Tutorials
How to Make an AI Short Film, Step by Step
Write a short script, break it into a shot list, storyboard the shots, generate each one with a video model, cut the clips on a timeline and export. Here is each step in order, with what it costs and where people go wrong.
To make an AI short film, write a short script, break it into a shot list, storyboard each shot, generate the shots with a video model, then cut the clips together on a timeline and export. It's the same order a live-action short follows. The camera is just replaced by a model, so the planning matters more, not less.
This guide walks through each stage for a film of one to three minutes, the length most AI shorts, festivals and social feeds work best at. Links go to the matching lessons in the MoviePro Academy if you want the button-by-button version.
What do you need before you start?
Three things: an idea small enough to finish, a budget in credits, and a single project to keep everything in.
- An idea with one character, one place and one change. "A night-shift baker finds a note in the flour bin and decides to leave town" is a film. "A moody piece about loneliness" is not yet.
- A budget. Video is priced per second. A 5-second shot costs about 5 credits on a cheap model and 45 or more on a premium one, before retakes. See how much AI video costs per second for the full table.
- One project. Script, cast, shot list, storyboard and edit all belong together. In MoviePro they live in one project, so nothing gets copied between apps.
Step 1: How do you write the script?
Write a proper screenplay, even for a one-minute film. Scene headings, action and dialogue are what the later steps read.
- Start from a logline. The course lesson Premise and logline shows how to test one.
- Write two to three pages. One formatted page runs roughly a minute on screen, so a two-minute film is about two pages.
- Write only what can be seen or heard. "She remembers her father" can't be generated. "She turns her father's watch over in her hand" can.
MoviePro's Script Editor formats screenplay elements as you type and can generate a first draft for 1 credit if you want something to react to (Draft a script with AI). Rewrite the draft in your own words. We cover format in detail in how to write a screenplay for an AI film.
Step 2: How do you turn the script into a shot list?
Break each scene into shots: what the camera sees, how long it holds, who is in frame and what they say.
A useful shot-list row has:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Shot size and angle | Medium close-up, eye level |
| Action | Mara pulls a folded note from the flour bin |
| Camera | Slow push in |
| Length | 5 seconds |
| Cast in frame | Mara |
| Dialogue | MARA: Who left this? |
| Sound | Fridge hum, distant traffic |
In MoviePro, Analyze script (free) fills the Scenes panel from your headings, and the AI breakdown (1 credit) proposes shots for each scene and sends them to the Shot List (Break the script down). The AI director can also build a shot list from a short concept with a target length (Plan the shots).
Aim for shots of 3 to 8 seconds. Short shots hide the artifacts models make on long, held takes, and they give you more to work with in the edit.
Step 3: How do you design the cast and the look?
Before you generate any video, give the model something to match. This step decides whether your film looks like one film or a playlist.
- Cast. Make each character an element with reference images: front, three-quarter and profile. MoviePro's reference sheets cost 2 credits a view (Build your cast).
- Locations. Make each main location an element too, ideally an empty shot of the set.
- Look. Write a one-line style prompt (stock, era, light, grade), a negative prompt and a palette, then apply it to every shot (Set the look).
Our guide to keeping characters consistent across AI video shots goes deeper on this step.
Step 4: Why storyboard before generating?
Because a storyboard frame is cheap and a video take is not. In MoviePro a frame costs 3 credits; a 5-second Seedance 2.5 shot at 720p costs 45. Agreeing the composition on a still first is the cheapest way to get the shot you meant.
Import from shot list makes one frame per shot. Frames are drawn in board order, and each sees the previous frame and the scene's first frame, so sets and staging carry through a scene (Storyboard it). Image frames can then become each shot's first frame; see image-to-video vs text-to-video for when that helps.
Step 5: How do you generate the shots?
Run the whole shot list through one model, check every take, and re-run only the failures.
- Pick a model for the job. For a first pass, use a cheap model such as Wan 3.0 (1–4 credits per second) to test the plan. For finals with dialogue and references, Seedance 2.5 takes up to 30 reference images and generates sound with the picture. Kling 3.0 and Veo 3.1 also generate audio. The model pages list every model's lengths, resolutions and prices.
- Check what goes with each shot. In Generate Shots, every row shows which references it sends. A character missing from that list will be the model's guess.
- Generate, then review. Expect to keep about one take in two or three. Failed generations are refunded.
- Check the dialogue. Native-audio models sometimes slur or swap words. MoviePro transcribes every take with dialogue and flags lines that don't match the script (Dialogue that lands).
The Render every shot lesson covers retries, warnings and switching models for a single shot.
Step 6: How do you edit an AI short film?
Exactly like any other film: assemble, then cut for story, then cut for rhythm.
- Assemble. Lay the clips out in shot order. In MoviePro, Assemble clips to timeline does this and trims each clip to its planned screen time.
- Rough cut. Watch it straight through and cut anything that doesn't move the story. Generated clips are often longer than they need to be; trim into the action (From assembly to rough cut).
- Sound. Add room tone, effects and a music cue, and duck the music under dialogue (Mix the sound).
- Grade. Shots from different runs never match out of the box. A single LUT and a consistent black level make them sit together (Grade, titles and captions).
If a take is almost right, fixing it is usually cheaper than generating again: remove an object, extend a clip, or re-voice a line (Fix a shot without re-rendering).
Step 7: How do you export it?
Export a high-quality master and a delivery file for each place it will play.
| Destination | Format |
|---|---|
| YouTube, Vimeo, festivals' online screeners | MP4 (H.264), 1080p or 4K |
| A master to keep, or to hand to a colourist | ProRes 422 or DNxHR |
| TikTok, Reels, Shorts | 9:16 reframe, MP4 |
| A sound mixer | Audio stems |
MoviePro's editor exports all of these, either in the browser or with a cloud render (Export for every screen).
How long does it take to make an AI short film?
A one-minute film can be done in an afternoon if you skip the cast and look steps. MoviePro's first film in one sitting lesson does exactly that in about 30 minutes. A considered two-to-three-minute short with a designed cast, a storyboard and a proper sound mix usually takes one to two weeks of evenings. Most of that time goes into writing and fixing shots, not waiting for renders.
How much does an AI short film cost?
For a one-minute film of twelve 5-second shots, with two takes per shot on Seedance 2.5 at 720p, the video costs about 1,080 credits (12 × 2 × 45). Drafting the whole film first on Wan 3.0 at 480p adds about 120 credits and usually saves more than that in final takes you didn't need. The storyboard adds 36. Writing, planning, editing and exporting cost nothing. Current plan and pack prices are on the pricing page.
What are the most common mistakes?
- Starting with video. Every shot generated before the script and cast are settled is likely to be thrown away.
- Long takes. A 20-second shot gives the model 20 seconds to drift. Cut it into three shots.
- Prompting the camera in prose. Set shot size, angle and movement as camera settings where the tool has them; describe the action in the prompt.
- Skipping sound. A silent cut of generated shots feels unfinished even when the pictures are good.
- Skipping the grade. Uneven colour is the first thing that gives away a film assembled from separate generations.
Where to go next
Work through Start here in the Academy to make a first film quickly, then the Write, Design, Shoot, Cut and Ship tracks to do each step properly. The film craft behind each step, from short film structure to continuity and invisible cuts, is in the free course. Everything MoviePro does across the pipeline is listed on the features page.
