Creating realistic on-screen text message visuals have become quite popular these days and can be seen not only in numerous Hollywood movies and favorite TV shows but also in various independent productions.
This creative approach quickly turned into an incredibly powerful asset that helps filmmakers to tell their stories more efficiently and effectively eliminating the necessity of showing a phone’s display on screen all the time. The on-screen text messages literally exploded showcasing the constantly evolving aesthetics of film form. Here are some of the best example to date.
A Brief Look at Texting and the Internet in Film from Tony Zhou on Vimeo.
The video also explains some of the main reasons why filmmakers utilize this approach. In the frist place, it saves money and time. Unless you want to shoot sixty inserts of a phone in your film, it’s a lot easier to add some text layers here and there. Using shot/reverse shot is slow, and you have to keep the phone on screen long enough so that your audience will be able to read it. On screen texting solves a lot of this clutter.
Plus, it allows to combine action and reaction in the same frame and give an uninterrupted view of actors’ performance which is another benefit to visual storytelling. As we can see in the few examples above, even using a simple text without those fancy bubbles around still can achieve excellent results. Just make sure that the font you pick can be read easily and stays consistent through your film. You can even add a slight movement of the text which can make it even more visually compelling to your audience.
If that doesn’t work for some reason, you can still use a more sophisticated approach such as creating and customizing animated After Effects templates like the ones showcased in the video demo below. RocketStock made it easier than ever to show chat and texting in filmmakers videos by creating Messenger. In essence, it’s a free After Effects template that includes five unique chat styles. Everything you need to do is customizing the look to fit your project.
Messenger: A Free Text Messaging After Effects Template from RocketStock on Vimeo.
Overall, filmmakers have the creative freedom to experiment with this relatively new technique by pushing the boundaries and aesthetics of their artistic vision even further. By showcasing much more information on screen, this method allows you to move the story quickly forward and immerse your audience deeper into the plot.
[via: PremiumBeat, source: Tony Zhou, Rocket Stock]
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