Short Film Ideas

A good short film idea isn't a subject, it's a situation: one person, one want, one obstacle in the way, and something that has changed by the end. Below are 30 ideas you can shoot with what you have, sorted into five groups: single-location ideas, ideas told without dialogue, two-person scenes, comedies and thrillers. Each one is a one-sentence seed: take one, move it to your own location and your own actors, and build the ending yourself.

What does a good short film idea look like?

“A film about loneliness” isn't an idea, it's a subject; it doesn't tell you where to put the camera. “An old woman lowers a bread basket from her balcony every morning; one day the basket comes back empty” is an idea: who, where, what's happening and what changes are all clear.

A single situation: a short film tells a moment, not a life.
A single decision or a single change: by the end, the character or the audience sees something differently.
Shootability: can you get the location, the actors and the props today?
Length: it should fit into 3–10 minutes. If it doesn't, you're writing the first scene of a feature.

Short film ideas set in one location

On the morning of the wedding, the bride's mother cuts the baklava alone in the kitchen; with every slice she rehearses a sentence she can't say to her daughter.
At a kebab shop about to close, the last customer finishes his meal and only then says he has no money.
A woman having a passport photo taken can't smile in a single frame; the photographer doesn't ask why, he waits.
In a car parked in a hospital car park, a father and son wait to see which of them will get out first.
A tenant handing back the keys on moving day learns that the children's height marks on the door frame are going to be painted over.
Of two neighbours stuck in a broken lift, one has to admit that he is the source of the noise the other has been complaining about for months.

Short film ideas without dialogue (silent)

An old woman lowers a bread basket from her balcony every morning; one day the basket comes back empty.
A boy who falls asleep on the bus wakes up as the last passenger at a stop he doesn't recognise.
A man glues a broken cup back together piece by piece; when his wife buys a new one, the pieces are still on the table.
A girl secretly takes her older brother's bike; the chain comes off and she has to walk home before dark.
A night watchman turns off the corridor lights of an empty school one by one; in the last classroom, a light is on.
A woman moves her finger to the screen ten times to delete an old voice message on her phone.

Short film ideas for two people

Two ex-partners run into each other in the same waiting room on the day a property sale is signed: one is buying a flat, the other selling — the same flat.
In a hospital, two strangers wait through the same night for two different patients and have to share a single blanket.
Two siblings have only enough money for one present for their mother's birthday; each of them wants to buy something different.
A courier comes to the wrong door; the person who opens it wants the parcel anyway, because they know what's inside.
A learner on their driving test realises the examiner beside them was their primary school teacher.
A young woman brings her father's shoes to a cobbler to be repaired; the cobbler recognises whose shoes they are.

Comedy short film ideas

On a holiday visit, a host with nothing to offer his guests opens the box they brought and serves it to them.
A retired man decides to become famous with a single video to prove himself to his grandchild.
At a residents' meeting, a rise in the building's service charge is put to the vote; the only vote against comes from the building manager himself.
A young man in a rented suit waits for a job interview on the same sofa as a second candidate wearing the very same suit.
A cashier notices that everyone in the queue is buying the same product and decides not to open the till until she finds out why.
Friends setting up a surprise birthday party realise the birthday girl has come home early; there's nowhere left to hide.

Thriller and mystery short film ideas

A night-shift petrol station attendant sees a car that comes at the same time every night and leaves without buying any fuel.
A woman who has just moved in finds a note under her door every morning, addressed to the previous tenant.
A boy finds the key to his grandfather's locked drawer; if he opens it he'll learn a secret, if he doesn't he'll always wonder.
A taxi driver hears a phone left on the back seat ringing; the caller says “don't stop the car”.
A building caretaker collects the newspapers piling up outside a door that hasn't opened in three days; on the fourth day he knocks.
An exam invigilator notices there's one more student in the room than on the register.

Five ways to find your own short film idea

Start from what you have: list the locations, actors and objects you can film, and build the idea from inside that list.
Find a habit and break it: something that's the same every day doesn't happen one day. The audience sees the order first, then the break.
Choose a moment of decision: the character has to do either this or that, and both options cost them something.
Look for a sentence that can't be said: one sentence the character wants to say but can't can carry a whole film.
Load an object with story: a cup, a key, a radio. When the object changes hands, it shows the character has changed without a word being said.

If a competition gives you a theme

A theme isn't a subject. When the theme is “migration”, don't try to tell the whole of migration; focus on a single moment of it: a suitcase waiting by the door, a voice breaking up on the phone, a table laid by the one who stayed behind. A jury watches hundreds of films on the same theme, and the most general take is also the most crowded one.

Make the theme the ground the film stands on, not its subject. First build a single situation like the ones above, then ask where the theme sits inside that situation. Each competition publishes its own theme, rules and deadline, so read its official page before you start writing.

Checklist

Can you tell your idea in one sentence: who, what they want, what stands in their way?
Does it fit into 3–10 minutes?
Can it be shot with the location and actors you have?
Does something change by the end?
Does the audience know something before the character does, or find it out afterwards?

Download as Word and PDF

Open the Word version and write straight over it; the PDF looks the same on every device and prints as it is.

You can write without downloadingStart writing in screenplay format →Senaryum — opens in the browser, nothing to install. It formats the slug line, the action and the dialogue as you type.You can try it without an account; you'll need one to save and download what you write.

Logline template + exampleThe four parts of telling your film in one sentence, an example and a blank template.Word (.docx)PDF

Blank screenplay template — standard formatOpen it in Word and start writing: Scene Heading · Action · Character · Dialogue styles built in, Courier New 12.Word (.docx)PDF

Frequently asked questions

Can I use these ideas?

Yes, freely. They're one-sentence seeds; take them, change them, turn them upside down. The best use is to move an idea into your own location and among people you know — at that point the idea is yours.

What's the easiest subject to shoot for a short film?

A situation between two people in one location. Light, sound and continuity are controlled in one place, actors are easy to find and all the energy goes into the scene. Ideas without dialogue look easy too, but they demand that you write behaviour very well.

How do I know if my idea is any good?

Tell it to someone in one sentence and see whether they ask “and then what happened?”. If they do, your idea carries curiosity. Then write your logline: who, what they want, what stands in their way. If one of the three stays empty, the idea isn't a situation yet — it's a subject.

What should I do once I've found the idea?

Logline first, then a short synopsis, then the script. If you'd like to see finished examples, you can read three complete short film scripts: “Light”, “The Radio” and “Take a Number”.

Turn your idea into a logline

You can try it without an account; you'll need one to save and download what you write.