An unproduced feature script has a .3 percent chance of being made in Hollywood. Short film ideas work differently. The budgets are smaller, the crews are leaner, and you can go from concept to finished cut in a weekend if the idea is tight enough.
We also include a helpful downloadable brainstorming cheat-sheet.
This article splits into two parts. Part 1 gives you 100 short film ideas organized by genre (drama, thriller, dark comedy, horror, comedy, sci-fi, mystery, documentary, and experimental), each with a logline and a note on what makes it producible on a real budget. Part 2 covers 30 techniques for generating your own short film story ideas when you want to start from scratch.
Short Film Ideas
100+ Short Film Ideas
These aren't prompts. They're 100 short film plot ideas organized by genre, each built around low-cost constraints: single locations, small casts, no visual effects, and stories that hold up in under 15 minutes. Whether you're a student shooting on a phone or a filmmaker building a reel, every idea here is something you can move on today.
Drama
Drama is the easiest genre to shoot cheap and the hardest to shoot well. These ideas are built around two people with something unsaid between them — or one person dealing with a decision they can't take back. No effects required. Casting and performance do all the work.
1. The Last Call
A hospice nurse gets a call from a dying patient's estranged son who doesn't know his father has hours left. She has to decide whether to tell him the truth. One room, two voices, the whole film lives or dies on that decision.
2. Bus 22
Two strangers ride the last bus out of a city being evacuated. Neither knows what they're going back to. A contained two-person short that costs nothing and goes everywhere.
3. First Lesson
An experienced driving instructor realizes mid-lesson that her student isn't practicing how to drive — he's practicing his escape route. Shoots in a single car, in real time, no second location needed.
4. Night Garden
An elderly woman tends her garden at 3am every night. Her neighbor finally asks why. One yard, one conversation, no budget — everything depends on the performances.
5. The Shift
A hospital security guard notices an overnight nurse who keeps clocking in but never appears on the floor. Single building, no stunts, no effects — the dread is entirely procedural.
6. Proof
A woman brings a document to her father's lawyer that she says changes his will. The lawyer has to decide whether to read it. One room, two chairs, the whole film is in the pause before he answers.
7. The Lesson
A piano teacher gives a lesson to a student she hasn't seen in 20 years. Neither of them acknowledges what happened the last time. Needs a piano, a room, and two actors who can hold tension without breaking it.
8. Routine
A father makes the same breakfast for his son every morning in exactly the same way. Today his son doesn't come down. Short films built around absence are among the hardest to write and the best to watch.
9. Neighbor
A woman has been leaving food outside her neighbor's door for six months. Today the door opens for the first time. Single hallway, minimal cast, one small detail carries the whole reveal.
10. The Catch
A minor league baseball player is up for what might be his last at-bat. His coach in the dugout knows something he doesn't. Two locations maximum, no effects.
11. After the Party
The last two people at a party finally say what they both came to say. One apartment, one night — the most common short film setup there is, and almost nobody lands it.
12. Morning Run
A man on his usual route sees something he was never supposed to see. He keeps running. One street, no effects — the whole film is in what he decides not to do.
13. Visiting Hours
A woman visits her brother in a psychiatric facility and realizes he's the most lucid he's been in years. The staff doesn't agree. Two characters, one room, no resolution required.
14. The Reference
A woman is asked to write a reference letter for someone who once cost her a job. She sits down to write it. One character, one desk, one document she can't bring herself to finish.
15. Same Time Next Year
Two people meet at the same diner on the same date every year. This year one of them has news that makes it the last meeting. Two characters, one booth, any diner.
16. The Inheritance
Three siblings divide their mother's belongings. There's one object nobody wants to take and nobody will admit to wanting. One apartment, three characters, built-in tension that doesn't need to resolve.
17. Apology Tour
A man returns to his hometown to apologize to someone he wronged in high school. When he finds her, she has no idea who he is. Two people, one meeting, perfect economy.
18. The Gap
A father and his adult daughter drive cross-country after a long estrangement. The film ends before they arrive. One car, two people, no resolution required — the drive is everything.
19. Last Day
A woman spends her last day in a city she's lived in for 20 years. She doesn't tell anyone she's leaving. One character, multiple locations all within walking distance.
20. After
A woman attends her ex-husband's wedding. She sits in the last row. Nothing dramatic happens — and that's exactly the point. One focal character in a crowd.
Thriller
Thrillers live or die on pressure. These ideas give you one character, one ticking clock, and a situation that keeps getting worse before it resolves. Every idea here shoots in one or two locations with a small cast.
