Open this lesson in your favourite AI. It'll walk you through the why, explain the demo, and quiz you on the try-it list.
A 'treatment' is the short narrative document that pitches your film — 1-2 pages for a 3-minute short, 5-10 pages for a feature. It's written in prose, in the present tense, as if the viewer is watching. A 'script' is shorter and more functional: numbered scenes, slug lines, action, dialogue. Together they are the blueprint that lets you plan shots, generate assets, and edit — without constantly re-deciding what the film IS. Skipping this step and going straight to prompting is the #1 cause of aimless AI-generated video.
A well-written treatment sings on the page. You should be able to imagine the film from it. The script breaks it down into shootable beats — scene headings (EXT. DESERT - NIGHT), action paragraphs, dialogue. For AI-film, add a 'shot brief' column: model, duration, dominant motion, reference images. This becomes your shopping list.
# Treatment — "The Last Window" (3-minute narrative short)
A tower stands alone on a plain of red earth. The only thing inside is a single window, somehow looking out on the sea, though the sea is nowhere nearby. LENA, 30s, has climbed the tower for a reason she no longer remembers. She sits by the window and watches the tide.
A child's voice drifts up the spiral staircase. Lena does not turn. The voice gets closer. Lena sees, in the window's reflection, a younger version of herself — the version that chose the climb. The two stare at each other, through the surface of the glass, until the younger self reaches out. Lena places her hand against the glass.
The window shatters. The sea rushes through. Lena smiles.
CUT TO BLACK.
# Script — Scene 1
SLUG: INT. STONE TOWER - TOP FLOOR - DAY
ACTION: LENA (30s), weathered, sits on the cold stone floor beside a single arched window. Beyond it, a calm sea at sunset.
SHOT BRIEF: MS, ~6s, slow push-in on Lena. Runway Gen-4, ref: character sheet v2.
SLUG: INT. STONE TOWER - STAIRCASE - DAY (CONT.)
ACTION: A SMALL FIGURE, maybe six years old, climbs a spiral staircase. Hand trailing the wall.
DIALOGUE (V.O., child's voice): "Are you still up there?"
SHOT BRIEF: LS, ~4s, locked-off camera, torchlight. Kling 1.6, ref: child character sheet.Use these three in order. Each builds on the one before.
In one paragraph, explain the difference between a treatment and a script for a short film, what each is for, and why you must write both before touching an AI tool.
Walk me through Robert McKee's idea that every scene has a 'value change' — what it means, how to audit your own scenes against it, and why it's the test that separates functional scenes from filler.
I'm adapting a short story (~2000 words) into a 5-minute AI-film. Walk me through the treatment process: what to keep, what to cut, how to translate interior monologue into visual scenes, and which 2-3 moments to 'over-invest' in visually.