Thriller Name- Disposition

On the cusp of shooting our two minute psychological/thriller, the group contemplated as to what the hybrid should be called. We collectively weighed up two names, deciding which one suited the film most appropriately. We needed a name, which single-handedly provoked audience response through enigmas and mystique. I also feel it had to illustrate the antagonist’s psychological state within film, as he is most definitely the focal point. However, I feel the concrete name we concluded on has an even deeper relevance to the plotline, as it mirrors the antagonist’s views upon the world.

Desolation

Initially, we toyed with the name Desolation; nevertheless, it generally appeared that such a name wouldn’t provoke the audience’s response to such an extent. It did however mirror the antagonist’s degeneration in mind and social status as the thriller progresses, which is an idea I still like. Despite this, it feels too black and white, cliché or even one dimensional.

When you analyse a typical mainstream thriller name, such as Se7en, Marathon Man etc, you notice a growing correlation of ambiguity. Desolation almost seems to answer itself before the audience even watch the film, as images will conjure up in their mind of grim trepidation. As we are trying to deceive our audience through the themes of distrust and normality, a blatant title didn’t mirror these ideas, so after some careful deliberation, we settled on the name Disposition.

Disposition

Initially, I had a sparse understanding of how to define Disposition. I primarily understood it as a balance between two things. However, after some light research, it was to my surprise that it had more than one definition, which one the whole, related back to our psychological/thriller.

Fundamentally, many define disposition as a state of mind- “he has a happy disposition”. Relating back to our thriller, the audience will endeavour to seek out his authentic mood, only to find out the monster he truly is. In this case, the name could be regarded as extremely ambiguous, and possibly generalised to the point where the audience are given a brief insight to the film, but nothing concrete enough to reveal the storyline.

Secondly, one could analyse this polysyllabic word as dispose. The act of getting rid of something is a notion that could effectively provoke audience response, just due to the generalisation- who, where, and why?

Finally, and most prominently, is the final definition I researched. A disposition is a habit, a preparation, a state of readiness, or a tendency to act in a specified way. I found this somewhat profound, and an interesting theory that works alongside our thriller, as when all the elements above are entwined together, they almost create an embodiment of our antagonist. For example, he feels the natural affliction to commute from London (habit, a preparation, a state of readiness), which is evidently a monotonous task; however, it is this mundane lifestyle that may influence him into committing the heinous crimes he does (to act in a specified way). Obviously, this is only one way of evaluating the antagonist’s actions. However, this proves how a mere name can help encourage mystique and suspense within a psychological/thriller, and enveloped around ambiguity and uncertainty, should mirror the chosen genre.