21. Three Minutes
A woman realizes her husband has been lying about where he goes every Tuesday. She has exactly three minutes before he walks back through the door. One location, one character, enormous pressure.
22. The Agreement
Two friends meet in a parking garage to split money they weren't supposed to take. A third person shows up. Three characters, one location, ten minutes of dread.
23. Water Level
A man trapped in a flooding basement is on the phone with a dispatcher who may not be who she says she is. One practical location, phone-based tension, no special effects.
24. Sitter
A babysitter realizes the child she's watching has been awake the entire time, watching her. One house, one night, two actors.
25. The Offer
A woman receives a call offering her a job she applied for three years ago. Something about the offer is slightly wrong. One actress, one phone call, building dread.
26. Locker 14
A woman receives a key in the mail with no note. She finds the locker at the train station. What's inside she can't leave and can't take. One location, one prop, one impossible choice.
27. Second Opinion
A man goes to a doctor for a second opinion. The second doctor says something impossible: his original doctor doesn't exist. Two rooms, three characters, zero effects.
28. The Retraction
A journalist is called by a source who says everything she's published is wrong. The source is calling from a number that went offline two years ago. One character, one phone, escalating dread.
29. Follow
A woman notices the same man in three separate photos she's taken over the past week. None of them were staged. One actress, one phone, very careful framing.
30. The Replacement
A woman returns home for Thanksgiving and realizes the man playing her father is not her father. No one else seems to notice. One house, one holiday, one impossible premise.
31. The Last Floor
An elevator repairman finds personal effects in a shaft from people who reportedly vanished in the building. Single building, practical location, no effects.
32. Control Room
A woman alone in an office building after hours receives an emergency alert that may or may not apply to her. Single building, single character, building dread.
33. Redirect
A man trying to file a missing persons report is quietly redirected at every turn. One character, multiple phone calls, one mounting frustration.
34. The Favor
A woman agrees to a simple favor for a neighbor. The favor requires something the neighbor couldn't have known she had. Two characters, one afternoon, no effects.
35. The Handoff
Two people exchange a package at a coffee shop. Neither knows what's in it. Both are followed afterward. Three locations, no dialogue required, pure tension.
Dark Comedy
Dark comedies thrive on uncomfortable truths delivered with a straight face. The best ones treat absurd premises with complete sincerity. The humor comes from the gap between what characters want and what they deserve. These are low-setup, high-concept premises that work best when the audience is never sure whether to laugh.
36. The Eulogy
A man delivers a glowing eulogy at his father's funeral. Three sentences in, his sister realizes he's describing someone else entirely. Two actors, one podium, one devastatingly wrong speech. The comedy lives in the commitment.
37. Upgrade
A woman brings her aging mother to a nicer care facility. The intake forms ask questions that slowly reveal the upgrade is not what she thought. One desk, two women arriving at the same understanding from opposite directions.
38. The Apology Tour
A man spends a Saturday apologizing to everyone he wronged in high school. The last stop surprises him. Multiple micro-locations, one car, one man who misremembered everything.
39. Performance Review
An employee sits down for his annual review. His manager has prepared extensively. So has he, with a competing spreadsheet. One office, two printouts, one company that will not survive the fiscal year.
40. The Will
A family gathers to hear a will read aloud. The lawyer keeps pausing. Every pause is worse than the last. One room, five people learning they knew nothing about the person they buried.
41. Self-Defense Class
A mild-mannered librarian takes a self-defense class after a neighborhood incident. She is immediately the most dangerous person there. One gymnasium, pure character comedy with a body-horror undercurrent.
42. The Resignation Letter
An employee emails her resignation to her boss. She accidentally sends it to the whole company. One office, real-time fallout, a comedic spiral that needs only phones and faces.
43. Referral
A therapist refers a patient to another therapist. The patient shows up at the new office and recognizes the therapist from a very different context. Two actors, two offices, one moment of mutual recognition neither can address professionally.
44. Career Day
A man shows up to his kid's career day and describes his job honestly for the first time. One classroom, one uncomfortable parent, a crowd of nine-year-olds who understand more than he does.
45. The Inheritance
A woman inherits her estranged uncle's apartment. She starts cleaning it out and finds evidence of a life that raises more questions than she wants to answer. One apartment, one actress, increasingly dark comedic archaeology.
46. Last Day
It's an employee's last day and everyone is extremely supportive. He starts to suspect they've always been this supportive and he just wasn't paying attention. One office, one slow existential spiral, minimum crew required.
