Behind the scenes: filming the BLOOM bioeconomy video series

For the fourth and fifth part of the BLOOM video series, our video team from Otelo eGen went on a trip to Andalusia in Spain.

There, at the wonderful University of Cordoba, we had the opportunity to film two innovative projects in the field of bioeconomy. The first of the research projects is about something that affects all of us: food waste. The researchers we met are dedicated to the question of how leftover food can be used to produce biofuel, and give meaning to the massive amounts of biomass that are thrown away every day. And their other project deals with an almost magical organism called microalgae that can produce another kind of fuel in the form of hydrogen. But more on that later.

What do we need for a video shoot of this kind? We wanted to be flexible, so we reduced the equipment to a minimum. We packed a camera, a tripod, a gimbal (which maintains the balance during camera movements), an audio recorder, a microphone and a light panel.

Together with the team from ceiA3 and our moderator Raquel Toleda Bernal, we spent two days at the university visiting a number of departments, immersing ourselves in deep conversations with experts in the field while filming them going about their business in their laboratories.

We spoke to María del Mar Delgado-Serrano about the fundamental task of the bioeconomy, its challenges and how we can avoid that fuel from biomass competes with food for humans. Sara Pinzi and Miguel Carmona Carbello enthusiastically explained the intricate process of their research project; how they produce biodiesel and other chemical products from food waste collected from the campus restaurants. We were able to literally observe (and film) how they took leftovers from bins and after several steps, filled up a tiny bottle with fuel. We were amazed! Miguel gave us a guided tour of the lab and patiently answered the hundreds of questions we asked. It can sometimes be quite challenging to put these complex scientific processes into a 7-10 minute video. And yes, it helps if you are an outsider who has no idea about the research. To tell a story cinematically, you have to keep it as simple as possible. And we did.

The visit to the laboratory with Alexandra Dubini, David Gonzalez-Ballester and Neda Fakhimi was also very impressive. They are researchers in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and have been working with microalgae for many years, studying how these creatures produce hydrogen under certain conditions. These small microorganisms are like tiny factories that use solar energy, oxygen, carbon, and various nutrients to produce several useful materials and gases, including hydrogen. When we first got there, we did not even know that microalgae existed, which made the whole discovery even more exciting for us!

After these eventful days of shooting, we felt enriched by the potential of bioeconomy. When we came back, our memory cards were filled with more than four hours of film material, and we got started in editing this material. Now the 2 doccies that tell the story of our amazing trip to Cordoba have been published. We hope you enjoy watching them as much as much as we liked making them! Watch „From Food Waste to Biofuel“ and „Hydrogen Made by Microalgae“ now!