Start from a character sheet, then write every shot around one face, one emotional change and one sound choice: close-ups for the moment a feeling changes, pauses in the dialogue, a locked camera, no score.
Most AI drama short films break at the face. A character looks different from one shot to the next, the model adds music nobody asked for, and the moment that should land plays as a blank stare. We read the 1,527 video prompts behind 17 films made in Flick, by the Flick team and the Summer 2026 Flick Residency, including The Herder, shown at the Cinequest Film Festival. This guide is what their makers do, in seven steps, each with a real shot and the exact prompt that made it.
How do you make an AI drama short film, step by step?
In seven steps, from a character sheet to the texture of the final shot.
Step 1
Build a character sheet
Karan Archana made an expression sheet for Evelyn, one of the two leads in Drop of Water.
Six faces of one woman: calm, focused, scared, grieving, fierce, tender.
One reference for how her face looks in each mood the story needs.
M.E. Owens did the same for Vivi in One More Day, then called the sheet by name in shot prompts: @Vivi Lovell Character Sheet.
Karan Archana, director of Drop of Water · GPT Image 2
Professional character expression reference sheet for Evelyn (same woman from the turnaround sheet reference images — mid-30s South Asian woman, olive skin, sharp jawline, high cheekbones, black hair in a tight ponytail, brown penetrating eyes, wearing fitted earth-tone trousers, tucked shirt with sleeves rolled up, sleeveless light jacket). Create ONE wide image showing SIX close-up portrait panels of her face, each with a different expression: neutral calm, determined focused, fearful scared, sad grieving, intense fierce, and tender emotional. Same face and features in every panel, 100% identical likeness to the reference, plain pure white seamless background, even flat lighting, chest-up framing for each panel. No scene, no props, no other people.
The turn of One More Day, the moment a character's feelings change, is one face, one emotion and one line.
Framing: an extreme close-up, background out of focus.
One emotional change: hope floods her face.
The exact words she says, in a voice taken from a reference clip.
A third of all video prompts in these films ask for a close-up.
00:05
M.E. Owens, director of One More Day · Seedance 2.0 · Reference to video
In the setting of @Hospital Room, Vivi Unconscious, Vivi @Vivi Lovell Character Sheet stands at the side of the hospital room. Extreme close up on Vivi, the hospital wall behind her, out of focus. Hope floods Vivi's face. She nods and says in voice of @Maya's Warning Label : "Yes. Please."
This Drop of Water shot spends more words on silence than on the line.
Evelyn gets two long beats before she answers, and one after.
Anything that would break the tension is banned: camera moves, dust, gestures.
Each line is its own Kling 3.0 4K shot, started from the last frame of the one before.
Start from the last frame. Ken has just said, "We can't leave her out there." He slowly turns his head toward Evelyn and waits. Evelyn doesn't answer immediately. She holds his gaze in complete silence for two long beats, her face unreadable, exhausted, resolute. No camera movement. No smoke, dust effects, or visual changes. The room remains perfectly still. Finally, without anger or hesitation, Evelyn quietly says, "She made her choice... when she drank the toxic water." She continues looking at Ken after speaking. Hold the silence for another beat. Natural cinematic performance, restrained emotion, realistic facial micro-expressions, no dramatic gestures, no additional movement.
The family car scene in One More Day is a single shot.
15 seconds of Seedance 2.0, no cuts.
Dialogue written as screenplay lines with speaker names.
The last line is pure intention, not action: everything is perfect, for a moment.
Start frame00:15
M.E. Owens, director of One More Day · Seedance 2.0 · Image to video
VIVI (in the back with black hair in two messy buns) looks at her father who is driving: "Easy for you to say. You've ordered the exact same thing for... approximately four hundred years."
FATHER: "When something's perfect, you don't change it."
Everyone laughs. For just a moment, everything is perfect.
Audio:
No music. Foley only — room ambient, a rising tension hum barely present under the scene.
Characters:
Elise — @Elise
Exact face, hairstyle, outfit, body proportions.
Visual Style:
Photoreal cinematic. Widescreen. Close coverage — tight singles, slow push-ins as the revelation deepens. Minimal camera movement. The stillness amplifies the weight.
Scene Duration:
6 seconds
Shot Breakdown:
Shot 1
Scene starts from @Elise Shot
Medium — Elise. Something shifts behind her eyes. She holds up a hand, stopping him.