47. Help Desk
A customer calls tech support with a problem that is clearly not a tech problem. The support agent realizes this and has to decide whether to stay in the script. Two voices, one premise, escalating mutual recognition.
Horror
Horror works at short length better than almost any other genre. One location, one threat, one decision. That's all you need. The best short horror creates dread through implication rather than effect. None of these require special effects. They require patience and a willingness to let silence do the work.
48. The Monitor
A new parent checks the baby monitor at 3 a.m. The sound is normal. The image is not. One house, two actors, one night. All the horror lives in what the monitor shows and what the parent does next.
49. Carbon Copy
A woman receives a voicemail from herself. The message describes what she's doing right now. One actress, one phone, no crew requirements beyond a quiet room and a good sound design pass.
50. The Helper
A man moves into a new apartment. His upstairs neighbor is extremely helpful, always there before he realizes he needs something. Two actors, one building, mounting dread from pure adjacency.
51. 24 Hours
A woman wakes up knowing she has 24 hours. The horror isn't what happens next. It's that she's been through this before. One actress, nonlinear structure, a film school favorite for exploring time and inevitability.
52. Still
A photographer reviews photos from a recent shoot. In the background of each shot, something has moved. One actress, existing photography, a premise that costs nothing and lands hard if cut correctly.
53. The Return
A woman comes home from a long trip. Everything is exactly as she left it. Exactly. One apartment, one actress, a horror premise built entirely on the wrongness of perfection.
54. Roommate Wanted
A woman interviews prospective roommates. Each one is fine except for one detail she can't quite place. The last interview is the one she takes. One apartment, multiple actors for short scenes, cumulative dread built across five minutes.
55. Night Shift
A security guard at an office building does his rounds. The building is empty. Tonight the route feels different. One location, one actor, pure atmosphere.
56. The Favor
A woman asks her neighbor to water her plants while she's away. She comes home to find the plants dead and the neighbor still there, explaining. Two actors, one apartment, an explanation that keeps getting worse.
57. Behind You
A woman is on a video call. The person she's talking to keeps looking slightly past her. One actress, one laptop, a horror premise that requires no production design. Just the right cut at the right moment.
Comedy
Pure comedy at short length lives or dies on character specificity. Generic types aren't funny. Specific, slightly-wrong people are. Each of these ideas has one character detail that makes the premise work. Get that detail right and the rest follows. Shoot tight, cut fast, trust the silence after the punchline.
58. The Yelp Review
A restaurant owner reads a one-star review aloud to his staff. The review is technically accurate. One room, five actors, a comedy of defensive reasoning and slow mutual capitulation.
59. Dress Code
An employee shows up to casual Friday wearing the wrong kind of casual. Everyone is very understanding in the specific way that makes it worse. One office, a comedy that snowballs from one outfit.
60. The Endorsement
A local politician asks a beloved but deeply eccentric neighbor to endorse him at a town hall. The neighbor agrees. One podium, two actors, a comedy of unintended consequences from a favor that seemed simple.
61. Concession Stand
Two concession workers at a minor league stadium debate the ethics of the hot dog markup during a rain delay. Two characters, one booth, five minutes of moral philosophy nobody asked for.
62. First Draft
A writing group hears someone's first short story. The feedback is supportive, specific, and completely misses the author's intended point. One room, four actors, a comedy about the gap between intention and reception.
63. The Pitch
A man pitches a startup idea to a single investor. The investor is genuinely interested. The idea does not survive three questions. Two actors, one table, a comedy about conviction without content.
64. Anniversary
A couple celebrates at the same restaurant where they had their first date. The waiter remembers everything. One restaurant, three actors, a comedy about how much one person should know about other people's milestones.
65. Hold Music
A man is on hold. We watch him for four minutes. One actor, one phone, a study in small defeats that gets funnier the more mundane it gets.
66. Reunion
A high school reunion. Two people who hated each other both pretend not to remember the other. The contest of who can pretend harder becomes the whole event. Two actors, one party, a comedy of escalating amnesia.
67. The Reference
A man agrees to serve as a reference for a former colleague he barely remembers. The calls keep coming. One actor, multiple phone calls, a comedy that compounds from a single moment of social cowardice.
Sci-Fi
Science fiction at short film scale isn't about spaceships. It's about one speculative premise followed to its honest conclusion. These ideas take a single what-if and play it out in one location with two or three people. The best short sci-fi makes you argue about it afterward. None of these require visual effects.
