How to Make Your First AI Short Film (Full Tutorial)

Build your first AI short film in ElevenCreative, from one image to a fully edited video. Create AI Films → https://elevenlabs.io/creative?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=evergreen_tutorials&utm_content=how_to_make_your_first_ai_short_film_full_tutorial The hardest part of AI filmmaking isn't generating a good shot, it's getting the same character to show up in the next one. This is AI video for beginners, start to finish. We build a short film called Little Wanderer from scratch and solve that problem with a character reference sheet, so every scene stays consistent in style and character. You'll learn how to explore cheaply with faster image models before committing credits, how to structure a prompt across style, subject, objects, and negative prompting, and why generating still frames first will always beat jumping straight to video. We cover building a storyboard on the Flows canvas, using start frames and end frames to control exactly where a shot begins and ends, and generating at lower resolution before upscaling only the takes you keep. On the audio side we generate the voiceover first so the storyboard is built to match it, then use audio tags with Eleven v3 to direct delivery line by line, add a background track with Music v2, and finish with sound effects. Everything gets assembled and trimmed in Studio, where the full ElevenCreative toolset is available without leaving the timeline. We finish with the part that makes a node-based workflow worth it: swapping the character reference sheet and regenerating every single scene, keeping the same prompts, style, and story beats, with an entirely new character. Create AI Films → https://elevenlabs.io/creative?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=evergreen_tutorials&utm_content=how_to_make_your_first_ai_short_film_full_tutorial Full Workflow: 00:00 - What we're building 01:18 - Generating your first character 02:47 - Exploring cheaply before you commit 04:11 - Writing a prompt that works 05:58 - Moving into Flows 07:07 - Creating a character reference sheet 08:46 - Generating the voiceover first 10:20 - Directing delivery with audio tags 12:02 - Building the storyboard 15:04 - Refining frames before video 18:18 - Turning the storyboard into video 20:03 - Resolution, duration, and upscaling 21:11 - Start frames and end frames 22:44 - Music and previewing the cut 26:14 - Editing in Studio 29:50 - Sound effects 30:50 - Regenerating with a new character Join the Community • Discord → https://discord.gg/hPE7yT33Qc • Reddit → https://www.reddit.com/r/ElevenLabs/ Links & Resources • ElevenLabs → https://elevenlabs.io/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=evergreen_tutorials&utm_content=how_to_make_your_first_ai_short_film_full_tutorial • Docs & API → https://elevenlabs.io/docs/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=evergreen_tutorials&utm_content=how_to_make_your_first_ai_short_film_full_tutorial • Blog → https://elevenlabs.io/blog/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=evergreen_tutorials&utm_content=how_to_make_your_first_ai_short_film_full_tutorial • Building with the API? Subscribe to ElevenLabs Developers → https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9yH2AvG2IxvsWQkQoLqL0g Connect with ElevenLabs • Subscribe → https://www.youtube.com/@Elevenlabs?sub_confirmation=1 • Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/elevenlabsio • TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@elevenlabs • X → https://x.com/elevenlabs Create AI Films → https://elevenlabs.io/creative?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=evergreen_tutorials&utm_content=how_to_make_your_first_ai_short_film_full_tutorial About ElevenLabs ElevenLabs is the leading AI voice platform for realistic, context-aware speech generation. Creators, developers, and enterprises use our tools to design voices, dub content, and build expressive AI video and audio workflows.