ELISE: "Wait — wait, wait, wait."
Her voice remains controlled but the pace breaks.
ELISE: "Are you saying all of this wasn't initiated by a human — but by the Anger itself?"
Foley Sound Design:
- Elise's "Wait — wait, wait, wait": the first crack in her composure — small, controlled, but present
Do real filmmakers work this way? What 1,527 prompts show
Yes, the makers of 17 AI drama short films in Flick work this way: in their 1,527 video prompts, 46% cut the music, 43% lock the camera and 33% go close.
Start frame00:05
43%of prompts lock the camera
Stillness turns a glance or a breath into emotion.
How many generations does an AI drama short film take?
For 15 of the 17 films, between 23 and 617 images, clips and voice lines generated in Flick, with a median of 131. Uploaded footage does not count.
617 The Herder, a 4:27 film
539 Still Time, an 18:04 film
62 Boxing at the Opera, a 17-second piece
2 films, The Miracle and Battery Boy, built mostly from uploaded footage, so left out of the median
More detail: all 17 films
Images, video clips and voice lines generated in Flick on each film's public canvas. Uploads and anything deleted from the canvas are not counted. The Miracle (907 uploads) and Battery Boy (403 uploads) were built mostly from uploaded footage.
Seedance 2.0 and Seedance 2.5 made 967 of the 1,547 video clips generated for these films.
Across all 17 films, every model used 25 times or more. Upscalers and automatic model picks are left out. Card chips show each film's main models only.
Model
Kind
Generations
Films
Seedance 2.0
Video
575
10
Seedance 2.5
Video
392
10
Seedance Pro
Video
186
2
Kling 3.0 Pro
Video
132
3
Kling 3.0 4K
Video
89
1
Kling O3 Pro
Video
28
4
MiniMax H3
Video
27
6
Seedance 2.0 Mini
Video
25
3
Nano Banana Pro
Image
575
12
GPT Image 2
Image
302
10
Nano Banana 2
Image
260
9
Midjourney
Image
49
6
Eleven v3
Voice
44
6
Questions about AI drama short films
What is an AI drama short film?
A short, character-driven film whose shots, and often its voices and sound, are generated with AI image and video models. The craft is the same as any drama: a character, a turn in their feelings, and the sound around it. Made in Flick, they run from 16 seconds to 18 minutes.
Where can I watch AI drama short films for free?
On Flick TV, free and without an account, along with AI short films in every genre. Each film also has its own page on Flick, where its workflow can be opened.
Can AI make dialogue scenes with lip sync?
Yes. In Flick, Seedance 2.0 lists native audio with lip sync, and Seedance 2.5 and Kling 3.0 4K generate native audio. Write the line, the speaker and the delivery into the prompt, and the model generates the voice with the picture.
How many generations does an AI short film take?
Anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred. Across 15 AI short films made in Flick, the count ran from 23 to 617 images, clips and voice lines, with a median of 131, not counting uploaded footage.
How do I keep the same character across shots?
Make a character sheet first, a turnaround or an expression sheet of one face, then reference it in every shot prompt. In Flick, attach the sheet and call it by name with an @ reference, so every shot draws the same face.
What is the best AI for making a short film?
No single model. Across 17 AI drama films made in Flick, Seedance 2.0 and 2.5 made 967 of the 1,547 video clips, and Kling was picked for dialogue and multi-shot handheld scenes. Most filmmakers mix models on one canvas: an image model for characters and a video model for shots.
Can you make an AI movie for free?
You can start for free. Flick gives you 100 credits when you sign up, and 200 more for joining the Flick Discord, and the free plan includes MiniMax H3 Fast, MiniMax H3 Max and Pruna Draft video and every image model. Seedance and Kling, the video models drama filmmakers use most, come with the Standard plan.
Can I copy a filmmaker's workflow?
Yes. On a film's page in a desktop browser, choose Workflow to preview the canvas, then Get Workflow to clone it into your own project. Cloning asks you to sign up.
How long are AI drama short films?
From under half a minute to over 18 minutes. On Flick, short experiments run 16 to 29 seconds, and Residency films run 2:49 to 18:04.
00:05
00:05
00:05
05:38
03:21
18:04
04:35
04:06
02:49
04:27
03:47
01:38
04:58
10:04
05:30
09:14
03:11
00:17
00:16
00:29
