As in previous years, Runway ML held its AI short film competition again this April. Participants had 48 hours to create their films using Runway tools. The winners are determined by a public vote, which runs until 3 p.m. tomorrow (9 AM ET). As always, this is a good opportunity to get an overview of the current state of the "AI film" genre, especially compared to the winners of previous years.
Many of the approximately 50 clips that made it to the final round are more like animated films and don't even try to look "real." In our opinion, this is still a better approach than using AI generators as a poor camera replacement. Other videos, in turn, show somewhat photorealistic images, but of motifs that would be difficult to implement in reality. With AI, settings, constellations and locations are possible that could previously only be realized with immense effort, for example through elaborate equipment (such as in historical plots) or via green screen.
This is what makes video AIs so exciting: using them as an extension of the filmmaker's toolbox, as their own tool for new images that Hollywood and Co. have always been able to produce, but not oneself.
When viewing these short films, however, one should also keep in mind that they were all created with Runway. In some cases, even better images can be elicited from the competition; In our opinion, Veo 2 from Google can currently claim the AI crown for itself.
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