What each part of the prompt does
- Want and secret
- Step 1 makes the model decide what each person wants and hides before a line is written. Scenes feel flat when both characters simply say what they mean.
- Enter late
- Starting close to the conflict cuts the hellos and weather talk that pad first drafts. In a short film every page costs screen time and shooting money.
- Subtext and objects
- Asking characters to talk around the subject, and to handle things in the location, moves emotion into gestures an actor can play: a mug not drunk, keys held too long.
- Silent read test
- Reading only the action lines checks that the turn is visible. If the change lives purely in dialogue, the scene will feel static on camera.
Variations to try
Same idea, one thing changed.
Single character, no dialogue Write one scene of a short film in standard screenplay format with one character and no dialogue at all; any change must be shown through action and sound. Inputs: - Genre and tone: [GENRE] - Character A, with one thing they want: [CHARACTER A] - Location and time: [LOCATION] - What changes by the end of the scene: [TURN] - Target length in pages: [PAGES] Steps: 1. Before writing, state in two lines what the character wants in this scene and what stands in the way. 2. Open late: start the scene as close to the conflict as possible, without greetings or small talk. 3. Show what the character feels through action lines and what they do with objects in the location. 4. Build to the turn named above and end the scene right after it lands. 5. Keep action lines short and visual: only what a camera can see or a microphone can hear. Format: - Scene heading (INT. or EXT., location, time of day), action lines, character names in capitals, dialogue, and parentheticals only where the line would be misread without them. - About one page per minute of screen time. - After the scene, three notes on what an actor or director should know. Quality check: Check that every beat could be filmed and understood with the sound off.
Web series cold open Write one scene of a short film in standard screenplay format, built around a single turn in the relationship between two characters. Inputs: - Genre and tone: [GENRE] - Character A, with one thing they want: [CHARACTER A] - Character B, with one thing they want: [CHARACTER B] - Location and time: [LOCATION] - What changes by the end of the scene: [TURN] - Target length in pages: [PAGES] Steps: 1. Before writing, state in two lines what each character wants in this scene and what they are hiding. 2. Open late: start the scene as close to the conflict as possible, without greetings or small talk. 3. Let the characters talk around the real subject. Show what they feel through action lines and what they do with objects in the location. 4. Build to the turn named above and cut on a line or image that makes the viewer want the next scene, as a cold open before the titles. 5. Keep action lines short and visual: only what a camera can see or a microphone can hear. Format: - Scene heading (INT. or EXT., location, time of day), action lines, character names in capitals, dialogue, and parentheticals only where the line would be misread without them. - About one page per minute of screen time. - After the scene, three notes on what an actor or director should know. Quality check: Remove the dialogue mentally. If the action lines alone do not show the turn, add a visual beat.
If the result isn't right
- Read the scene aloud with a friend; lines that are hard to say usually need cutting, not rewording.
- If the characters explain their feelings, reply "make them avoid the subject and show it through action".
- Paste the scene into free screenplay software such as Fountain-based editors to check page count and layout.
- Run the prompt again for the scene before and after, keeping character names and wants identical, to build a full short.