Gangster Research

Names

After we were happy with all the work we had done of the storyboard and our research etc we decided it was about time we pay attention to other elements in our film such as the names we are going to use for our 'Gangsters'. Although we didn't dislike regular names, these would simply not fit in with the genre of our film. Creating a Gangster name wasn't as easy as we initially thought but it deemed to be quite enjoyable as we were able to explore our imagination and build the characters personality around their name.

  As I want our film to reflect our hard work and ability i did some research in my own time into Gangster names by researching on the Internet the reasoning behind the gangster names, the top 10 gangster names and also the names used in films such as The Godfather etc.

1) Think about your characteristics. Many people create a name based on a characteristic or habit that people commonly know them by. For example, if you're known to be cheeky and daring, adding "Dirty" or "Crazy" to the front of your name is a good idea. Using this method means that your name gives people an idea of what kind of person you are, and also makes it easier to come up with ideas. However, we have to be careful that we remain clear, and don't choose something that may give our target audience the wrong idea before they've met our characters.

2) Consider adding an inside joke or story. A lot of gangsters get their names from background stories and histories, or an inside joke. In the movie 8 Mile, the main character gets the name "Rabbit2, because when he was a baby he looked like a rabbit. Another character was called "Future" because people considered him the future of music. Although these names may not seem very gangster or "cool", they grow popular easily and often convey your personality easily.

3) Think about length. Some gangsters have three or four individual names that merge together, and others simply use one word. It depends on you, your gang and your style. If you're looking for a more expressive and traditional name, you will find it more convenient to come up with a longer name. If you just want something different for people to call you by, you can look at just one or two names.

4) Choose your style. There are various styles to gangster names. One popular style is Italian gangster names, which are often quite long. Other gangsters simply go for short, blunt names that are self explanatory. Once you select a style, you'll get a bigger understanding of what exactly you want. You don't have to abide by the rules, though creating your own style and rebelling on the traditions will probably make you considered more gangster, anyway.

5) Consult your gang. If your gang all have names that seem to follow a theme, you may draw inspiration from there. You can also ask people what they picture calling you, aside from your regular name. Asking them generally what they think would be a good gangster name for you may not come up with a specific name, but probably will give you some good ideas.

I am more than confident that these steps will help us a lot when it comes to creating the appropriate names, it will also allow us to build up the attributes as personality traits of our different characters as well as their rank in the gang.