It got me thinking about how I name my pictures and whether a cool title really matters; there is the obvious argument that a picture should stand on it's own two metaphorical feet, but my own preference is for a semi-mysterious title as well. 

I used to, in fact still do, make up pictures with a kind of cod-latin/spanish/german flavour to the title i.e. "Mortis Vampyris" or "Stigmata Eterna" (above) or even "Tempus Liquidium" all spring to mind.  I also sometimes get an idea from the music I'm listening to at the time.  Marc Bolan and T Rex are good for that.  I also can't resist writing a particularly good one on the picture itself; probably a sign of some deep-seated psycholgical issue.....

Online translators, epecially latin ones, are a good starting point too.  Did you know you can even get random fantasy/horror sci-fi title generators online?

Seems a cool/unusual title gets your picture noticed sometimes.  A while back, I deleted 400+ works from here, not realising I was also deleting the wild titles I had slaved over for more than ten years....!

Of course, you have to get your prioroties right; when you find yourself spending more time dithering over a title than the picture, it might be time to step away from Poser for a while and/or listen to some new music - after all your older brothers' collection of British progressive rock can only help you so far!

Just though it might make for an interesting discussion.  It's either that or I have to go and fix the lights in the kitchen!

I personally like thought out titles as I think they add something to the visual.

When I see "render 523" as a title I just wonder what the artist was thinking or feeling while making the piece that their muse decided to rob them of a good title too. I'm not saying it takes away but more like it adds something extra to have one.

£0.02. :O)

Far as I'm concerned, the title of a graphic is about as important as the frame or border.  That is to say, not very.

Unless you're pursuing some Dadaist joke or representing some sort of post modernism, the title should really be a bald reflection of the graphic content.

Even Dali's titles were more or less a straightforward description of the paintings; it just happened the paintings themselves weren't straightforward, hence the somewhat bizarre titles.  I've done it myself once or twice, when the subject matter needed it but at the core, my titles are always a description of what's going on.

Don't even get me started on borders and frames; they're the most pointless waste of screen space I could ever think of.  

And yes, The Skids were great.  A real shame about Adamson.

Interesting. You're a musician Sam. Are song titles important? I think that names can be evocative and perhaps somehow add something to a work. 'The Scream' vs something like 'Figure Study #78'. I think there's a kind of synergy between the title and the work. A name can't make a work but it can reinforce it IMO. I think that's pretty much true for a picture, a perfume, anything. Vampyroteuthis infernalis is OK but 'Vampire Squid' really hits. 

Whether they're stories or poems or pictures, I'm terrible at titling already existing things. Terrible. I much prefer to title by date or by some random generator than to try to think of something appropriate.

I have the same problem coming up with character names and even pet names.

However, I find if I come up with the title first, before I even have much, if any, of a conception of the thing I'm going to create, it works out much better.

You could name stairway to heave Led Zepplin #15 and it wouldn't change the song one bit.  Mona Lisa would still be the same image if it was call smiling girl.

When you read a book, you visualise the story through its words. If the character giggled or snorted over a comment, you picture that. This is partly why I think a good title adds to an image or a song as the case maybe, especially instrumentals or soundtracks without vocals.

Words add that something special which is why they can break your heart or make you mad. Otherwise they would just be a string of meaningless letters out your mouth and all we would need are gestures or body language alone to convey a message.

Again just my opinion, not right or wrong. :0)

I find that if a song title doesn't come directly from a phrase in the refrain or the first line of the song, the song will almost certainly end up being called, "What's that song by _______ that goes, '_____ __ ____'"? 

To wit: Bullet for butterfly wings.

However, I do know that my favorite Beethoven string quartet is opus 127. For some reason I find numerical notations easier to recall.

I'm thinking Sam may be quite right.

A title might inspire the art, or the title might come from something I am doing just to try something new.  Nothing posted to the Gallery here, but I do the same thing in City of Heroes when I make a new character - I will make the toon match a name I have in mind or I will settle on a nice look and then pick a name.

Then, of course, that name will already be taken. :(

I try to add something with a title, I guess... maybe a little narrative... back story, or hopefully something to raise questions about what an image is meant to represent?

Or the title might sometimes just be an extension of or expansion on some sort of visual pun...

I like words, and playing with words... and a lot of my ideas for renders are illustrative of narratives I have going on in more depth in my head... so I guess for me, naming an image is part of the fun.

Quote - Interesting. You're a musician Sam. Are song titles important? I think that names can be evocative and perhaps somehow add something to a work. 'The Scream' vs something like 'Figure Study #78'. I think there's a kind of synergy between the title and the work. A name can't make a work but it can reinforce it IMO. I think that's pretty much true for a picture, a perfume, anything. Vampyroteuthis infernalis is OK but 'Vampire Squid' really hits. 

