Planning a multi-shot film

A good short film starts with a plan. Ten minutes of planning saves credits and gives you a film that feels like one piece instead of random clips.

#1. Start with one sentence

Write your idea as one line: who, where, what happens, what feeling. For example: "A barista robot opens a tiny cafe at dawn, cozy and cheerful."

#2. Break it into shots

Most short films work well with 3 to 6 shots. A simple structure:

Vary the distance too: a wide shot, a medium shot and a close-up. See Camera movement.

#3. Keep a shared style

Put your style in one Text block and connect it to every Image block. Its text is added to each frame's prompt, so all shots share the same look, light and colors.

Style: cinematic, soft morning light, warm pastel colors, 35mm film look, shallow depth of field

For a recurring character or product, connect the same Photo block to every Image block. See Keeping a character consistent.

#4. Pick the format first

Set the film format in the top bar before you create frames: 16:9 for YouTube, 9:16 for Reels and TikTok, 1:1 or 4:5 for feeds.

#5. Order on the canvas

The Final film block cuts clips from top to bottom. Stack your Video clip blocks in story order. The final film holds up to 12 clips.

#6. Test cheaply

• Run one Image block first to check the look before running the rest.
• Use Nano Banana Lite (10 credits) for draft frames, then switch to a better model for the final ones.
• Tyzli Motion clips cost 5 credits per 5 seconds, so trying a different camera move is cheap.
• Run all shows the total estimate before anything starts.

#7. Add the voice last

Write the narration once you know the shot count: about 2 to 3 words per second of film. See Voice-over.

#Related

• Tyzli Movies overview
• Templates