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Direct a Short Film

Type a brief; get a cut film. A language model directs — it writes the screenplay, the shot list and the narration — then each shot is filmed and the clips are assembled into a timeline and rendered. Two video models, not one, and that is deliberate: shot 1 has nothing to seed from so it is text-to-video, while every later shot is seeded from the previous clip's last frame for continuity, which is image-to-video. Kie publishes those as separate model ids, so Continuation Model carries the second. On a provider where one id does both (Gemini/Veo) you can leave it empty. Cost scales with shot count — at three shots on Kling 2.6 this is roughly a dollar of video plus pennies of text.

The workflow

Workflow Editor
String Input
A lighthouse keeper's last night before the light is automated.
Director
Brief
Screenplay
Title
Narration
gpt-5-mini
Shot Batch
Screenplay
Shots
Shot Chain
Shots
Videos
kling-2.6/text-to-video
Add Clips
Clips
Render Timeline
Timeline
Output
Output
Output

Nodes in this workflow

9 nodes · 7 types
  • Output
    nodetool.output.Output
    ×3
  • Add Clips
    nodetool.timeline.AddClips
  • Director
    nodetool.creative.Director
  • Render Timeline
    nodetool.timeline.RenderTimeline
  • Shot Batch
    nodetool.creative.ShotBatch
  • Shot Chain
    nodetool.creative.ShotChain
  • String Input
    nodetool.input.StringInput

How to run it

  1. 01

    Download NodeTool Studio

    Install the free desktop app for macOS, Windows, or Linux. It runs on your own machine, no account required to start.

  2. 02

    Open the Direct a Short Film template

    Browse the built-in template library inside Studio and open this workflow onto the canvas. Every node is already wired up.

  3. 03

    Add your keys

    Connect any model providers this workflow calls with your own API keys, or point it at local models.

  4. 04

    Run and remix

    Hit Run to execute the graph and watch results stream in. Swap models, edit prompts, or rewire nodes to make it yours.

Run Direct a Short Film on your machine

Free, open source, and yours to run. Download Studio, open the template, and run it with your own keys.