FROM ZERO · A ONE-PERSON CREW
Make an AI short from scratch
To make a short drama or a short film with AI, you have to be the writer, director, production designer, cinematographer, editor and sound recordist all at once, and learn one more craft on top: getting the model to generate reliably. The good news is that each role only needs a handful of key ideas to start. They’re laid out below in the real production order, and every step links to its terms, where you’ll find animated demos and prompts you can copy.
The seven roles you’ll play
What story are you telling? Who wants what, and what stands in the way?
ScreenwritingWhich shots does the story break into? What does each shot show the audience?
Directing · Shot SizeWhat do the characters look like? What style and colors does the whole film have?
Genre · Style · Color · AI WorkflowWhere is each shot taken from, how does it move, where does the light come from?
Camera Move · Lens · Lighting · CompositionHow do you get the model to generate reliably and consistently?
AI WorkflowIn what order and at what pace do the shots join up?
Transition · PacingWhat does the audience hear: dialogue, voice-over, music, ambience?
SoundSeven steps to a finished film
- 01
Screenwriter
Work out the story
Start with one sentence that says who wants what and what stands in their way, then break it into a three-act scene outline. Short drama needs a hook in the first 3 seconds and another at the end of every episode. Keep dialogue short and hide the emotion in actions.
- 02
Director
Break it into shots
AI video generates one shot of 3 to 8 seconds at a time, so the script has to become a shot list: every shot gets a shot size, camera move, what’s in frame, duration and line. Open each new location with an establishing shot; cover dialogue with shot/reverse shot and keep to the axis; use inserts for key information and reaction shots for emotion.
- DirectingShot List / Storyboard
- DirectingEstablishing Shot
- Directing180-Degree Rule
- DirectingShot / Reverse Shot
- DirectingEyeline Match
- DirectingInsert Shot
- DirectingReaction Shot
- DirectingBlocking
- Shot SizeExtreme Wide Shot
- Shot SizeWide / Full Shot
- Shot SizeMedium Shot
- Shot SizeMedium Close-Up
- Shot SizeClose-Up
- 03
Production design
Lock the characters and style
Make a character sheet first (front, side, back) and write the character description as one fixed block of text. Then set the style and palette of the whole film and find one style reference image. Settle the aspect ratio here too: 9:16 for vertical short drama.
- 04
Cinematography · Images
Make a first frame for every shot
Following the shot list, generate a still for every shot first: composition, light and focal length are all decided here, and anything that breaks (hands, text) gets fixed with inpainting. Images are cheaper, faster and easier to change than video.
- 05
Cinematography · Video
Generate video shot by shot
Hand the first frame to the video model and write only how things move: the character’s action plus one camera move. One prompt makes one shot; when you need an exact landing point, use first and last frames. Generate each shot several times and keep the best take.
- 06
Editor
Cut it together
Lay the shots out in shot-list order and default to hard cuts; carry a movement across two shots (cut on action), and use match cuts between shots with similar shapes. Let the pace go fast then slow, or keep accelerating, and end on the most tense moment.
- 07
Sound
Add the sound
Do dialogue and voice-over first, with lip sync on close-ups that have lines; then lay down ambience so the space feels real and add foley to key actions; music goes in last, ducked under the dialogue. You can leave a beat of silence before the climax.
Example: the shot list for a 40-second vertical short, “New Year’s Eve”
Logline: a delivery rider who just lost his job wants to get home on Lunar New Year’s Eve, but the last bus has already left, and he has been hiding the lost job from his family. Each row below is one video to generate on its own; the right column lists the terms that shot uses.
| Shot | Length | Size · Move | Picture | Sound | Terms used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 3s | Extreme wide · slow push | A small-town bus station on Lunar New Year’s Eve, red lanterns swaying in the wind, fireworks in the distance | Ambience, distant firecrackers | |
| 02 | 3s | Close · handheld | The delivery rider bursts into the waiting hall; the departures board says “Departed”. He stops. | Hurried footsteps | |
| 03 | 2s | Close-up · insert | His phone lights up: his mother sends a photo of the reunion dinner, an empty bowl and chopsticks at the table | Message chime | |
| 04 | 4s | Close · locked off | He calls: “I have to work this year, I’m not coming back.” He never looks up. | Dialogue (lip sync) | |
| 05 | 3s | Close · locked off | He hangs up and stays still, head down | Silence | |
| 06 | 3s | Close | A horn sounds; he looks up toward the top right of the frame | Car horn | |
| 07 | 3s | Low angle | A truck with its headlights on rolls down the ramp | Engine | |
| 08 | 6s | Over the shoulder · shot/reverse | The driver rolls down the window: “Where to? I’m going your way.” He freezes, then smiles. | Dialogue, music comes in | |
| 09 | 5s | Aerial · rising | The truck pulls onto a snowy highway and grows smaller | Music swells | |
| 10 | 4s | Close · locked off | At his front door he raises a hand to knock; an unfamiliar man’s voice comes from inside. Cut to black. | A riser, then sudden silence |
Before you publish
- Does something happen in the first 3 seconds? If not, recut the opening.
- Is the lead the same person in every shot (face, hair, clothes)?
- Do the dialogue shots cross the line? Do the characters stay on the same sides?
- Any broken hands, text or signs? Fix those frames with inpainting or use another take.
- Is the music burying the dialogue? Does the ambience match the location?
- Does the aspect ratio match the platform (9:16 for short drama)?
- Does the ending leave a hook that makes people want the next episode?