Before generating finished video for an AI short film, make an animatic: a rough sequence of storyboard images placed on a timeline, with temporary sound where it matters. Watch it at the intended pace. Use that first edit to decide whether the story is understandable, which shots need more time and which images you can remove.

An animatic lets you test the film as a sequence before committing to every finished shot. Adobe’s introduction to animatics describes this use of rough storyboards to assess timing and storytelling. The exercise below is our editorial recommendation for applying the method to AI filmmaking, with an invented example you can adapt.

Start with a change the audience can see

Write one sentence describing what changes during the film. For this exercise: “A caretaker about to leave a greenhouse gives the last of her drinking water to a wilting plant.” That sentence gives the edit a choice, an action and a consequence to communicate.

Now identify what a viewer must understand: she is leaving, the plant needs attention, the bottle contains little water, and she chooses to use it on the plant. You do not need a separate image for every fact, but you do need to know where each fact becomes visible.

For a different story, substitute your own change. A character finds something, refuses something or changes a routine. If the sentence only describes a beautiful location, identify the event that will make the sequence more than a tour of that location.

Build a rough version that exposes missing information

Use sketches, simple photographs you can use, or rough stills that show the essential composition. Keep the detail sufficient to distinguish a hand from a bottle and an exit from a window. An annotation can explain a planned camera movement to a collaborator, but it should not supply a story fact that the finished film will never show.

Place the images in your editing timeline. Here is a proposed 30-second first pass for the greenhouse scene:

  • 0–5 seconds: the caretaker picks up her bag beside the exit.
  • 5–9 seconds: a wilted plant sits on a dry patch of soil.
  • 9–13 seconds: she lifts a nearly empty drinking bottle toward her mouth.
  • 13–18 seconds: her attention shifts from the bottle to the plant.
  • 18–25 seconds: she pours the remaining water into the pot.
  • 25–30 seconds: she sets the empty bottle down beside it and leaves.

These timings are starting guesses for an exercise, not an event duration limit or a formula for good pacing. Export this version so you can watch it without the distractions of the editing interface.

Change one timing decision at a time

In the first viewing, watch for the moment the choice becomes clear. Does the bottle read as her drink, or does it look like a gardening tool? If the latter, an extra second may not solve the problem. The drawing may need to show the bottle approaching her mouth more clearly.

Save a second version that changes just that moment. Then compare the two without changing the music, ending and shot order at the same time. You want to learn which adjustment answered the question.

Next, test the hesitation. Try a shorter pause between her glance at the plant and the pour. Then try a longer one. Does the action feel immediate, reluctant or indecisive? Choose the version that expresses your intended character, rather than keeping five seconds because you wrote it in the first plan.

If a rough still cannot communicate an essential action, add a second panel showing its end state. You are testing whether the action reads, not demonstrating finished animation quality.

Add the sounds that affect the decision

Record temporary dialogue if the scene requires it, and place essential sound cues against the pictures. Adobe’s animation workflow guide describes using a temporary soundtrack in an animatic to assess how picture and audio work together.

For the greenhouse exercise, try the closing latch and the sound of the final water leaving the bottle. Does the latch suggest she has already left before she waters the plant? Moving that cue may clarify the action without adding another image.

Label temporary audio clearly. If the music is doing all the emotional work, compare a version without it. That comparison can reveal whether the gesture itself communicates the choice. It is an editorial experiment, not a requirement that every film work silently.

Turn the animatic into specific generation tasks

After the sequence reads clearly, write a short purpose for each shot. “Show that this is her last drink” is more useful for evaluating the bottle shot than “make it cinematic.” Keep the timing target next to that purpose.

Identify the actions that need an early motion test. In our example, the pour requires a hand, bottle, liquid and pot to interact. Test that shot before polishing a wide view of the greenhouse. If the action does not work in your available workflow, try a different edit: a bottle tilt, a cut to water reaching soil, then an empty bottle.

That alternative is a proposal to evaluate, not a claim that a particular model will produce it reliably. Put the test footage back into the animatic and judge the transition in context. A striking isolated clip is not automatically the right shot for the cut.

Use the plan as a reference during editing

When generated footage arrives, replace the corresponding placeholder and watch the surrounding shots. A useful performance may need more room than your sketch suggested. Change the timing deliberately and check what that does to the whole sequence.

Keep the original animatic and the current cut as separate versions. Our asset-organization guide offers a naming and handoff system for that work. Ask a viewer what they understood before explaining your intention; the film-feedback guide can help you turn their response into the next editing test.

Rehearse the method before Prompt2Screen

VIA’s Prompt2Screen is scheduled for 10 October 2026 at Blox Space in Torino. Its official event page says participants create original work from scratch in response to surprise categories revealed on the day.

Use a separate practice story to rehearse your animatic workflow beforehand. At the event, apply the method to the announced brief and follow the organizer’s instructions. Arrive knowing how to test a sequence, then let the actual challenge determine the film you make.

Sources & further reading

Updated 29 September 2026. Event availability and final details are maintained on the linked official event pages.

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