Make a Short Video From Scratch

From a one-line idea to a finished short: concept, visuals, motion, edit and subtitles.

This workflow takes you from a single-line idea to a polished short video ready for social media. By chaining ChatGPT, Midjourney, Kling, Descript, and Captions, you leverage each tool's strength: ChatGPT turns your concept into a script; Midjourney generates striking visuals; Kling brings them to life as realistic clips; Descript lets you edit by simply editing the transcript; and Captions adds professional captions and fixes eye contact. This combination covers the entire production pipeline without needing separate design or video editing skills. It's ideal for content creators, marketers, or anyone who wants to produce engaging short videos quickly and consistently. Each tool handles a specific pain point—scripting, imagery, animation, editing, and finishing—so you never have to switch contexts midway. The result is a coherent, high-quality video that looks like it took a team to make.

The workflow, step by step

1
Draft the script and storyboard
ChatGPT
In this step you feed your one-line idea into ChatGPT and ask for a short video script with scene-by-scene descriptions. ChatGPT excels at generating structured, creative content quickly, and its conversational nature lets you iterate until the script matches your vision. Alternatives like Claude or Gemini could work, but ChatGPT's wide adoption and fine-tuning for narrative tasks make it the most reliable choice for this step.
Hand-off → A script with key visual cues for each scene to guide image generation.
2
Generate visual keyframes
Midjourney
Midjourney transforms your script's visual descriptions into high-quality, artistic images. It offers better creative control and aesthetic fidelity than DALL-E or Stable Diffusion for this use case, especially for cinematic looks. You'll create one image per scene as a reference for animation.
Hand-off → A set of scene images that define the look and composition of each shot.
3
Animate images into video clips
Kling AI
Kling AI takes your still images and generates short video clips that maintain physical consistency and motion dynamics. Unlike Runway or Pika, Kling offers precise camera control and high fidelity, making it ideal for turning static storyboards into lifelike motion. You generate one clip per image, adjusting prompts as needed.
Hand-off → Raw video clips corresponding to each scene, ready for editing.
4
Edit video by editing transcript
Descript
Descript lets you import your video clips and automatically generates a transcript. You can then trim, rearrange, or delete sections by editing the text, which is far faster than traditional timeline editing. It also supports screen recording and multitrack audio, but its core strength is text-based video editing for quick assembly.
Hand-off → An edited timeline with clips in order, trimmed to length, and basic audio synced.
5
Add captions and polish final video
Captions
Captions specializes in adding accurate, stylish captions to short videos and can automatically correct eye contact in talking-head shots. It's designed for social media short forms and integrates well with Descript exports. This step ensures your video is accessible and engaging for silent viewing.
You end with: Final short video with polished captions, corrected eye contact (if applicable), and ready for export.

What this stack costs per month

Running on free tiers4 of 5 steps freethe rest need a paid plan

All entry paid plans$41.98/mosum of 3 published starting prices, one seat each, plus 2 tools without published pricing

ChatGPTfreemium, pricing not published
Midjourneyfrom $10/mo
Kling AIfrom $6.99/mo · free tier
Descriptfreemium, pricing not published
Captionsfrom $24.99/mo · free tier

Pricing

Free tier; $9.99/mo Pro

Frequently asked questions

How much does this full workflow cost?

It depends on usage, but expect ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo), Midjourney ($10-30/mo), Kling (freemium with credits), Descript (free tier or paid), Captions (free tier or paid). Total can be under $50/mo if you use free tiers wisely.

Can I use free alternatives for any of these tools?

Yes, you can replace ChatGPT with Claude free tier or Google Gemini; Midjourney with Stable Diffusion (free if self-hosted); Kling with Runway Gen-2 free trial; Descript with CapCut (free); Captions with built-in caption tools in editing software. However, quality and consistency may vary.

Where should I start if I have no experience?

Start with ChatGPT to flesh out your idea. Then try Midjourney's free trial to generate a few images. Watch tutorials for each tool before diving in. It's better to learn one tool at a time rather than all at once.

What common mistakes do people make?

A common mistake is skipping the script stage and jumping directly to image generation, leading to disjointed visuals. Another is not planning the handoff between tools—e.g., not saving images in consistent aspect ratios for Kling. Also, over-relying on AI captions without proofreading can introduce errors.