SHORT BIOSCIENCE PROMOTIONAL FILM – 01.21.21
When a science company wants to spark interest in their research or attract discerning career candidates, words don't always do the trick. Sometimes still photos don't either.
A short promotional film is called for. I use the term "film" because it tells a story with cinematic visuals. A scientific "video," on the other hand, might show what the labs look like. What specific instruments they use. It might have lab techs talking about their methodology.
That's not the approach I use. I try to capture the mystery and excitement of the research. The expertise of the techs. The engagement of the team and the company as a whole.
Selecta bioscience is a Boston-based life science company. They asked me to produce a video for them that would introduce the company. It goes live on their About Us page today.
The video below comes from a single day of shooting. I tried to distill their R&D down to a handful of proprietary processes and areas of research. I took advantage of their brand new lab space, which was bright and well-appointed. I tried to distill the message of the company into a dozen or so iconic clips. My hope was that these clips would work together to illustrate the many ways Selecta conducts its research. I also wanted to put a face on the lab teams who form the core of the company.
This was shot during Covid, so the periods where the lab techs were unmasked was very brief. I also keep considerable distance from the subjects while shooting.
Probably the most unusual shot is the one from inside the mixing container, where the camera is under water. By positioning the camera at the bottom of the container, we were able to get an immersive clip. It's one thing to show what experiments look like, it's another to show what experiments feel like.