How to make text message videos

Present it as fiction

These videos are often called “fake text” videos, and that's the honest way to think about them: they are short stories told as a chat. Write invented characters with invented names. Don't use real people's names, numbers or photos, and don't present the video as a real screenshot of someone's conversation.

Passing off a made-up chat as real can mislead viewers, can defame the people it seems to be about, and can break platform rules on deceptive content. A caption like “a story” or a fiction tag keeps it clear. The format works just as well when people know it's a story.

Write the chat

The first message is the hook. It has to make someone stop in under two seconds: “are you awake”, “don't be mad”, “why is your car at my house”. Then each message either raises the stakes or turns the story.

Keep messages short, as people really text: lowercase, fragments, one thought per bubble. Long paragraphs in a bubble break the illusion and the pace. Plan the twist first and write backwards to it; the best chats make the last message reframe everything before it.

Give the two people different voices in the writing too: one who sends long worried messages, one who replies with one word. Contrast is what makes a chat funny or tense.

Shapes that work

Most good chats follow one of a few shapes. Knowing them makes writing faster.

The slow reveal: one person keeps hinting at something, the other keeps guessing wrong, and the last message says what it was. The wrong number: a stranger texts the wrong person, and the reply turns it into something neither expected. The escalation: a small complaint grows message by message into something absurd. The flip: it looks like one person is in the wrong, until the final message shows it was the other.

Whatever the shape, cut every message that doesn't move it forward. A tight 15-message chat beats a loose 40-message one. Read it top to bottom once as a stranger would, and delete anything you skimmed.

Pace the bubbles

Each bubble should stay on screen long enough to read, and no longer. Short messages can follow fast; a reveal deserves a beat before it lands. If the video is read aloud, the voice sets the pace, and that's usually easier to follow than silent text.

Aim for 30 seconds to two minutes. Under 30 seconds rarely leaves room for a real twist; past two minutes, a chat needs several turns to hold people.

Voices and background

Two clearly different voices help viewers follow who's talking without reading the names: a different tone, and often a different gender. Read each message in its sender's voice as the bubble appears.

Pick voices that fit the characters as written. A panicked sender needs a voice with some energy; a deadpan one reads best calm. Listen to a few messages in each before you render, and swap a voice if a line sounds wrong in it.

Silent chats work too, especially for jokes where reading the punchline yourself is part of the fun. Pace them a little slower, since viewers are reading every word.

Like story videos, chat videos usually sit over gameplay, with the phone screen on top. The gameplay should move constantly but stay in the background. Use footage you have rights to.

Making them in Renafy

Renafy's text chat videos build an iMessage-style chat that pops in one bubble at a time, on every plan.

1. Pick a length up to two minutes and say what the chat is about, or leave it blank for a topic, and let AI draft it. Or write it yourself: press Enter to add a message, and it switches sides for you.
2. Name both people and, if you like, add a contact photo for the other person. Use an invented name and an image you have rights to, not a real person's.
3. Turn on reading aloud and pick a voice for each person, or leave it silent.
4. Pick gameplay from the gameplay library or use your own video, then render.

Questions