Recently, a 100%AI-generated short drama "After Divorce: My Five Brothers Paved My Way to the Billionaire Throne" appeared on the overseas short drama hot list, with a cumulative heat value of more than 5 million, which is the world's first short drama among the best-selling short drama box office list!100%AI Generated Skits.
The reason why AI short dramas can quickly become popular in a short period of time cannot be separated from its unique charm, and there is a certain degree of breakthrough in the production cost, production mode and creative landing.
Innovative creative model to realize cost reduction and efficiency, and break the spell of doing short plays like gambling:
The producer of the above-mentioned overseas short drama mentioned that the production method of this short drama is not different from that of previous short drama shootings, where a complete production team needs to be set up first, and we can only know whether it is profitable or not after the shooting and editing is online. This short drama adopts the serialization mode, in the initial period, the director only one person to create, based on user feedback to judge the potential of the episode, decide to continue to create, how to create.
At present, the domestic AI short drama market has shown explosive growth, from tens of millions of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars, and the growth momentum is still continuing. The overseas market is also very broad: short dramas going overseas has become a hot trend, and AI short dramas perform well in the overseas market with their unique advantages.
How to Make a Short Movie with Ai
By systematically combing through the production process of AI short dramas in the current market, it mainly follows the following steps:
1. Writing the script:
First of all, define the type of short drama, for example: science fiction, romance, suspense, documentary, First of all, determine a general direction; whether to use the animation style, or the pursuit of realistic live-action effects?
The six elements of plot are perfected: time, place, characters, cause and effect
Give instructions to the AI: Tell the AI what you think, the more detailed the better! Example:
"Generate an outline for a short school crush drama with unique plot twists and a story length of around 10 minutes".The AI will follow your instructions and quickly generate an outline containing the main plot, characterization, and story development lines. (Below is the description template)
Please help me write a [short play type] short screenplay with a protagonist of [age] years old or so of [gender], [cause of the story]. The story takes place in [time, place] and she/he [story goes through, outcome]. The script should be [script requirements e.g. ideas/brainstorms etc.], the ending should be [ending style requirements], the story is [ XX minutes] long
(The above is a screenshot of the skit outline generated by my editor using DeepSeek)
Once you get the outline, once again refine the script with the help of AI. For example, for the dialog of a key scene, you can let it generate the dialog content according to the character's personality and the atmosphere of the plot. At the same time, you have to screen and modify the content generated by the AI according to your own understanding of the story.
2、Doing a split screen
When we had the AI write the subplot scripts, for each scene describe the effect of the image you want in concise words, including:
Scenery: panoramic, distant, close-up, medium, close-up, etc.
Angles: front, back, side, top, top view...
Composition: character position, background elements, center of gravity of the image...
Character description: appearance, dress, body...
Screen background: location, scene description
In the actual shooting, there will be several cameras shooting from different angles at the same time, in order to post editing, so the same reason AI needs to generate more different scenes and angles to show the change of mood or the relationship between the characters.This will make the movie look natural and less stiff.
Also have the AI organize the subplot into tabular form and generate MidJouney English cues (MidJouney isn't the only AI image tool out there, including instant dream, korin, flux, etc. all can generate images, but MidJouney has the best quality and aesthetic feedback)
(Above is a screenshot of the tutorial for generating a skit subplot)
3. Wenshengtu
If the MidJouney keywords have been generated earlier, then just paste them in directly to generate images, but there is a big problem with either MidJouney or other AI paintings, which is consistency, such as character consistency, style consistency, and scene consistency.
There are several methods that can be used to circumvent this:
Character consistency
1、Use AI pre-designed character roles
2, after the use of the face tool to replace the characters in the picture
stylistic consistency
1, the use of artist style, such as Hayao Miyazaki style, or Van Gogh style, this specific artist style
2, the use of detailed cue words, such as fashion Fantasy style, fantasy particles scattered style, cyberpunk style and so on!
Scenario Consistency
Use cue words to make sure that the same scene's subplot is all in one place, describing the background details in detail so that it doesn't get confusing
(Above is a reference to generating skit images on DeepSeek)
4、Tu Sang Video
The AI video technologies that Toussaint Video will utilize include: Generated Video - First and Last Frames - Subject Reference - Scene Reference - HD
The most costly aspect of doing video with AI is generating the video content, so you can't just simply import the images directly into it. Although the images themselves already have a certain movement trend, adding the right cue words will significantly improve the effect, as most players have tested. Given the real expense involved in generating a video each time, it is still necessary to improve the level of cue word writing (description template below).
"[Subject description] is being [dynamic design] and [environmental dynamics] are presented in [scene construction]. A [mirror transportation scheme] is used to create a visual atmosphere of [moody adjective]."