Song titles can be important, depending on context.  Even something like "Stairway to Heaven" is called that because that's what it's about.  We have a song called "The Wasp Factory", because it's inspired by and based on the novel of the same name.  OTOH, there's a guy - Colin Newman - had an album called "Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish" and all the tracks were called "Fish".  Peter Gabriel's first three albums were called "Peter Gabriel".

I wouldn't call an image "Render #15", or whatever; what I do is give the picture a label which is a fair description of the contents.  Everything depends on context; a title should be apparent by the subject matter and if you spend too much time agonizing over it, you're wasting creativity on what is really just a label.

Or, you could go the Chinese route; I heard a story that they tend to like very literal titles, and so the title of "The Crying Game" was changed to "Oh No! My Girlfriend Has A Penis". 

Quote - Or, you could go the Chinese route; I heard a story that they tend to like very literal titles, and so the title of "The Crying Game" was changed to "Oh No! My Girlfriend Has A Penis".

ROFLMAO :lol:

I do think a good title is probably both descriptive and a little surreal... I always liked Philip K. Dick's titles... e.g. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" or "The Zap Gun".

The film adaptions of those first two obviously bore very different titles, even in their English language versions...

Yeah, Blade Runner and Total Recall.  By strange coincidence, I was talking about those two films with my band mate Alan, tonight.

Book and film titles work to a different set of criteria from pictures, IMO.  There's generally no room for ambiguity in a film title, given the aggressively commercial nature of the market and book titles can sometimes afford to be arty, pretentious, weird or just plain daft because there's often room - within the story - to make the reason behind it perfectly clear.

With a picture, the visual idea is right there immediately so the title is really a secondary thing, really a placeholder more than anything.  I think the only time I've used a title for a pic that's not a direct correlation to the image is "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" but even then, it's supposed to be an ironic comment on the idea we could all upload ourselves to a super computer, live forever and not suffer diseases.  Most likely at the price of losing whatever it is makes us human, since I am convinced body and mind are inextricably linked.

I agree that changing a name wouldn't change a song, image etc. The experience of viewing or listening would presumably be the same. So, yes, names can be mere placeholders. OTOT, my gut feeling is that they can be something more. Unless you live in a gallery, you experience images mostly as memories of viewing them. Perhaps the 'right' name adds to the way the thing is imprinted in your consciousness - beyond just being easier to remember. It may depend on whether you're more visually as opposed to verbally oriented. It's like how 'autumn' doesn't 'feel' the same as 'fall.' The more I try to explain it, the more elusive it becomes - which may mean its rubbish or that it's a very subtle effect :-)

Yup... film titles certainly have to be concise. They can, often, seem to be fairly abstracted from anything in the film, that said. They are definitely I guess, a prime example of where a name is critical to drawing the audience in. Well, pretty critical... I guess trailers also play a key part!

I'd say, actually, the same applies to book titles, really. The first time I actually read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" was in the form of a post film republication. As I recall it was titled  "Blade Runner" and subtitled DADOES... or perhaps vice versa... and had cover art with a likeness of Harrison Ford.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right about "body and soul" being inextricably linked, Paul. Indeed, I suppose I'm of the opinion that everything is inextricably linked... in some way... that would be my intuition at least. I guess it is only our brains that sort things into  "separate compartments"... or grades our perceived realities. I guess nature has made us quite territorial creatures? Or something...

I'm always amazed at how well my dog seems to classify certain different archetypal things by visual appearance, e.g. Postmen, lollipop people or garden statues of cats or dogs.

Still, all this cerebral classification is an essential tool and enabler for us, eh, I think...

...provided its calibrated right? Or at least not too wonky :wink

Quote - I agree that changing a name wouldn't change a song, image etc. The experience of viewing or listening would presumably be the same. So, yes, names can be mere placeholders. OTOT, my gut feeling is that they can be something more. Unless you live in a gallery, you experience images mostly as memories of viewing them. Perhaps the 'right' name adds to the way the thing is imprinted in your consciousness - beyond just being easier to remember. It may depend on whether you're more visually as opposed to verbally oriented. It's like how 'autumn' doesn't 'feel' the same as 'fall.' The more I try to explain it, the more elusive it becomes - which may mean its rubbish or that it's a very subtle effect :-)

I'd agree on this...

Our conscious minds are shaped substantially by linguistics, I think. Words are therefore very powerful things, potentially.

In this sense I guess, perhaps, a more neutral, mechanical (e.g. numerical) title, could be better than a poorly chosen name, that conjures up imagery somehow at odds with an otherwise good picture?

