How we created a rapid-turnaround film for academics in Lisbon.
The Brief
Last year our team in Portugal was approached by lead researchers from the CERIS Research Unit at Instituto Superior Técnico. They wanted our help to showcase the findings from their ReDuCe project, which was due for publication.
The scientific project aims to reduce the amount of micro plastic waste released in the environment by recycling components of face masks, and incorporating them into construction mortars.
“The European Union requires that a substantial part of the products that are used in civil construction are recycled. [Construction companies] have to take materials from other fields or from the construction industry itself, and integrate them back into the circular chain. Ultimately, what we want is for a product to be born and die and to be continually used.” (Maria Paula Mendes, ReDuCe Principal Investigator, PhD Earth Resouces)
The team thought that commissioning a video would help boost awareness of their innovative work within the research community in Portugal and abroad, and hopefully build interest in similar projects for the future.
“The next steps will be to study the end of life of this product and try to reintroduce it again in the materials for the construction sector.” Maria Paula said.
The Solution
With years of experience working with UK universities and education institutions, we were ready to begin applying our expertise in Portugal in a slightly different way. We’re innately curious, and love anything science or tech related (especially if it involves visiting labs and meeting clever people!)
After an initial meeting to nail the key messages we quickly developed a concept to communicate the technical details, and a clear filming plan. With a global scope, it made sense to produce the film in English and draft bespoke in-depth interview questions to engage their highly technical audience.
Being able to film on a single site at the Instituto Superior Técnico allowed us to keep production tight and shoot all content within one day. Our 2-person crew captured three interviews, mock-meetings, research lab footage and b-roll. It was a long day, but well worth it. And we were in awe everywhere we went – especially while reviewing all the microscopy photography the research team produced.
Back in our post-production suite we assembled everything along with immersing ourselves in a rich archive image bank. All editing was done in-house, and in total three videos were produced: a project overview, a closer look into the different project stages, and final edit focussing on the people and opportunities the project opened up.
The Results
The resulting films were extremely well-received by the client and have been shared widely across internal channels and social media. It was a real privilege to help the research team bring awareness to their innovative work and findings – which is so important in the times we live in.
And this is just one of the projects passing through our new Portugal office since opening. We’ll share insights into more Lisbon-based case studies soon.
Client feedback
“This video is an important dissemination tool for the problem ReDuCe is tackling, creating awareness about how to deal with plastic waste. It marks a significant milestone for us.
We’ve been gaining impressive traction on LinkedIn with colleagues reaching out with ideas on how to push the research further, and students getting in touch asking for work and internship opportunities.” (Maria Paula Mendes, ReDuCe Principal Investigator, PhD Earth Resouces)
