Naming the film

The name of a film is vital as it needs to capture the essence of the film without revealing anything. It also needs to intrigue the audience.

Horror film names tend to be:

• Very literal: 'Haunting In Connecticut' 'One Missed Call' 'Evil Dead'
• Focused on an object/person: 'The Ring' 'The Uninvited' 'The Others' 
• One word: 'Sinister' 'Psycho' 'Priest' 

Ideas for our film name:

• After Dark - Initially, our film was going to be called this, as the 'monster' chasing the main character around the house was real, so it would make sense that as if our film evolved into something like that, where the monster attacks people at night, and the girl was just another victim, that it would be called that. Later though, our film turned into a film about the girl, that tries to fight away the 'monster' who isn't physically real, but in her mind it is.
• Sad Eyes - Creates upsetting emotions and can also be identified with the drawings around the girl's room and on the title pages, but doesn't seem like it would be a horror film just from the name. This could be good as it could potentially attract a bigger audience, but might also keep people at bay from watching it, as it may not fit the horror genre wholy and could be confusing.
• Hurting - We liked this as it connotes both a mental and physical pain, where it can be seen in our opening sequence. It also sums up the notion of the main character being mentally disturbed without being too literal and ruining any chance of enigma being presented. It also creates strong emotions and can help the audience understand and relate with the character.
• The Disturbed - This fits the horror convention perfectly. It describes the girl with as few words as possible and also appeals to our target and secondary audiences and fits audience expectations. On the other hand, horror titles like this, focus on the 'evil' of the film', not the victim/protagonist. She by doing this, we may confuse the audience into thinking the girl in the opening sequence is the monster of the film. This could confuse them even more since she portrays the victim in the opening.

In the end, we decided Hurting would be the best option for our film, as it portrays the emotions of not only the girl, but the film as a whole, and also in a way tells the audience how to feel about what they are watching.