Client: Berlin University Alliance
1 × 2 min | Germany | 2024 | 16:9 | UHD
The Berlin University Alliance (BUA) – an association of the three leading Berlin universities Freie Universität, Humboldt-Universität, Technische Universität and Charité – would like to establish the "innovate! Centre" in Berlin. The centre will support state-of-the-art, digitally networked laboratories and a unique culture of cooperation, enabling leading researchers to work together with industry to turn their outstanding findings into practical, sustainable applications.
An approximately two-minute promotional film was to form the emotional conclusion to a 20-minute presentation given to members of a jury who would decide on the allocation of funding. The film was to show Berlin as the ideal location for the transfer centre, with its large start-up scene, open mindset, diversity and the BUA as a cooperation platform - emotional, but not kitschy. The challenge was to produce a captivating advertising clip with a small budget within one month.
The storyline presents the various academic locations in Berlin within one day. The promotional film was intended to convey the spirit of Berlin as a traditional university city and cultural metropolis, which opens up a wide range of opportunities thanks to its diversity and flat hierarchies.
3D renderings make it possible to visually experience the future laboratory in the film. New and archive footage also illustrate the diverse character of the capital, which is attractive to international researchers and companies alike due to its openness, infrastructure and strong start-up culture.
Over one and a half days in mid-May, a team consisting of the director, camera and camera assistant shot the film in Berlin. We were on site as a small, agile team and worked under great time pressure to capture various locations and conduct all the interviews in the short time available. On the first day of filming, we shot footage in two laboratories with BUA employees, in and in front of an art gallery and four interviews with representatives from industry and politics.
On the second day of filming, shots were taken of various locations in Berlin, capturing life and lifestyle in the city.
The production process of the advertising clip was carried out with extensive consideration of social, economic and ecological sustainability. We transported the film equipment and personnel in a compact VW ID.4 Pro electric car.
A professional 12K film camera with cine lenses was used to shoot the interviews and locations. A second 4K camera was installed on a camera gimbal for tracking shots. We used energy-saving LED lighting technology to illuminate the scenes.
The film production was 100 per cent climate-neutral. This was ensured by our specially trained Green Film Consultant Sarah, who determined the CO₂ emissions for this film project and compiled a final report.
Our editor Jonathan quickly created an entertaining advertising clip with royalty-free electronic music. The colour grading, which defines the design of the film with colours and contrasts, was carried out by our colourist Marcus in a professional colour grading studio. Here, the externally incorporated film material was also visually adapted to the newly shot images. On the audio level, concise interview statements alternated with the music in the foreground. Our sound engineer Alex created an atmospheric sound design for the advertising film with natural soundscapes of city scenes and interiors.
During the editing process, everyone involved in the Berlin University Alliance could easily check out and comment on the latest version of the promo film digitally via our feedback platform.