I think a title may be able to make you think about an image in a different way, perhaps adding to its power or impact. If you have an image of a battlefield strewn with the bodies of two armies that fought to the death, calling it 'Peace At Last' may have a different effect than calling it 'Aftermath' or something more literal. Like the image itself of course, it depends on the mindset of the viewer, their sense of irony, personal experience, yada yada.

Quote - We have a song called "The Wasp Factory", because it's inspired by and based on the novel of the same name.

Oh yeah, I'm a big Iain [M.] Banks fan too... and really like his titles... I reckon he strikes the right balance with them... between being concise and catchy and a literal label or description of the content... but also a bit surreal, quirky, or whatever... to pique interest, inspire curiosity as to the underlying meaning of the title.

Quote - Oh yeah, I'm a big Iain [M.] Banks fan too... and really like his titles... I reckon he strikes the right balance with them... between being concise and catchy and a literal label or description of the content... but also a bit surreal, quirky, or whatever... to pique interest, inspire curiosity as to the underlying meaning of the title.

The names of his ships in his "Culture" series are even better.

And to the OP: The Skids were brilliant!

Quote - The names of his ships in his "Culture" series are even better.

Yes indeed :biggrin:

Banksie lives not too far from you, mate.  I ain't spoken to him for a while but we were frequent conversationalists, times back.  A nice, very funny guy.  He gave his blessing to our song, too.  Said the lyrics were brilliant, which was real praise.

One of my favourite Culture ship names is I've Got A Very Big Stick. ith the type being deliberately tiny.  As for the Culture series as a whole, I think Excession takes some beating, although Look To Windward is pretty damn good, too.  Come to think of it, he's only written one outright lousy book IMO - Song of Stone.  I thought Whit was a bit "by the numbers" and Canal Dreams didn't ring true but by and large his books are head and shoulders above anyone else, in subject matter, ideas and quality of writing.  Banks has spoiled writing for me; I see so many shortcomings in other authors' work now.

Thank goodness 'A Clockwork Orange' was properly titled.  Otherwise I might have been misled as to the content.

A rose by any other name ...

Quote - Banksie lives not too far from you, mate.  I ain't spoken to him for a while but we were frequent conversationalists, times back.  A nice, very funny guy.  He gave his blessing to our song, too.  Said the lyrics were brilliant, which was real praise.

Hey praise indeed if he liked your lyrics! Well... actually, I just happened upon a rendition of your tune there on Youtube and I'd be inclined to agree with him. Great stuff! :biggrin:

You got a band website or anything... or more recordings available to listen to?

Last band I played guitar in was about ten years ago now... however I actually joined a girl band, as their kind of "Dad Drummer", LOL, for a brief stint last year, before the wee boy came along, and temporarily at least, has put paid to me getting out enough to practice with a band... getting up on stage is a buzz I definitely really miss though. Hope to get back to it...

Despite Iain Banks living a stone's throw away from me I've never met him... or at least never to speak to. Actually I've passed him in the street, in Edinburgh, probably at least a couple of times over the years... least it looked a lot like him... didn't ever feel the occassion was right to introduce myself

"Use of Weapons" is, I'd say, still about my favourite Culture book... but probably only by the narrowest margin. I struggle to think of one of his sci fi that I didn't love reading.

I haven't gotten round to reading Song of Stone or Whit, I have to admit. Know what you mean about Canal Dreams... although I did enjoy it nonetheless when I read it, as I recall. He set a gold standard, in my view, with both The Wasp Factory and The Bridge which I think even he is hard pressed to live up to, in the Iain Banks work.

I guess the Iain M. Banks sci-fi work just, well, exists in its own universe...

My favourite Culture ship name is from, I think, "Matter" and is "Pure Big Mad Boat Man" :biggrin:

Heh!  Didn't even know Al had uploaded that.  No, we don't have a website yet but there are some more recordings kicking around.  I'll try to get something to you.

Use of Weapons is sheer brilliance.  Now I think about it, that's probably me favourite.  Definitely has the best fight scene ever, with Zakalwe and the mute guy. 

Quote - Heh!  Didn't even know Al had uploaded that.  No, we don't have a website yet but there are some more recordings kicking around.  I'll try to get something to you.

Use of Weapons is sheer brilliance.  Now I think about it, that's probably me favourite.  Definitely has the best fight scene ever, with Zakalwe and the mute guy. 

Cool... would love to hear more of your stuff, if you've got more recorded.

I recently managed to copy a load of video taped footage of some gigs my last band did to hard disk. It was a total blast from the past... glad I got round to doing it

HAHAHA!!!! Thanks for that! And the Sequel? "Oh no! Hers is bigger!" :-)

Quote - Or, you could go the Chinese route; I heard a story that they tend to like very literal titles, and so the title of "The Crying Game" was changed to "Oh No! My Girlfriend Has A Penis".