68. The Appointment
A woman goes to a doctor's appointment in a world where you can schedule end-of-life visits like a teeth cleaning. The appointment is next week. She's not sure anymore. One office, two actors, a sci-fi premise that is mostly a character study.
69. Memory Lease
A man visits a facility where people rent out unused memories for extra income. He discovers one of his own memories has been leased without his knowledge. One waiting room, one revelation, no effects required.
70. Opt Out
In a world where everyone is connected to a shared emotional network, one woman submits a request to opt out. The intake agent processes the paperwork. Two actors, one desk, a sci-fi bureaucracy comedy with a melancholy core.
71. The Replacement
A woman interviews for a job. She is being interviewed by her predecessor, who explains the role carefully. What the role actually is becomes clear by the third question. Two actors, one room, all implication.
72. Background Noise
A man realizes he can hear every conversation happening within 50 feet of him. He is trying to have a first date. One restaurant, two actors, a low-effects short built on performance and sound design.
73. Archive
A woman catalogs old voicemails from her late mother. One of them is from next month. One actress, one phone, a quiet sci-fi short that works as both grief film and time story.
74. The Translation
A linguist is called in to translate for an entity that arrived three days ago. The entity only wants to ask one question. One room, two actors, a first-contact short that skips spectacle and goes straight to subtext.
75. Calibration
A therapist is doing a final session with a client before the client's memory is reset. They both know it. Neither says so. Two actors, one office, a sci-fi short about what we choose to carry.
76. Patch Notes
A man reads through the release notes for his latest cognitive update. Something in version 3.4 is different and he can't locate the change. One actor, one document, a monologue-based short with no production requirements.
77. The Handoff
Two versions of the same woman meet in a hallway. One is arriving. One is leaving. They have five minutes to exchange everything that matters. Two actresses, one corridor, a sci-fi short that lives entirely in performance.
Mystery
Mystery shorts work when they trust the audience to hold an unanswered question. Not everything needs a reveal. Some of the best mystery shorts end on the question itself. These ideas have built-in tension from the gap between what characters know and what we know. All are achievable with one or two locations and a small cast.
78. The Box
A woman inherits a locked box from her aunt. She knows where the key is. She has been holding it for 20 years. One actress, one prop, a mystery about the things we choose not to open.
79. Wrong Number
A man receives texts meant for someone else. He responds once, just to clarify. The texts keep coming. One actor, one phone, a mystery built from a conversation he's only half in.
80. The Missing Hour
A woman wakes up at home with no memory of the previous hour. Everything in the apartment is exactly as she left it, except one thing. One actress, one apartment, a mystery that can end on the question or the answer.
81. The Photograph
A man finds an old photograph in a drawer. He's in it. He has no memory of when it was taken. One actor, one prop, a mystery that unspools through a single morning.
82. Forwarded
A journalist receives a forwarded email thread from an anonymous source. She starts reading. The thread goes back further than it should. One actress, one screen, a mystery that can be shot entirely on a laptop.
83. The Last Client
A private investigator takes one last case before retiring. The client is someone from his past. Two actors, one office, a mystery structured as a conversation that keeps shifting.
84. The Witness
A woman saw something from her apartment window last week. She didn't report it. Someone just knocked on her door. Two actors, one apartment, a mystery built on what she decides to say.
85. Recurring
A man has the same dream every night for a month. Then one night it changes slightly. He starts taking notes. One actor, a mystery that can be shot on a micro-budget with simple location shifts.
86. The Ask
A woman receives a letter asking her to meet at a specific address at a specific time. She goes. It's her own address. One actress, one location, a mystery that works as horror, drama, or straight puzzle depending on how you cut it.
87. Handwriting
A woman identifies a forgery. The handwriting matches her own from 30 years ago. One actress, one document, a mystery that requires nothing beyond paper and a good performance.
Documentary Short
Documentary shorts are the most accessible genre for new filmmakers. You don't need a script or a location scout. You need a subject willing to talk and a reason to point the camera at them. These are premise-level ideas. The film reveals itself in the filming. Each one is a character study in miniature.
88. One More Season
A 70-year-old amateur baseball player explains why he keeps showing up. No voiceover, no narration. Just him, the dugout, one game.
89. Open 24 Hours
Portrait of a 24-hour diner between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Four hours, two cameras, the people you meet at that hour and no other.
90. The Scorekeeper
A woman who has kept score at her local bowling alley for 35 years explains what she's observed about people when they think no one's watching.