If you are making an animated skit, use professional animation software, such as Toon Boom Harmony. Import previously designed character images and scenes into the software, and design character movements and build scenes according to the script. Some AI-assisted animation production tools, such as Daz 3D, can quickly generate character action sequences through AI algorithms, greatly improving production efficiency.
Higher professional requirements can be utilized Runway ML With its AI editing feature, it can automatically generate transitions based on the content of the video and add subtitles with AI recognition. When it comes to adding special effects, you can use its library of AI effects, such as adding blur effects, color adjustments, and more, to make your videos more visually appealing.
For non-professionals, Cutscene integrates a wide range of effects, transitions, sound effects, and voice-overs to meet daily video editing needs.
ClippingThe following features are more useful:
Automatic Subtitle Function: One key to automatically recognize and add subtitles, you can also import external subtitle files, and even have the function of automatic translation.
Intelligent Read-Aloud Function: This function is similar to the simple version of Digital Man, which is capable of generating narration.
Sound effects library: Cutting Image comes with a sound effects library that covers most of the common sound effects, which basically meets the daily use.
6. Sound effects soundtrack
Use audio processing software such as Audacity to add appropriate music and sound effects to the skit. Search online for a library of free music clips and pick background music that matches the theme and atmosphere of the skit.
For sound effects, such as footsteps and door openings, you can download them from sound effects clips websites, then edit and mix them in Audacity to make the audio blend perfectly with the video.
The V4 version of suno is also a good music generator, although 10$/month, but don't worry about copyright issues.
7. Preparation for release
After completing the production of the short film, the following optimizations are required:
Video export: It is recommended to export HD video. Although Cutscreen supports 4K export, its 4K effect has some degree of "fake HD" problem. If you pursue the ultimate picture quality, you can use Topaz and other super-scoring software to generate real 4K video, although the process is time-consuming, but the picture quality is more guaranteed.
Create eye-catching covers: AI can be used to generate covers. Provide the pre-created story script to AI, which can not only generate the cover and composition accordingly, but also customize the cover according to the style characteristics of different platforms.
Write attractive titles and descriptions: videos often need to be distributed to multiple platforms, such as B station, video number, Xiaohongshu, etc., and the title style and word count requirements of each platform are different. tools such as DeepSeek have a precise grasp of the styles of different platforms, and can be utilized to write appropriate titles for each platform.
The following is a compilation of highly reviewed AI tools, for reference only
List of tools (all free + paid + available in China)
Script/Copywriter:DeepSeek (Deep Seek), Wenxin Yiyin, Doubao
Characterization:MidJourney (paid, 1200/year, but works best), Stable Diffusion
Split-screen production:Deepseek R1, Claude 3.5, Gemini 2.0
Image generation:MidJouney, i.e. Dream (paid), Korin's Kotu (paid), Flux (free)
Video Generation:Korin, Imagine, Vidu, Conch, Pixverse, Pika, Runway Gen-3, luma
Voiceover generation:Microsoft Azure Voice (free credits), Shear Image AI Voiceover
Music sound effects:Suno, Udio, Pixabay, Love to Give (top two paid)
Video Clips:Cutscreen Pro, Must Cut, Runway ML
Special effects and color grading:Topaz Video AI, DaVinci Resolve
Material Resources:Pixabay, Unsplash (free copyrighted images/videos)
While AI skits show many advantages in terms of creation, they also faceA series of challenges and industry controversiesA IP adapted drama was boycotted by the original fans due to AI "magic change"; the latest survey of the Screenwriters Guild shows that 73% practitioners are anxious about losing their jobs; netizens commented: "AI shoots a sweet drama, the kissing scene is like two ChatGPTs docking APIs". Such controversies are probably summarized in the following four points:
Technical bottlenecks:AI-generated character expressions and movements still need to be optimized.
copyright issue: AI-generated content may involve copyright infringement and requires clear copyright attribution.
Content homogenization:The biggest challenge for creators is how to keep their content innovative with the assistance of AI.
Industry Anxiety:There is a certain amount of anxiety in parts of the industry about whether they will be replaced by AI.
Instead of Anxiety About Being Replaced, Learn to Harness AI
When the film and television industry stands at the crossroads of AI, perhaps it's time to listen to the golden words of the producer of Chinese Myth: "What we generate with AI is not a script, but 1001 possibilities." After all, in the short drama market that consumes 100 million hours a day in Shake Shack, it is never the most expensive production that can survive, but the story that knows the most about people's hearts.
From the producer's perspective, while there is no shortage of talk about AI replacing humans, the fact is that we have broadened our horizons with AI, allowing us to see the bigger picture.
“Technology is the tool, storytelling is the soul"--AI skitsThe future belongs to those creators who dare to explore it.
