Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences releases anniversary image film

Focus on students instead of the past

In order to take a look at the past, present and future of Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences on its 50th anniversary, Prof. Dr Holger Rada has produced an image film together with students and alumni of the Digital Media Production (DMP) degree programme. The film puts the students at the centre of attention and aims to express their enthusiasm for the university and the city. It also plays with prejudices. The film can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/yW6PUIVLdqQ.

Classic anniversary films usually show developments from the past. They allow contemporary witnesses and managers to have their say and use archive material. This is exactly what Prof. Dr Holger Rada, who heads the Digital Media Production course at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, wanted to do differently for the film on the university's anniversary. "Such retrospectives are usually boring and tend to serve as navel-gazing for our own audience. That's why we suggested designing the film as a reusable image film that would still work a year or two after the anniversary. And we wanted to work more narratively and scenically, completely without cutaways and old photos," he explains.

Students take centre stage

Prof. Rada conceived the film together with Emilie Seidl. The student has already worked on the award-winning documentary film ‘Together’. Like her professor, she had a precise idea of what the film should tell. "For us, the focus was clearly on the students - we wanted to show them where their everyday university life actually takes place. At the same time, it was important to us to show the diversity of the degree programmes," she explains. For this reason, Emilie Seidl called on the student body to volunteer as statisticians. Around forty people responded. A casting was organised with four students to find the main character who would be the central theme of the film. DMP student Nele Muhle was the winner.

Prof Rada relied on students for more than just the protagonists. The film team is made up entirely of students from the Digital Media Production degree programme. "It was important for me to have a good and experienced team: People I know and can rely on. Emilie Seidl as director, Frederik Bosch as cameraman and Carl Stamer as sound engineer were the ideal team, as we had already produced a successful documentary film last year. The special thing about the team is that we also worked together with alumni of the degree programme: Thomas Neubronner composed the music and Alexander Rogge was our drone pilot," he says. 

The filming took around three months. "The effort involved was huge, because we wanted to show as many laboratory and lecture scenarios from different degree programmes as possible. It was also important for us to film in the canteen and to include the silent heroines of everyday life, i.e. the Studierendenwerk staff," says Prof Rada. The team also worked intensively on the film during the semester break. They took care of the production and post-production as well as the voiceover, music production and drone flights. "As soon as a shoot was finished, Emilie or Frederik edited it as a “daily” and uploaded it to the cloud so that I could access the material immediately. We also had to consider some visual effects and retouching in post-production," adds the programme director. In order to incorporate the university's past in a modern way and without editing, the team animated and incorporated historical footage with AI. 

Film also plays with prejudices

"Admittedly: There are cities that are more attractive at first glance. More rough edges than immaculate facades.": The film team chose words for the introduction that are probably rarely found in an image film. However, surveys among students had shown that it is well received to be honest about Bremerhaven's rough edges. "As a narrative introduction, we deliberately played with the preconceptions that many outsiders have about Bremerhaven. We then wanted to prove the opposite with strong images and show how attractive the university and how liveable the city really is," explains Emilie Seidl. The result can be seen on the university's YouTube channel.

Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences is organising various events in its anniversary year 2025. Those interested can find an overview at www.hs-bremerhaven.de/jubilaeum.