91. On the Route
A mail carrier walks the same route he's walked for 28 years. His last week before retirement. One long walk, one conversation, an observation about what it means to know a place.
92. The Fixer
Portrait of a local repair shop owner who fixes things people have given up on. The film looks like it's about objects. It's about something else entirely.
93. First Generation
A child of immigrants describes the moment they realized their parents had a life before them. Monologue format, minimal production, emotionally dense material that needs only a good interviewer.
94. The Amateur
A 60-year-old takes up a new skill for the first time. Painting, piano, welding. The film is about the learning. The point is how much it matters to be bad at something new.
95. Corner Store
Portrait of a corner store owner in a neighborhood in transition. The film looks like it's about commerce. It's about time.
Experimental
Experimental shorts don't need to be obscure. They need to be honest about their form. These ideas use the structure of the film itself as part of the meaning. All five can be made with minimal equipment and no cast. They're listed last because they require the most from a filmmaker, not in terms of budget, but in terms of intention.
96. Loop
A woman makes coffee. The same coffee. The film cuts back to the beginning each time one variable changes. No dialogue, no explanation. The audience figures out the grammar by the third loop.
97. Inventory
A slow pan across every object in a single room. No people, no story. Just the objects and what they imply about the person who lives there. One location, one camera, a film essay built entirely on selection and sequence.
98. Distance
A film composed entirely of the space between people in public places. No subjects, no narrative. Just the geometry of how strangers hold space. Shot in one day in any city.
99. Subtitles
A conversation between two people, subtitled. The subtitles do not match what they're saying. The gap between text and audio is the whole film. Two actors, one room, a film that exists entirely in the edit.
100. The Last Take
A single, uncut take of a filmmaker preparing to shoot a film. The preparation is the film. The camera never moves. The setup for the thing that never starts is the thing.
Brainstorm Short Film Ideas
Part 2: 30 Ways to Brainstorm Short Film Ideas
If none of those spark something, or if you want to develop an idea that's entirely your own, this section covers 30 techniques for generating short film ideas from scratch. The goal isn't to find the perfect concept on the first try. It's to have enough raw material to work from so you're never writing on empty.
Short Film Ideas
1. Start with the ending first
This doesn’t seem like a 'how to write a short film' tip, so much as a screenwriting lesson in general.
However, brainstorming short film ideas that have their endings baked in up front, will make your shooting script that much leaner. It’ll allow you to only focus on the scenes and sequences needed to achieve your desired ending.
Even if you want to flesh out certain parts later, having a barebones skeleton is great when a producer brings up budget.
Need FREE screenwriting software to write your short film?
StudioBinder has you covered - check out a sample script below:
Did we mention the software is completely free?
And because StudioBinder is cloud based, you can access your screenplays from any computer anywhere in the world. Manually save or let StudioBinder auto save while you write. Our screenwriting software helps you professionally format along the way, and syncs across all of StudioBinder's features.
SHORT FILM BRAINSTORM IDEA
2. Think about the medium of film
The best short films (and films in general) always take advantage of the medium.
If you can find a way to write a short film that is deeply dependent on editing techniques, clever sound design, film grammar, and storytelling. Then you'll have something to take to festivals and anywhere else that pleases the viewers.
Christopher Nolan discusses Following
It will also show producers that you can think visually, and create an experience that works well for film as opposed to a novel or even short story.
When you watch a film like Christopher Nolan's Following, you are entertained by a story that could work as a short story or even a novel, but it's effective as a film because you can track the story very easily while still being fooled.
SHORT STORY IDEAS
3. Look in your own backyard
Whether you’re writing short films, a television pilot, or a feature film, you should always write what you know.
But this is even more applicable when it comes to tempering short film ideas, as you can shoot where you live, work, or if you’re a PA, both.
These are film locations that are easily accessible and cheap to use — or, better yet, free. In either case, you’ll need to use a film location form template to fully secure your location.
You’re probably closer than you think to a unique location full of narrative possibilities.
Watch the entire short film, Dig · Short film beat sheet
Look to 2014 Sundance Film Festival selection, Dig, as inspiration for your own short film ideas. Shot entirely in the director’s backyard, it’s a great example of how starting with an easy to access location can yield something truly original.
FILM IDEAS
4. Set your short film on a college campus
Into dystopian sci-fi? Lots of college campuses built in the mid-twentieth century feature cool, brutalist design — ideal short film ideas for college students who want big-budget looks in small-budget packages. Get a group of friends together and start exploring those campus locations.
