Researching Thriller Film Titles

The title of a film is definitely a very important thing to consider for any film. It is essentially the first piece of information that the audience can obtain from a film before even watching it. When creating my film opening sequence I will need to think of an effective name that will reveal some information about the film but at the same time keep it mysterious and allow the audience to make assumptions on what the film could be about. I have looked at roughly twenty different film titles from a range of thriller sub-genres and thought about why they have been used and why they are effective.

After researching a handful of thriller films I discovered that certain names have specific purposes and they all have different effects on the audience. For example, 'Paranormal Activity' is a very simple and clear film title- it tells the audience that the film is based about the paranormal. This type of film title is very revealing because the aim is simply to attract the attention of people who like to watch ghost films. However, the title 'Spectre' is the opposite. It reveals very little about the film and leaves the audience to interpret what they think it will be based upon. This type of title is often used for films that are well know by the audience such as the James Bond films. This is because it is most likely that audience already know what to expect from these types of films. Finally, the film title 'Saw' allows the audience to obtain some information without watching it but at the same time keeps a lot of the film content a mystery enforcing them to watch it and find out what happens.

Another thing I found, during my research, was that the most popular films all had very simplistic and short names. The reason for this is because using a short title consisting of only one or two words makes sure that it sticks in the audience's head and assures they remember the name of the film come the time when it is released.

The title for my film will be 'The interrogation'. I believe that this is an effective title because firstly it tells the audience what it will be based on and give them some insight on some of the hard-hitting content. The title tells the audience that there is clearly an element of crime involved in the film which intrigues them because crime is a very popular theme in thriller films. At the same time though, the name choice is good because it still keeps a lot of the content hidden from the audience, leaving them asking questions such as: What is the crime? Who is being interrogated?