Text Over Film

When posed with the question of whether or not one can create meaning in their film without the use of dialogue, some may turn to on-screen text if they feel that such a communicative aspect of a media product is necessary.

I personally do not intend to use on-screen text in my short film and would be surprised if any text, regardless of whether or not it is edited in, was to be used in my short-film, as I do not deem it suitable for my short film. When considering the style of my production and the mood that I am trying to create, (ominous, cumbersome and mysterious) I simply do not see something as one-dimensional, as direct and as simple as on-screen text being effective in a production such as mine.

However, if I were to use on-screen text in my short-film, I would rather it not be edited in, I would rather it be naturally placed and come in the form of a sheet of paper or a book. For me, edited-in on-screen text takes a lot of magic out of a scene, it kills a mood and creates the gap between the viewer's world and the world in which the film takes place. The text makes it clear that the film is not real, which severs the connection that the audience want to make with a film. From start to finish, I think that the best films get their viewers lost in the world of their characters and on-screen text puts up a wall, perhaps the fourth wall. I do not want this wall to be broken in such a fashion.

Other films have implemented this and I see it as a cheap method of communication, plastered over a perfectly good scene, making it apparent to media students such as myself, that it was quickly edited in during post, with no soul in it whatsoever. One positive of text over film, is that it cuts a corner when it comes to conveying a conversation that most likely would not occur in any other way at the time, however it simply makes a scene feel cheap and soulless in my opinion.

Above is a short segment from 'Non Stop', an action thriller film. In this scene, Bill Marks (played by Liam Neeson) is sent an ominous text message which states that a passenger on the plane is planning to murder another passenger in twenty minutes. For me, this scene is not much good. I think it would have been more effective if it was left a mystery what Bill Marks saw and we eventually find out that a homicidal passenger is seated on the plane.

I believe that editied-in on-screen text is ineffective, cheap and ultimately to be avoided in a media product.