Creative Short Film Narrating Forgotten Objects in Libraries

Hello Friends!

I created this short film in under two weeks, based on my own script, as an entry to Runway’s Big Ad Contest.

For the brief, I chose Product #4: Crown & Quill Bookmark.

The idea is simple: books are only valuable if you know what page to return to. Instead of showing this directly, I approached it through everyday behavior — what happens when people use anything but a bookmark. The result is a quiet accumulation of misplaced objects, lost context, and small disruptions that affect both readers and library workers.

The film draws from real events in Finnish libraries, where returned books often contain unexpected objects used as improvised bookmarks — from food to deeply personal items. News reports describe findings such as sausage, sandwiches, and even condom wrappers between pages. At Helsinki Central Library Oodi, staff have built a growing “memory wall” of these objects — a quiet archive of everyday traces left behind by readers.

The idea is also rooted in personal experience: I’ve found dental picks inside library books, and once even received a call after leaving my European Health Insurance Card between the pages.

I used Runway’s tools throughout the process — including Cinematic Brainstorm for developing the scenes and built-in tools for generating SFX — and edited the final video in CapCut, where I recently joined the Creative Partner Program.

#RunwayBigAdContest