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ANSWER

How do you make an AI short film?

Short answer

Write a short script with one clear arc, fix the look and cast as reference images, storyboard 40 to 400 shots, render each as a short clip and cut them together with sound. Our short films run 7 to 11 minutes and were each rendered on one Seedance 2.0 model at 720p.

Our short films

Short films made with Arc
FilmRuntimeStructureVideo model
RatKid and the Red Balloon9:445 chapters, one per level of the citySeedance 2.0 at 720p (19 shots), Seedance 2.0 Mini (5), Seedance 2.0 through a second provider (22, partly at 480p and upscaled); 17 final shots were rendered on Seedance 2.0 outside Arc when provider balances ran out
The Emperor's Pleasure Court10:226 chapters, 55 script units covering the series' first 15 episodesSeedance 2.0 Fast at 720p
BROODFALL10:0950 planned episodes; this 10-minute cut uses 364 shots chosen from 972 rendered clips (episodes 1–35)Seedance 2.0 Fast at 720p
Dragon Rising6:586 chapters, 42 multi-shot units, 16 locations with 4–6 camera plates eachSeedance 2.0 Fast at 720p

The method

  1. One idea, one arc. A short has room for one world and one turn. RatKid and the Red Balloon introduces a city level by level rather than following a complicated plot.
  2. Chapters of one or two minutes. Chapter cards give rhythm and hide jumps in location.
  3. Look first. Write the style brief and make reference sheets for every character and set before writing shots.
  4. One action per shot. Name a concrete light source and a single movement. Dragon Rising was written this way.
  5. Storyboard, then render. Fix framing on frames, then render the approved shots.
  6. Edit for pace. Keep the strongest second of each shot; let the score breathe before big moments.
  7. Finish. Narration, captions, a loudness-normalized mix and, if you like, an upscale of the master.

Shot counts and pacing

Our fast cut BROODFALL uses 364 shots in 10:09, about 1.7 seconds a shot. Dragon Rising runs 6:58 from 42 multi-shot units. The Emperor's Pleasure Court is 55 units in 10:22. A dialogue-led short needs fewer, longer shots; an action short needs many and a lot of cutting.

Common mistakes

  • Style rules that leak: "the red balloon is the only red" made the image model paint balloons into set sheets. State the rule for sets and wardrobe instead.
  • Colour words next to skin: a cold blue light on a face produced a blue-skinned character.
  • Changing the video model halfway, which changes the look.

Where Katechon Arc fits

Arc fits shorts built from many shots with recurring characters and places; every short above was planned, referenced and rendered in it.

For a single 10-second piece, a plain text-to-video tool is quicker; and Arc does not score or grade, which we did in an editor.

People also ask

How long should an AI short film be?

Ours run 7 to 11 minutes. Shorter is easier to keep consistent; festival and platform rules set their own limits.

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