Just make sure you use our location tech scouting checklist so you don’t forget any signatures.
SCRIPT IDEAS
5. Research deserted places
How about horror? Yes, there are creepy forests and cemeteries all over the country, but there are also abandoned hospitals, warehouses, and zoos. Ask around, make friends in the community, and research permit costs as you brainstorm movie ideas.
This will require some reverse-engineering as you begin to construct short film ideas around physical spaces. But the payoff could be surprisingly fun. The location film is set in contributes in a huge way.
To reach out to a location scout for more short film ideas like this, go to ProductionBeast, search “Location Scouts,” and immediately you’ll find profiles you can message for advice.
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Good Movie Ideas
6. Start with the prop
One of the last steps of writing a short film is creating a script breakdown that details all the props, costumes, and crew needed to make your production come to life. It’s the foundation for your budget, and not a bad place to start when brainstorming short film ideas.
By creating a list of props, characters, and stunts to start, you automatically make your short film script that much more producible.
You can make a script breakdown using our free script breakdown template, or just plug your script into StudioBinder, where you can tag and enter elements that will auto-generate into lists for you.
You can see an example of a script breakdown below:
Script Breakdown | The Pirate Captain of Toledano
A script breakdown will actually help you build a better idea, because it will help you think about the production side of the equation. You will think more about sound design, the amount of extras, costumes, and more.
SHORT MOVIE IDEAS
7. Write about a day in the life
Take a look inside you, or, more specifically, take a look behind you — at what you did yesterday.
Did you meet someone? Did something happen at work? Was it actually totally boring?
Writing short films is all about economy. There might not be enough for a feature in your day at the coffee shop, but it could be a vehicle for some charming short film topics.
MOVIE IDEAS TO MAKE
8. Write about character flaws
When coming up with your short film ideas, think about characters flaws for your protagonist. This can immediately make your short film interesting.
For example, just look at Miles from Sideways who completely embodies pessimism. In mostly every scene from Sideways, you’ll see Miles frustrated with life which is also extremely entertaining to watch.
What if you want to make your main character extremely selfish? Look no further than Mark Zuckerberg from The Social Network. How about a character that doesn’t believe in himself? Take a look at Rocky Balboa or even Luke Skywalker.
How about a character that is power-hungry? Just look at Walter White from Breaking Bad.
If you want to make a good short film, make your lead character more interesting with character flaws.
Right off the bat, this will make your main character more interesting, especially as a short film.
SILENT FILM IDEAS
9. Find an old family story
And going even farther back, there’s often rich material for short film ideas in your parents’ or grandparents’ histories.
Think about what makes you sit up and pay attention. Or, conversely, what disturbs you or prompts you to ask difficult questions. To quote mythologist and accidental screenplay guru Joseph Campbell: “Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”
Once you hit on something that resonates personally, test to see if it’s an actual story or just a vignette.
SHORT FILM IDEAS VS. VIGNETTE IDEAS
A vignette is a funny, curious, or even harrowing experience that lacks dramatic tension. A story involves stakes, goals, and forward movement.
There’s usually a central character who wants something and encounters obstacles to that want. It’s not rocket science, and after awhile it becomes easier to recognize the true potential of real-life events for writing short films.
5 Minute Short Film Ideas
10. Visualize your short film ideas a storyboard
Have a great idea for short film sequence in your head? Maybe you shouldn’t ask yourself how to write a short film, but rather how to create a storyboard instead.
Creating a storyboard and building your short film ideas around one sequence (or the final image) can yield not only a great script, but something producible, as you can show your team of creatives exactly what you’re thinking.
You can either do this by hand, or use storyboard software that’ll do the heavy-lifting for you.
Learn how to make a storyboard with StudioBinder · Short film beat sheet
Funny Short Film Ideas
11. Create a moodboard
A mood board is basically a collage of visual references for a creative project.
It is used to communicate the “look and feel” of your project by showing visual inspirations. It is most commonly used to visualize a script, but you can use them to brainstorm too.
Use a mood board to make a collage of things that inspire you. Maybe you love turtles. Or perhaps there’s an album cover that inspires you. Find a free mood board template and insert items that inspire you. Good ideas will follow.
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Good Short Films
12. Pick a genre, then twist it
As you brainstorm movie concepts, keep in mind that short film ideas need a strong hook or clever twist to stand out. And twists can cost production anything.
By twist, I don’t necessarily mean a surprise ending (like Fight Club or Shutter Island). I mean an idea that’s born of combining two classic film genres and subverting the expectations of both.
