T.E. – AI-Generated Short Film for Runway's Gen:48
T.E. was created for Runway's Gen:48 competition, a global 48-hour AI filmmaking challenge. Based on the prompts "a lost creature, a desert, and a jar of eyeballs," the short film tells a surreal story of brotherhood and survival. Entirely generated using Runway’s AI video tools, T.E. showcases the potential of AI for storytelling when time is limited and creativity is unleashed.
Building a Short Film in 48 Hours with Runway
Starting on Saturday, April 26th at 16:00 (Finland time), our team—consisting of MXM's Leandro Righini, Pascal Righini from Big Ears, and Antti Ahokoivu a freelance DOP, Editor and AI enthusiast—had just two days to conceptualize, generate, and deliver a finished film. Adhering to the Gen:48 constraints, we chose from Runway's creative prompts: a lost creature, a desert, and a jar of eyeballs. From these, the story of T.E. emerged—a poetic and unconventional visual narrative, crafted entirely with AI tools.
We spent the first six hours brainstorming and evaluating story ideas, ranging from a time traveler hunting his doppelganger to a man unknowingly driving to his death in a single shot after eating his friend's sandwich.
Once we settled on our concept, we focused on character design, establishing a visual style, and finalizing our workflow. This occupied all of Saturday night, and included six hours of testing a UI workflow that ultimately proved unsuitable. On Sunday, we began building scenes by generating initial keyframes and creating the video entirely within Runway.
End-to-End AI Video Generation
All visuals and footage for T.E. were generated using Runway’s tools, particularly their new reference feature, which was crucial for maintaining visual consistency under time pressure. While extensive refinement wasn't possible, we prioritized efficient use of the tools to ensure completion within the 48-hour deadline. Editing was done in DaVinci Resolve with minimal grading, just enough to ensure visual cohesion while staying within the time constraint.
Results and Reflections
T.E. is more than just an experiment; it reflects the potential of AI tools to enable rapid, innovative storytelling. Runway's Gen:48 challenge provided a practical opportunity to explore the current capabilities of AI filmmaking. The experience demonstrated what can be achieved in a short time with the right tools and a focused team.