Jinan, Xinhua News Agency, December 13 (Reporter Ye Jing) "I took a drop of water from a place with a lot of algae in this lake, but I didn't expect that a drop of water turned out to be an incredible miniature zoo ......" This is a clip from the short video "Zoo in a Drop of Water" shot by Zhao Tiefu, a guy born in the 90s. He attracted the attention of many netizens for using a microscope to photograph microorganisms. In his video, the novel pictures are accompanied by humorous explanations, which make netizens sigh at the wonder of the microcosm.
Screenshot of the popular science video posted by Zhao Tiefu. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
Zhao Tiefu used to be an English teacher, and he quit his job two years ago to open an account on social platforms to post short science videos and become a science popularizer. "The microcosm is picturesque, I've been interested in it since I was a kid and wanted to document it. Zhao Tiefu said.
For "halfway home", Zhao Tiefu said that in order to show the microcosm, we must first learn and Xi, "start with the popular science books that children read, and learn from shallow to deep." Fortunately, in this era, as long as there is the Internet, you can learn knowledge. ”
The more you learn, the stronger your desire to show the microcosm of the world will be. The problem was in front of Zhao Tiefu: sophisticated and high-end instruments were not suitable for shooting, and machines suitable for shooting could not show the microscopic world. So, he began to assemble his own microscope, hoping to restore the beauty of nature with technical means and artistic methods. From conceiving the theme, designing the optical path, collecting specimens, cultivating microorganisms, to observing, recording, shooting, editing, copywriting, and commentary, the whole process is handled by Zhao Tiefu alone, and even the background music is his original.
Zhao Tiefu's filming equipment. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ye Jing
"I wanted to reproduce the state of microorganisms in the water in the image, so I switched to blue lighting, adjusted various details such as light and angle, and repeatedly experimented with the thickness of the specimen, until I found a blue background close to the sea, which made the subject stand out more and make the image shiny. Zhao Tiefu said that rigor and the pursuit of the beauty of science and art make his videos "low", and sometimes it takes months to shoot a shot.
Algae cultivated by Zhao Tiefu. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ye Jing
In the video comment area, many students left messages saying that they were recommended by the science teacher to come to "check in", and some even posted screenshots of the notes they recorded while watching.
Screenshot of the Xi notes posted by netizens. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
"The work should not only be scientific, but also beautiful, and tell the story of these 'little animals' well. Zhao Tiefu pours his love into every video he updates, hoping to become a "science artist".
Source: Xinhuanet