There are a limited number of genres, of course, but there’s a huge variety of approaches to each — especially if you mix and match them. Starting with a specific category can focus you by filtering everything through the same lens. A thriller gives you the opportunity to use intrigue and suspense; a romantic comedy sets the stage for the inevitable meet-cute.
You get the idea!
SHORT FILM IDEAS FOR BEGINNERS
13. Use irony to brainstorm movie ideas
Play the “what if” game when writing short films and see what happens when you add a character who seems out of place. Or an unpredictable event that throws a wrench in the gears of your story world.
Irony is key here.
It’s the difference between short film ideas people remember and ones they forget the second the movie’s over.
SHORT FILM STORIES
14. Get inspired by other mediums
Books, songs, photography, live performance — art is built on the shoulders of previous art — and writing short films is no exception.
Try visiting a gallery or museum and see if any of the paintings spark short film ideas.
You might discover that the most abstract images provoke the clearest sense of what you want to write in your screenplay. Maybe that bizarre painting that pulls you in will inspire the opening image of your story.
Poems are also great places to find material for shorts; they tend to be brief, and they leave plenty of room for creative interpretation as you brainstorm movie concepts.
SHORT IDEAS
15. Find the essence of classic films
Quentin Tarantino is a master of uncovering lost cinematic treasure and using it as currency for his own scripts.
This should be the easiest homework for short film ideas ever: Watch some classic movies and reduce them to their essence.
Pure imagination
Is there a core principle of that film noir or that Hollywood musical that you could adapt to a ten-minute telling? Or maybe there’s a single moment in that three-hour historical drama that grabbed you, but it wasn’t explored to its potential.
DON'T WORRY ABOUT BEING ORIGINAL (WITH A CAPITAL "O")
New short film ideas are all about putting fresh spins on old ideas. There are only so many plots, after all, but no one else will create the exact same story formula you will.
Short Horror Film Ideas
16. Be a news hound
Current events might not be pleasant, but they do tend to be rife with drama and tension. There are many ways to portray war, injustice, and political strife without hitting the nail too squarely on the head.
Again, narrow your focus to one specific person or one incident. Find the universal theme in the choice someone made, or didn’t make, and draft an outline based on that very simple situation.
Brainstorm movie ideas by scouring news sites and take a deep-dive into some of the wildest stories of our times.
And don’t let the facts hang you up — the more you invent, the less you’ll have to worry about life rights or copyright issues.
BEST SHORT FILMS
17. Rework an old headline
If today’s news is too overwhelming, do a quick Google search for the headlines of yesteryear to inspire your short screenplays.
Limit your investigation to a particular subject or region. The easier it is to contain short film ideas within the limits of space and clock time (a minute, an hour, a day), the easier it’ll be for you to write a compelling screenplay.
WRITING SHORT FILMS
18. Listen to the voices
When was the last time you were in a cafe and overheard a line too good to be true?
Except, of course, it was true. Stay glued to your notebook and write down those perfect snatches of dialogue. Then generate some character descriptions and see if they lead you to funny short film ideas.
Listen for setting-specific dialogue
Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan is particularly gifted at catching these accurate snippets of dialogue, especially when it comes to writing exposition in film.
HOW TO WRITE A SHORT FILM
19. Freewriting to find short film ideas
Sometimes if you’re stumped, it helps just to write. Writing longhand, “Stream of consciousness” style pages will give you unpredictable results. It is a way of capturing ideas that you didn’t know you had.
Author Julia Cameron calls these “Morning Pages” because she recommends writing three pages every morning. The idea here is consistency. The more you do it, the more ideas will come and the better they’ll be.
HOW TO MAKE A SHORT MOVIE
20. Start writing short films, arc first
Sometimes the form itself can lead to interesting short film ideas. Create a short film beat sheet with a clear emotional arc.
A tragedy will begin with the hero in a state of happiness or grace and end with an epic fall where he or she loses everything and the bad guys close on a high note. A classic comedy will reverse this dynamic. Then there’s everything in between — but try focusing on a single trajectory with limited twists and turns.
By knowing where your story has to go, you can then strip away story beats that could inflate your budget. Keep your money organized and accounted for with a budget template.
SHORT FILM IDEAS FOR STUDENTS
21. Brainstorm movie ideas around life events
Weddings, funerals, anniversaries, birthdays — these are all dramatic events by nature with the added benefit of being limited in scope.
Choose a central character who’s experiencing one of these events and you might be on your way to some perfect short movie ideas. It's all about getting the creative juices flowing so you can find the best ideas.
