the benefit of hindsight.’ This could be seen as similar to the plot of the film, as
well as the fact that the show in Black Swan is Swan Lake, and therefore the
character has to play the black swan.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory

4. Existing titles
The film title of Donnie Darko is a character title, as the main character
of the film is a teenage boy named Donnie Darko. It seems pretty
simple, but there are many different English techniques used to create
the name Donnie Darko which is why it works very well as a title for a
psychological thriller.
Not only are psychological thrillers quite dark in appearance and
themes, the actual film Donnie Darko is very dark and the titled
character has hidden emotions which are dark. Therefore, it seems
fitting that the title of the film should be Darko and that his name is
this.
The DD effect is alliteration, which makes the run of the title being said
quite quick and smooth, as well as being a memorable film title (ie.
Geoffrey Peterson,, Donald Worthington, Leonard Spencer is less
memorable than Donnie Darko, Billy Blood, Charlie Choo)

5. Existing titles
The Machinist title stands out quite well, as it is about a singular thing.
This thing is a ‘machinist’ which is someone who works with machines.
Because the title is of someone, it shows that the film will be centred
around someone who falls under this category, which is a machinist.
Despite the fact that the it could be hinting that the main character is
this said machinist, there are other links that could mean it is about
another machinist, not the main character and therefore he has
something else to discover.
Machinst’s obviously work with machines, which are dangerous, dark
and people often have accidents with them. The connotations of
machinist are dirty, dark and altogether not very happy or bright, which
links with the genre of the film of a psychological thriller.

6. My title
My film is a psychological thriller, so I want the title to reflect the genre while also seeming
mysterious and intriguing for audiences.
Looking at what is involved in my trailer that could stand out for my title (like ballet, swans for
Black Swan, dark demons, futuristic events in Donnie Darko and a machinist in The Machinst), I
had to think of something that was an obvious relation that people would pick up on and notice
as iconography from my film.
-young girl haunting older girl
-murder
-masks
-blood, painting in blood
The one that sticks out for me is the use of masks in my film, as it represents the young female’s
identity and mind as she is not who she thinks she is.
Masks also connote being trapped, anonymous and without a personality, which are reasons it
is used in my film, but it also represents psychological thriller codes and conventions.
Therefore, I like the use of Masks and think I could use it as a title

7. Creating my title
Mask
I like this title, as it’s simply, straight to the point and memorable for audiences. However, I don’t think it
represents psychological thrillers fully.
The Mask
When I hear this title, I think of the comedy The Mask starring Jim Carrey. Not only that, the title assumes
there is only one mask and I know that not to be true within my film.
Masked
I very much like this title as I think it relates to my film as a girl sees herself wearing a mask and is haunted by
this mask. Being ‘masked’ removes a person’s identity, makes them feel trapped and alone as well as hinting
that there is something more to them. This relates fully to my film trailer.
Masks
This assumes there are more than one mask in the film, which is true, however it sounds more like a cult or a
group of people in masks, which is not part of my storyline.

8. My title
I have decided that I will call my film Masked.
Masked removes a person's identity which relates to psychological thrillers.
It could show that someone is trapped or burdened by something which is why they
are in the mask.
Being masked could link the young girl to other characters, because she has lost her
identity.
These are all part of my film plot.
When audiences hear the title ‘Masked’, I hope they will feel the
trapped, claustrophobic and scared feelings it represses, making them feel targeted
which is what psychological thrillers do.