I've used Final Draft for years, and I love all the new features in version 10.
Celtx used to be a decent free option but try looking at FadeIn for a cheap 'middle ground' of the two.
You can always change the font and use Courier or Courier New instead of Courier Final Draft. I have found if you export your script as a PDF and then print it from Preview, it looks better than printing directly from Final Draft.
Nobody worth their salt would use Cyberlink PowerDirector.
Personally, I use Avid Media Composer but I'd recommend Adobe Premiere Pro CC, it's intuitive and pretty powerful.
I've used it since it was part of CS4 and although I don't use it anymore, it's improvements are putting it up there with...
My film school is partnered up with an acting school so I'm lucky ;)
Also, many casting websites will have 'free work' actors, usually desperate to fill up their showreel and get as much experience as possible.
Well the 'blood water' from The Shining was just liquid in a miniature set.
Computers weren't really used in films to create visual effects until the late 1980s, even then it was a combination of practical and digital effects.
An eight minute short I did for one of my HSC Drama major works. Shot in two days on a very low budget.
https://youtu.be/ZbrX6G1tHKM
A struggling star has to re-live her life changing encounters with a shady, manipulative agent until she starts questioning morality and societal boundaries.
This could be done in Adobe After Effects. I'm no major expert in 3D models and CGI so I couldn't tell you how the buildings were done exactly but there are tutorials out there. Alternatively you could get a matte of a cityscape (painted, sketched, made in Photoshop, etc.) and use After Effects...