I have discovered HeroDreamer's online personanality...

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/necromancer.htm

thats awesome.... lol


ive only been here a couple months...some of you have been here for years..... these discussions may have been dead for a while now.. but they are fresh to my eyes... maybe i just cant help myself
but i have to throw in my two cents

im active in the forums i join.... once you realize you cant get rid of me without deleting me... you'll join me


muwahahahahah!!

Oh, in all honesty I'm one of the ones who doesn't mind seeing older threads pop up, but you know some people are rolling their eyes and getting grumpy, saying "By God, I thought we were all done with that!" Of course, I've said all I can say on names really, and I went off topic so shame on me. I'm bordering on taking this role: http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/evilclown.htm

Quoted from George Willson Oh, in all honesty I'm one of the ones who doesn't mind seeing older threads pop up, but you know some people are rolling their eyes and getting grumpy, saying "By God, I thought we were all done with that!" Of course, I've said all I can say on names really, and I went off topic so shame on me. I'm bordering on taking this role: http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/evilclown.htm

no, no this is you...

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/eaglescout.htm

Well, I've had occasion to be along these lines: http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/jekylhyde.htm

Choosing character names is a hurdle I'm well past but while this thread is still unearthed, I'm going to take advantage of it. How do you pick names for foreign characters who tend to have different names we're not used to hearing every day? I'm asking because, in this case, it's hard to tell if the names fit the characters, which normally isn't the case when using American names or names in general that we're more familiar with.

Perusing websites dealing with that culture could help with some variety so every Mexican isn't named Jose. There is really no substitute for being immersed, but not knowing whether your character sounds like a Toishi, Humberto, or Sergio, I imagine, won't hurt much.

Thanks George. Much appreciated.

Awesome site. Great contribution.

a lot of my names come from songs and movies

Alot of mine names just pop in head - Or they reference a book or flicker.

Basically, what to do with characters the audience doesn't yet know by name, but will?

For instance, do I start  calling the hero "John" (or whatever his name is) right from the start, or do I call him "man" until he's identified?  And if the latter, should I note in the screenplay that I'm changing his name?  Because it would be confusing to suddenly switch from "man" to "John", wouldn't it?

If you see him on the screen, then give him a name right away.  If he starts out as a figure hiding in the shadows, you can refer to him as the figure until he steps out into the light.  Then you can call him John.


Phil

Phil's way is the typical way that works in 90% of the instances for a screenplay. There's also the "tell what you see" method that should only be used if there is a dramatic reason to do it this way. If there is a some reason to withhold the name from the audience, it can be done in the screenplay, since it is done this way on screen, but like I said, there has to be a good dramatic reason to do it.

For instance, when the killer first appeared in Se7en, I doubt he was assigned his character name since he was pretending to be someone else, and telling his name in the script would have spoiled that aspect since his name is learned before we actually see him later.

Now it is important to be clear on who's who when you do this and definitely don't get carried away with it. Most characters should be named immediately.