Find the filmable idea · 25 min

The strongest first film is small enough to finish and specific enough to remember.

Start with a feeling, then make it filmable

A good first film usually begins as a feeling: nostalgia, courage, mischief, loneliness. The job now is to turn that feeling into something a camera can see. "Loneliness" is abstract. "A night-shift baker slides a warm loaf through a mail slot, then eats alone on the flour-dusted floor" is a film.

Use the one-change rule

Choose one character, one place, and one visible change. Avoid a lifetime, a war, or a whole mythology. One change gives your sixty seconds a spine: the audience can feel the before and after.

The premise test

Can you see it? Can you say it in one sentence? Can it happen in six shots? If all three answers are yes, you have a filmable idea. If any answer is no, shrink the idea until the answers flip.

I want to make a 60-second AI film for beginners. Here is my idea: [paste idea]. Help me reduce it to one character, one immediate want, one visible obstacle, one location, and one clear change. Give me three tighter premises, each filmable in six shots. Do not write the script yet.

Write the one-minute story · 40 min

A short is not a compressed feature film. It is one clean turn, built in three beats.

The three-beat arc

Give your minute a skeleton. Setup (0–15 seconds) shows the character, place, and want. Pressure (15–45 seconds) makes the obstacle unavoidable. Payoff (45–60 seconds) shows the visible change. Three beats are enough for a complete story and few enough to actually generate.

Write in images

"She feels forgotten" is internal. "She sets a birthday cake for one, lights the candle, and watches the wax drip" is filmable. Translate feelings into visible actions, and keep dialogue optional: a short film should work with the sound off.

Turn this premise into a 60-second visual story with three beats: setup (0–15 seconds), pressure (15–45 seconds), payoff (45–60 seconds). Use only what the camera can see: visible actions, places, and props. Keep dialogue optional. End each beat on an image I could generate as a single shot.

Build the visual bible · 45 min

AI video forgets. Your visual bible remembers—so every shot belongs to the same film.

Five anchors

Constants versus variables

Decide what never changes and what is allowed to move. The cat's blue eyes and pink paw are constants. The camera angle, the crowd size, the time of day can vary. When a generation drifts, the drift is usually a constant that slipped.

Write the anchor paragraph

Compress the five anchors into one reusable paragraph. Paste it into every shot prompt. Repetition is the mechanism: the same words, in the same order, push the model toward the same world.

Create a compact visual bible for this short film: [paste treatment]. Define a character anchor, location anchor, medium, three-color palette, lighting rule, camera rule, and three continuity details. Keep each item to one sentence. Then give me one reusable visual anchor paragraph I can paste into every shot prompt.

Plan the shots · 60 min

Prompting gets easier when every generation has a job in the edit.

Write a shot, not a wish

For each shot, name the subject, action, framing, camera movement, light, and duration. One shot should describe one visual event.

Coverage buys choices

A wide shot explains space. A medium shot shows action. A close-up reveals meaning. Vary the image size so the edit can breathe.

The six-shot pattern

Shots 1–2 orient · Shots 3–4 complicate · Shots 5–6 resolve.

Turn this three-beat treatment into exactly six shots for a 60-second film. For each shot, give: story job, duration, framing, visible action, camera movement, continuity notes, and sound idea. Vary wide, medium, and close framing. Do not add new characters or locations. Treatment: [paste treatment]. Visual bible: [paste bible].

Make the rough cut first · 90 min

Previz is permission to be crude. The goal is to test timing, story, and shot order before you spend your best credits on polish.

Generate in passes

1. Coverage pass: get one usable version of all six shots.
2. Assembly pass: place them in order immediately, even if they are rough.
3. Repair pass: regenerate only the shots that break comprehension.

A useful prompt order

Subject + visible action + setting + framing + movement + light + visual anchor. Put the most important facts first.

Case study: Mayor of Dogtown

A fat Siamese cat with blue eyes and a pink paw becomes mayor of Dogtown, USA. The first previz used three broad beats: arrival, campaign rally, and swearing-in. The point was not perfect fur or flawless paws. It was proving the joke, the escalation, and the ending before a higher-cost production pass.

Capstone: recreate the 30-second previz

Use the same character anchor in three connected ten-second clips. This is the course's guided proof that a complete sequence matters more than a perfect isolated generation.

• Shot 1 · Arrival: The blue-eyed Siamese cat enters Dogtown. Establish the pink paw and the skeptical canine town.
• Shot 2 · Campaign: The cat commands a town-square rally. Escalate from outsider to unlikely leader.
• Shot 3 · Swearing-in: The new mayor raises the pink paw at the desk. End on an unmistakable civic triumph.

Edit for meaning · 60 min

The edit is where separate generations become one film. Cut for understanding first, feeling second, polish third.

Use three passes

1. Story pass: remove anything the audience does not need.
2. Rhythm pass: shorten the obvious; hold a reaction long enough to register.
3. Sound pass: add atmosphere, a few motivated effects, then music only if it helps.

Sound creates continuity

A steady room tone, wind bed, crowd murmur, or machine hum can make visually imperfect clips feel as if they belong to the same world.

Editing priorities

First — Clarity: Can a new viewer follow the action with no explanation?
Then — Emotion: Do you hold the moment where the character changes?
Last — Finish: Are titles legible and levels comfortable, without clipping?

Share and finish · 45 min

A film becomes useful when another person can watch it. Export a clean version, show it, and learn from what lands.

Export checklist

• First frame — Does the opening image set the world instantly?
• Last frame — Does the final image pay off the premise?
• Titles — Is the title card simple and legible?
• Dialogue — Is every word clear and intentional?
• Loudness — Is the loudest moment comfortable, with no clipping?

Share well

Do not ask "Did you like it?" Ask: "What did you think the character wanted, and when did you understand it?" One specific answer teaches more than ten compliments.

Borrow craft, not identity

Study how films use light, framing, pace, genre, and tone. Avoid cloning a living artist's signature style, and use real people's likenesses or voices only with permission.

Help me critique my finished 60-second film without rewriting it. I will describe each shot and its duration. Evaluate only: story clarity, pacing, visual continuity, sound continuity, and whether the ending pays off the premise. Give me the three highest-impact changes, in priority order, that I can finish in one hour.