When a character has two names
I have a character that appears midway through the script, but is never introduced by name and the reader should not know who he is at this point. So, let’s call him something descriptive: ONE-LEGGED MAN. All the while, in other scenes, his actual name is being mentioned. Let’s say: KEVIN SUGARMAN. Towards the end of the script he introduces himself to a character and it becomes important that the reader understands that ONE-LEGGED MAN is KEVIN SUGARMAN.
From this point out what do you think would make for the smoothest read:
1. Continue calling him ONE-LEGGED MAN
2. Call him ONE-LEGGED MAN/KEVIN SUGARMAN
3. Or start calling him KEVIN SUGARMAN
– Ruckus
Atlanta, GA
This happens in scripts all the time. There’s no perfect solution, but your general goal should be to confuse the reader as little as possible for the fewest number of pages.
If One-Legged Man has dialogue as “ONE-LEGGED MAN,” keep using that name through to the end. It’s confusing to have dialogue blocks with differing names.
If One-Legged Man has no dialogue (or very little dialogue) before he becomes Kevin Sugarman, it may be worth swapping his name, particularly if he hasn’t been prominently featured in a lot of other scenes. The slash technique (One-Legged Man/Kevin Sugarman) works best in scene description, and then only as a reminder to the reader. The guy’s name shouldn’t be 25 characters long every time you use it.
Finally, there are times when the best solution is to simply tell the reader that the character’s name is Kevin Sugarman from the time he’s first introduced. From what you’ve described, it sounds like the reveal is very important to your story — it a key joke or plot point. But in many cases, it may not be worth the trouble and possible confusion.
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February 21st, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Just another option (not to be a snob, just what I do when I encounter this situation) – When I change my character’s name during a page of dialogue, like when STRANGER becomes KEVIN FLOURMAN, I do this:
STRANGER (walks in) Hello, Susie.
SUSIE Dear God, Kevin!
KEVIN (STRANGER) It’s okay, sorry to scare you.
My two cents.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:46 pm
John, I don’t know if you can change it now, but there is a typo in the God script. You have ‘infallability’, which should be ‘infallibility’. Just letting you know. Also, I loved the Nines & the short film God, both were brilliant. I have only found 1 easter egg. I am terrible at finding those things. I hate knowing there is more on the DVD that I can’t see, hopefully you will post on how to find them, because I love that kind of stuff. Thanks for a great movie that I am proud to add to my collection. Have a good day, bye.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:10 pm
You’ve actually answered this question before (though if you get into semantics, they aren’t the same), and much better, in my opinion.
Characters who are not yet important
February 21st, 2008 at 8:34 pm
@FishyFred: You’re right to post the link so people can compare. The situations are different.
In the question answered above, you have a character whose name is deliberately being withheld, from both the reader and the viewer.
In the answer you link to, there’s a character who is unimportant in the scene in which first introduced (such as a group situation), yet logically needs to be there. So my advice was to include him, but to hold off a “proper” introduction until the character actually does something significant. There’s much more to an introduction than giving a character a name.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I remember in the script for Taking Lives, at the end of the script, two characters named Costa and Asher change identities between themselves, the one we thought was Asher turns out to be Costa and vice versa. The script doesn’t call them by their true names, and when the plot twist appears, it says: Note: Costa will now be called ASHER.
I think that readers want to be surprised, just like if they were watching a movie, and since this plot twist in particular isn’t very complex, it’s pretty hard to get confused when you read the note.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Didn’t you already answer this before from a different reader? Always good to refresh, though.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Not that it’s crazy similar, but check out the script for “The Usual Suspects” to see how Christopher McQuarrie handled the whole Keyser Soze/Verbal Kint madness. Can’t go wrong with studying that script.
Good luck.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:57 am
This reminded me of Douglas Adam’s character Slartibartfast who’s character appears, and has quite a bit of dialogue, before he reveals his name.
Douglas Adams said: “One thing I don’t think I explained in the script book was that I was also teasing the typist, Geoffrey [Perkins]’s secretary, because … she’d be typing out this long and extraordinary name which would be quite an effort to type and right at the beginning he says ‘My name is not important, and I’m not going to tell you what it is’. I was just being mean to Geoffrey’s secretary”
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:59 am
Check out Shakespeare in Love to see how Tom Stoppard handles characters with multiple name changes.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:59 am
If you look at the Boogie Nights script, you’ll see a note to the reader that says the character will now be referred to in the script as “Dirk Diggler” even though he has not selected that “stage” name in the story yet.
March 7th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I think if the “reveal” of the character happens later, then it’s okay to call him STRANGER first when he’s mysterious and then PROFESSOR JENKINS when he becomes important 30 pages later as long as you allude back to where he was first introduced so the reader recognizes him and there’s no confusion.
The example cited above in the first post by Tim is confusing. Why bother calling him STRANGER at all? Just say:
Kevin walks in.
KEVIN Hello, Susie.
Susie cocks her head. Blank expression.
SUSIE (finally recognizing him) Dear God, Kevin!
KEVIN It’s okay, sorry to scare you.