Quoted from George Willson Se7en, as is billed, involves a serial killer hacking to the tune of the "Seven Deadly Sins" as listed in Christian literature, since the seven actually listed in the Bible are completely different, although the Bible does condemn all of these as sin. Let's see if I remember all of them: Gluttony Lust Greed Envy Pride Wrath Sloth

This isn't Se7ev.  It's Gilligan's Island!

Gluttony -- Skipper
Lust -- Ginger
Greed -- Mr. Howell
Envy -- Mayanne (always jealous of Ginger)
Pride -- the Professor
Anger -- Skipper (don't know why he gets two)
Sloth --Mrs. Howell.

And Gilligan represents the devil and the island represents Hell.  He keeps everyone on the island.

Need further prrof?  You can sing Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan's Island.  Try it!  I'll wait.


Phil

Funny how this thread went out of hand after the first few posts.

I have a question though:

What if it isn't an important person?

Like you say, "a MAN walks up to the window and looks through."

Do you need to say what his name is if he walks up to the window, looks through, and walks away? I'm sure you don't, but just in case...

Sean

Is that all the guy does, or is he supposed to be some lurking figure who will eventually reappear?

Will his name ever be spoken throughout the film?

If you have another instance of a MAN popping up, try top differentiate it, like MAN IN HAT or something along those lines.


And, the butler did it.

Quoted from Zombie Sean Funny how this thread went out of hand after the first few posts.

Yeah, it was partly my fault. I removed all the nonsense so we're back on topic...well, except for Phil's because it made me smile. On to the topic at hand...

If this man walks to the window and then walks away never to be seen again, why did it happen? Why did the studio hire this actor to walk up to a window and walk away? Where did he come from? Where is he going? What was he doing at the window? How does this 5 seconds factor into the larger plot? Do you even need this MAN to tell the story?

Characters deserve a name most of the time. There are instances where it would grow tedious (naming every Overseer in my Armor of Belial script would be ridiculous, just as naming ever Storm/Clone-trooper would as well), but in most cases if we are looking at someone, his momma gave him a name.

Quoted from Shelton And, the butler did it.

Only in one of the three possible randomly selected endings.

Quoted Text If this man walks to the window and then walks away never to be seen again, why did it happen? Why did the studio hire this actor to walk up to a window and walk away? Where did he come from? Where is he going? What was he doing at the window? How does this 5 seconds factor into the larger plot? Do you even need this MAN to tell the story?

Okay so say like the man walked up to the window and looked in and saw a lot of people doing weird things and he found it weird so he says one line (maybe even one word) and walks away and we never see him again. Probably for like a comedy script or something.

Sorry if I make myself unclear.

Sean

With something like that, you're better of going with MAN, MAN IN HAT, MAN IN HAWAIIAN SHIRT, whatever.  I don't think an actual name is necessary.

Of course, the next question would be "why not give him a name?" Is there a reason this MAN WITH ONE LINE should not have a name? The script is yours and you can give every single character a randomly assigned bit of nonsense you think is a name (i.e. THX 113 or just call everyone MAN 1 thru MAN 26. As long as it fits the storyline, then it's good. However, giving a character a name in the script gives him a point of reference, which is also good.

i just pick one at random and trust me i know how u feel i have the same problems sometime. but i learned what ever pops in your head and/or whatever name you wanted besides your name just write that nam down. it always works for me.

I always take a lot of time choosing my names, and I get very picky at times. Sometimes I need a name that for me, just totally epitomizes that character. I try and think of the kind of person they are, and then think of characters in other films or people in real life who are similar, and see what their names are. If nothing about the name jumps out at me, then I don't use it. And I never use names I don't like, because it puts me off my characters!

I was thinking about this when I was watching a "LOST" extra, where they were talking about the characters. They had little descriptions to sum them up, and I write those and then try and name my characters based on them. I was thinking HURLY just so sounds like a fat guy name lol. It just fits. And the summary of SHANNON was something along the lines of "Prissy, Paris Hilton type", and again I felt they nailed it. The name Shannon has always made me think a blonde Prom Queen type of girl. Funnily enough, I think the name of the actress who plays her is a perfect example of a name just not feeling right. Why in the world is that hot young thing called MAGGIE?! Makes me think of an old Granny.

It's hard to advise people because names often have different connotations for different people. But here are some of the more extreme examples of names I've used and why:

*Tomboyish tough girl - FRANKIE - It's a uni-sex name that sounds quite masculine. If I wanted her to be a sweet girly girl I'd call her HEATHER or ASHLEY, something like that. Talking of which, the joke is that the character insists on being called Frankie for short, since she hates her real name, FRANCESCA, because it's too girly and she doesn't think it suits her.
*Standard, typical guy. Very average - JOE - Bit of a joke there lol.
*All American cheerleader type - KANSAS - Another joke really, but I also think it's a pretty name, and the character is pretty.

Like I said, those examples are a little more extreme; I just used them to get the point across. They can obviously be more subtle than that. I would definitely say that names are important, and I don't like it when people use the first names that pop into their heads, because it tends to be quite obvious. It's especially bad if they're used on wafer thin characters, like in a weak slasher script or something. At least if the names are interesting rather than extremely common, you can tell the characters apart despite their lack of, well, character.

I firmly believe that names matter. You can say something about a character simply by giving them a fitting name, and using more interesting names for some doesn't hurt. Sure, you don't wanna go so off the rails that you end up with some bizarre set of really creative and uncommon names, because that’s unrealistic. There are people with common names and people with less common ones, so a nice balance of the two works well. They work in relation to each other in a way. But an abundance of one type doesn’t work to establish characters well.

My methods of name picking are various.  I sometimes come up with a name based on the character's personality.  For instance...

I have a crooked cop named Val Bente -- Bente = derivative of "bent" = "crooked", and I took the name Val because I heard it in the Mel Gibson flick Payback.

I have a little girl in one script named "Hailey Marlman" -- the name of my girlfriend's daughter.  

I have a country boy character named Roy DuBoise -- Roy's a typical country name but DuBoise gives it some flavor, which is fitting because he's a country boy who's anything but typical.  

I have a cop character named Strick, who's a by-the-book cop.  "Strick" = derivative of "strict" = "by-the-book."  

I have a character who doesn't know he's doomed and named him Timothy Vick...which comes into play later when his name is shown on his mailbox..."VICK, TIM" ("victim"...heh).  

You get the idea..  I don't particularly think it matters WHERE you get a character name from, but I do believe names are important.  I'll never have a character named John Smith or Jane Smith (though it worked for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie lol), but likewise I'll never have a character named Julius Vandermooth Ambercrombie III, either.