In mid march we stayed busy an entire day to film a music video! For an old song? Noooo... a new one π Grab a coffee/tea or anything else to hydrate yourself with and be prepared for an in-depth behind the scenes reading in the true Eleine spirit! βοΈThis is a project I've kept busy with since January. So. Many. Phonecalls. It's so many people to try and sync with on so many levels, checking permission since fire would be included with several different authorities.. all of this since this would be one of the bigger music videos we will do for the next album! Not only the actual planning was a part of it, Rikard and I are also still directing our own music videos. We have been working with a company for some of the previous music videos, but unfortunately things are getting out of hand expensive (both filming, but also touring, rent.. you know the drill) so this video was one of the few we are able to make with them. The rest will most likely have to be pure DIY like we have done in the past. And with that said: We have directed and written everything about our music videos so far, we just have to go back to holding the camera and filming ourselves. Which is both good and bad! It demands A LOT from us, but at the same time - we know what shots we want and have visualized so both Rikard and I are actually quite eager :) For this music video we once again had the honor to have Unholypix with us, which is Hannes Van Dahl (drummer from Sabaton). He is so talented - and I am grateful for the moments he captured from that day. There will even be a BTS video later on when the music video has come out! π₯ΉLet's get right into it, shall we? π
Victor is preparing! You may see 2 small wheels on this mirror frame on the first photo.. and you are absolutely right! I was so happy a few months ago when our friend Christian reached out and said that someone had forgotten a case in the arena he works in. When reaching out to the owner they said: " It's too heavy and expensive to ship, are you guys interested in buying it instead?". Christian said YES - reached out to me and it was a sealed quick deal! It is a suitcase that has a table, mirror, lamps and you can easily roll it. It is so perfect for music video locations but also on tour. I never have to try and sort it out with a small tiny mirror anymore and shitty lights. LOOK AT THIS THING! Best purchase in a long time!
I just found this photo in the BTS folder and had to share! How cute isn't Victor & Kevin in this one? Adorable! Cool dudes π
Rikard preparing himself! We luckily had another full-length mirror as well to use when we all prepared at the same time and this way we also can correct our clothing easier. So many venues are not providing a simple big mirror which makes it difficult to check if everything is alright on your outfit. I don't know how many times I've realized something is off while on stage because I couldn't see anything properly before the show, haha. Oooops!
I promise, I am not a fan of eating hair. It was just necessary in this moment of adding some extensions (all stress + getting older takes out its toll π©) and Hannes seemed to think it was an important moment to catch! π
An exclusive and most luxurious behind the scenes photo! Haha! I forgot to bring something in the style of a chair, and I am grateful I could use the big bass drum case as a good alternative, haha. Here you see Victor & Kevin adding their body make up! And if you wonder: "Is that makeup only to make someone look more muscular?" Answer is no, it is not. There's something for face makeup called contouring which is where you create more shadows on the parts that has natural shadowing already. Same goes with the body! It is to create depth and more good looking shadows for the final result - also when live on stage! We like the look of as if you're a bit "dirty" and have gone through some shit - because basically, that is where a lot of our lyrics in our songs comes from! Harsh lessons and chapters of life!
With his powerful voice we all love - Rikard had to check the acoustics in the hall! It was very big and with a LOT of acoustics! Like a church almost!
A place like this is often very cold inside. Even colder inside than outside actually. I know it sounds crazy, but that is actually the case. Stone cold, and this time was no exception. Kevin and I had prepared with bringing our robes, and Rikard and Victor was very stylish in their blankets. Extra points to Rikard for being the one wrapped up in ELEINE stuff, haha. It did kick off a thought in my head - Eleine robes. At least for us in the band it is a must. When leaving your bunk to go downstairs for nightly pee it is SUCH A HASSLE to put on pants and shirt to go downstairs. Robe is obviously the solution. WHY haven't I done this before? I who basically live in my robe during the colder months of the year. Jesus. How many years didn't that take to come up with? I asked Hannes if he has one and of coooooourse he has: "Best thing on tour ever" he said π
The scene! π¬ This is how a typical music video can look! Quite some people involved!The filming company had 2 extra people with them, like trainees. The pyro company was one person, we had Hannes and then the rest was us in the band. I think we were like 10 people on the set, approximately!
Rikard and I taking 30 seconds to check some of the footage between the sets. The downpart with directing yourself is for sure that you are always having one eye on everything that is happening instead of just doing your thing performing. The better side of it is that since we have written the songs, we have a vision of how we would like to extend the song into a music video reaching YOU with what we are trying to deliver in emotions. It's not easy to find others that can film that GETS that to a 100%, since you have to share a vision. That is why we are still directing ourselves. We may have found one of those persons in Hannes, and we are looking into working together on more upcoming projects just because we feel he gets is and gets us! He agrees on the very important part that one has to be passionate to be able to create THAT extra feeling that a band tries to deliver through the screen.
A short moment of a break while the movie company is changing lenses. Hannes was a doll to all of us bringing our robes and blankets when he notices how cold we were. I think Victor and I won the prize of most red hands, oh my god!
Hey there! Rikard jumping in here π€ You can notice two black pillars behind me in this shot. Those are the old speakers Madeleine and I used for many many gigs with our cover duo we used to have. Now, we used the speakers for blasting the song loudly for all to hear, fun fact is that this is the first time we've done that with a full band setting.
We usually only use our stage monitoring system, and this time was no exception. This sytem makes so we can hear the song clearly without damaging our ears.
The big ass sound system was used for everyone besides us to hear the song as well! Great way for many to hear the song at once, but I would NOT want to use it out doors haha it was LOUD!
Ok back to you Madeleine!
I just wanted to share how cool a picture can turn out with a great photographer when all that was actually happening was me adjusting my harness! I am so impressed. How cool?
Found this cute photo of Victor! I love how he stays true in everything he does. The looks says: "You have a camera? You will take a photo? Oh.. okay."
Is that a muscle-y Jesus coming towards us? π³
FIREEEE!Nooo it's Rikard - no Jesus here as far as we know π And this looks pretty cool right? We did a thing. With a fire thing. A very warm fire-y thing. But it will be cool-as-hell! π₯All in all - we had a long, challenging yet fun day! The location was on 3rd floor in a building that is no longer in operation, and this is a place where we have filmed several of our music videos! Both in- and outside. Anyone that can mention all of them? We hope you enjoyed some behind the scenes from the next music videos video shoot! We are very excited to release new music and new music videos, so make sure you stay tuned and updated on our Patreon and all socials where you prefer to hang out.
With love, Madeleine