On Screen Text Message Effect

I want to use the on screen text message effect as pictured above in my film. I don't plan to use it very much in my film but still feel it would add a good effect in just a few scenes. After reviewing a few websites that offer bits of software that make this possible on Final Cut, I have come to the conclusion that any external pieces of software will be too expensive and I will just use one of the text effects that Final Cut already offers.

First Script

FADE IN:

EXT. ABIGAIL'S HOUSE, NIGHT - ABIGAIL ABIGAIL arrives home looking exhausted, she makes her way into her house, hangs her keys up and walks in. 

INT. ABIGAIL'S HOUSE - ABIGAIL throws her coat onto the sofa, looks around the house wondering if anybody is home. 

ABIGAIL:

(Shouting) Hello? Anyone home?

ABIGAIL gets no reply so just assumes nobody is and precedes to go to the kitchen. She makes herself a drink and something to eat before getting comfortable in front of the television.

FADE OUT

FADE IN

ABIGAIL is still watching the television but it is clear there has been some time since the last time she was seen. She is now in different clothes. She hears a loud noise come from upstairs and inspects it.

ABIGAIL:

(Shouting) Hello?

ABIGAIL walks upstairs and looks around the house, but finds nothing out of the ordinary. She then hears a slam from downstairs. Looking scared, she walks downstairs to find the kitchen cupboard doors open. She panics a bit and tries to ring her family and then friends but gets no answer from anyone. She walks into the kitchen and keeps texting her friends but her phone isn't working. The light in the room in the background turns off. Strange things continue to happen around the house and ABIGAIL continues to attempt to phone her friends and family. She receives a text from somebody. 

PERSON ON PHONE:
(texting) What's your favourite scary movie?

ABIGAIL reads her phone

ABIGAIL:
(texting) Shut up you mug

PERSON ON PHONE:
(texting) :( :( :(

ABIGAIL shakes her head and puts her phone down and goes back to watching tv. More time passes 

Update

When I tried to film last night, we found that the lens attached was far too long and meant any inside scene I attempted to film was too zoomed in and became distorted. This meant my filming has again been set back, but once my teacher has replaced the lens for me with one that she has, I can pick up where I left off. Until I start to film again, I will focus the rest of my time on researching and starting my ancillary tasks as I still need to get them done.

Filming

As I stated in a previous post, I was planning to film over the weekend. However, due to illness I could not use my location that I wanted to film and have had to delay filming again. I now plan to film tomorrow night and this time, should be entirely capable of filming in my location. Because I was not filming, I spent the weekend familiarising myself with the camera I am using as it is one I haven't used before and had no idea of how it worked. I have borrowed this Canon EOS 1300D camera from a teacher as it is far better than any of the other cameras available to us as students. However, having never used such a camera and my experience only limited to simple video cameras, I had to spend some time reading the information booklet, testing things out on the camera and watching YouTube videos.

The video I watched was very useful as it covered all of the things I need to know about this camera and I now feel far more confident about using it to film.

Deadline Update

The deadline for my three practical tasks is the 20th of February, a date that gives me just over a month to complete the three tasks.  Once my mocks are out of the way, I will make the three projects my priority and focus many of my free periods and some free time on them until I finish them. This deadline will be reachable.

Lighting

My film is going to rely on lots of my own artificial lighting to create different atmospheres in different scenes. I used another student's blog to get these photos, which are a demonstration of three point lighting.

The lights are broken down into three: the key light, the fill light, and the back light.

The key light is the one to the left, and is typically the main light used in filming. This light is influential on the scene and helps to create shadows on the other side of the object being lit. I will use shadows heavily throughout my short film, so this form of lighting is one that I intend to use.

The fill light is the one depicted centrally, and is used to remove unwanted shadows created by the main light. It is the lighter one of the two, and I will only use this form of lighting when I have unwanted shadows present in my scenes, which may be a common problem due to the nature of the film I am creating, which will rely heavily on manipulated lighting.

The third and final light is the photo on the right, and is one I don't intend to use over the course of filming. The back light is primarily used to define characters from their surroundings rather than to provide a direct light, which is something I doubt I will need to do. However, upon experimenting with the lighting in my scenes, this light could prove to be useful and I may end up using it.

Before filming I will research all 3 lighting techniques and eventually decide on which of the three to use. I will definitely use the main, key light but I am currently unsure on whether or not I will use the remaining two.

Update on Filming

I had previously planned to film my piece of work on a date that I and my actress had set in the Christmas holiday. However, the night before filming I fell ill, and was unable to film. I currently cannot film because now my actress is ill and I am in the middle of my mock exams, meaning I now plan to film next weekend, if my actress is back to full health. This has been an unfortunate set back but it has been out of my hands.