What's in a Name?

What's in a name?

In day to day life, I sometimes resent my name...Kathy. Here's why. It automatically tags me as a baby boomer, a title I'll never accept since I was born in the sixties. It also sounds common. If you gather 10 middle aged women in a room, you'll probably have three Kathys; although they may be Cathy, Cathie, Kathi or any one of numerous variations thereof.

Younger Katherines choose the more hip variation of Kate or Cat. Catherine, Kathryn, and a multitude of spellings have made this one of the most popular names of all times. It's not used frequently in the movies...of course "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Wuthering Heights" come to mind.

For movies, names matter even more. It's a place you can load with subtext. So, make sure you've got the right generational references for your characters. I can't tell you how many scripts I read that are supposed to be current, but have Frankie, Johnny, and Mary names. Unless they're an anomaly, when's the last time you knew a group of young people with those names all in one place?

I'm writing a script with an 18 year old named April. Her mom is not in the movie, but it is important to know about her. So, in creating my backstory of a woman born in 1977, what do you think I named her?  Of course, the equivalent to that generation's Kathy, her name is Jennifer.

There are web sites that give you the 100 most popular boys' and girls' names for each year. So, unless you have a really special reason for naming your character Destiny, check to make it believable for the generation.

Now, how can I change my name to Quin? Will imdb care? Will you?

That Seventies Style

Unlike the squeaky clean 60s the 70s was noted for films with creative and memorable subject matter that reflected the questioning spirit and truth of the times.

Young viewers and directors refused to compromise with mediocre films and supported stretching both the boundaries and conventional standards of the time. When restrictions on language, adult content and violence loosened for the first time, movies began to expand their horizons.

The civil rights movement, free love, the growth of rock and roll, changing gender roles and increased drug use also had an impact. Hollywood was renewed and reborn and the works of many new and experimental film-makers created a Hollywood New Wave.

Many of the audiences and movie-makers of the late 60s had seen a glimpse of new possibilities, new story-telling techniques and more meaningful 'artistic' options, by the influences of various European "New Wave" movements (French and Italian) and the original works of other foreign-language films.