SHORT FILM SCRIPT IDEAS
22. Transcribe the audio from a film you haven't seen
Thinking outside the box is crucial for catching ideas. Writing something, anything, is better than a blank page.
So, find a film you haven’t watched yet on Netflix or YouTube and find a scene with limited dialogue. Turn away from the TV and write down what you hear. Here's a great clip to practice with.
What story does the audio tell?
Transcribing the sounds can unlock great ideas. At very least it will get you thinking about scene actions and writing them down. For fun, compare what you wrote with the actual scene. It will probably be pretty different but that's OK — what you described might be better!
SHORT STORY IDEA LIST
23. Put yourself in the 1st AD's shoes
This relates to the points about using physical places as inspiration to brainstorm movie concepts.
See how much high-pressure drama you can squeeze out of two or three people trying to escape a contained space (e.g., bathroom, cellar).
Think like a 1st AD
Many 5-minute short film ideas have been triggered by these sorts of forced crisis situations — and they tend to make for inventive editing and cinematography techniques.
Read up on script breakdowns, so you can budget how much your script would cost.
HOW TO WRITE A SHORT FILM
24. Brainstorm movie ideas around life events
Writing short films can be daunting, but a simple algorithm can help shake things up and delete your inner critic.
Try a Mad Libs-style randomizer online to see what comes up. It’s a bit like spinning a roulette wheel, but you might find a useful element or two in the suggestions. It’s the glue you put between ideas that makes your work stand out.
HOW TO MAKE A SHORT FILM
25. Go way overboard
The beauty about coming up with new ideas is that you are only limited by your imagination. Try this exercise when you brainstorm movie ideas: take a regular, boring character and image the most extreme situation they might find themselves in.
An example of this would be Daniel from Mrs. Doubtfire who starts wearing a nanny’s outfit so that he can spend time with his children, which he otherwise would not have.
Mrs. Doubtfire...get it?!
HOW TO WRITE A SCRIPT FOR A SHORT FILM
26. Ideate with a shot list builder
Just like storyboards, shot lists are easy ways to visualize your project before you type a single word. Thinking of camera set-ups before you’ve written anything may feel counter-intuitive.
However, you’ll know exactly what you need to accomplish. And what rentals you should pursue. Start sketching out your ideas with this storyboard template.
For example, maybe you just watched an Alejandro González Inarritu film and you noticed really unique camera angles. Why not recreate it?
In StudioBinder, you can easily generate a shot list without having an existing screenplay. Create a new shot list, add shots, and group them however you like. It’ll give your screenplay direction and make finding a DP a breeze with job sites like ProductionBeast.
HOW TO COME UP WITH STORY IDEAS
27. Write a logline first
This seems like a no-brainer for writing short films, or any type of film, but having a great logline can fix most of the problems.
Try making a logline and running it by your inner circle. Because it’s only a sentence, it’s easy to try out a bunch without much hard labor.
SHORT VIDEO IDEAS
28. Fish out of water story
This short film technique has been proven to work for many successful short films and feature films.
For this type of story, take a person out of their normal environment and put them in a radically different one. Their interactions with this new environment create endless comedic opportunities. This example from Elf could function as a short film on its own.
Elf: a classic "fish-out-of-water" story
SHORT FILM TOPICS
29. Analyze a film character
Sometimes the best short film ideas are the simplest ones that focus on characters instead of extravagant scenarios.
Just take a look at Pixar's Storytelling Formula which focuses primarily on building compelling characters instead of overly-complicated sequences. Or maybe even developing the most compelling antagonist.
SHORT FILM PROMPTS
30. Stop writing short film ideas and get out there
Connect with production freelancers to see what they’d like to shoot, light, sound mix, and color correct.
You can cut your budget in half, if your crew is working on your short film movie for free. The best way to attract high-quality talent is by creating a project that would be perfect in your crew’s respective reels.
As your list of things to incorporate (an underwater sequence, Steampunk costumes, etc.) increases, your screenplay will be begin to take shape.
Finding crew like this is as easy as searching on Facebook or using dedicated job boards like ProductionBeast where you can immediately connect with film crew.
UP NEXT
Best short films
If you're looking for more inspiration to help you brainstorm movie ideas, why not watch some examples of the best ever? Then you'll be to build your own short films that will win awards and get the attention of producers and executives. We have a list of short films in each genre so there is something for everyone.
Up Next: The best short films →
30 Ways to Brainstorm Short Film Ideas
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