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Everything started about 10 years ago, when I became a fan of panoramic photography.
From the very moment I have always wanted to shoot a real 360 degree video.
We wanted to create something interesting, something that people would remember.
The song “STOP” is quick, joyful, dynamic, and it suits this format just perfectly.
I couldn't even imagine in my head how it would look like.
Wow, so many people in one place, one filming location – this will be cool.
Emptiness. I couldn't imagine what we were talking about.
My associations – it could be something spacious.
I could imagine, that it would be something interesting, something special.
I was interested in 360 degree video as well. How it would look like, how to watch it.
We are used to watching videos like in a box.
The idea was awesome, great, but at the same moment I realized...
that it would be a huge amount of work invested to shoot it all.
I thought – how can you watch it on TV?
Then I understood – you can’t. Internet only.
And then they sent me some examples of 360 degree videos...
It was hard to imagine how global and detailed it would be...
you can see everything around.
You could watch this video the way you like, and this is good.
You can watch it for a hundred times and find something new every time...
And then I realized that everything will be really cool.
You want to see a singer – you watch her throughout the song.
Want to see a guitarist – watch him.
Many actors on the background, and you can always find something new there.
I thought it would be interesting to make a music video in a different way...
... The band gladly accepted this experiment.
The project, so-called “STOP 360”, is a first-timer in Latvia.
There are some 360 degree panoramic videos in the world, but it's new for Latvia.
To get some fresh ideas into our crew...
we invited a choreographer, dancer and simply creative person Dennis Tumakov.
The first time we met and I got an insight on the idea...
I said – guys, you must be out of your minds. Really, crazy.
Despite the fact that this technology exists for some time already...
and is heavily used in advertising and presentations...
there are not much music videos of this kind. We thought of it...
as the most suitable format, because it doesn't have borders, frames or clichés.
We could make anything we wanted, and we did it.
Right after the first meeting, when we came up with some ideas...
my head started to explode.
Brains just refused to get the whole scene together, this was unreal. We just didn't have an experience.
At the beginning we had lots of questions, both creative and technical. How to shoot it,...
what will it be, how to show it.
To do the whole video in 360 degree perspective with all the actors moving from one zone to another –
that was a blast. Every meeting with the group...
ended with “oh, that’s it for today, it's already enough for me”.
We decided to use compact GoPro action cameras. These are little sports cameras with a really wide angle.
I developed and constructed a rig for these cameras...
so that they could film everything around...
and gain immersive effect.
We worked on the screenplay for weeks. The main idea was to have many small situations...
and intertwine them in a filming location. It was extremely hard.
At the very moment we started writing the screenplay we realized what we got into.
We had to organize moving of almost 100 people in a limited space...
give them parts, invent interactions, put that into one scheme...
and make it in one day.
I was like prrrrrrgh!
While searching for a filming location we looked at many options.
We were almost desperate to find a spacious room that would satisfy us
both technically and creatively. Then someone came up with a circus idea.
And we realized – that's it! That was a start for everything.
We spent enormous amount of hours trying to make a schedule...
of picking everything up, driving for decorations etc.
We laughed a lot when we imagined our friends playing different parts in the video.
This inspired us to film them in it.
This was the way we found almost all actors.
Most friends, whom we asked to participate in the project...
have supported us with such an enthusiasm that it inspired us a lot.
We called them, described their parts...
and they thought about new details themselves. This inspired, of course.
It was fun for us as well when we chose the outfits.
We spent hours in a costume rent when we tried on the outfits.
Our guitarist Yuri pretended to be a pink bunny...
This was a cool joke. I was searching for a costume of a real fat pink bunny for a long time...
Didn't find that - big, fat, pink. But, well...
I was a skinny pink bunny. Girl. Still, why not.
Our director Vadim chose a red tomato costume, this was funny.
It was a warm and friendly atmosphere. Everyone was happy...
We had close people there, it was nice.
We filmed museum directors, TV and radio journalists, painters, politicians...
bank workers, florists, many profession representatives.
A ballet dancer from Paris came to us, capoeira team, percussionists...
unicycle acrobat... We had a real fire show!
We tried to work on every part...
but every person is so versatile that nothing could compare...
to their own improvisation.
Madhouse, kindergarten, but an awesome place.
I remember everyone running, preparing something, helping each other.
Super cool people, helping, not asking anything in return.
The atmosphere was marvelous.
It was a whole lot of people. Bikers, weightlifters, bikini girls, nurses...
so many parts and guys looked so beautiful in them, they suited everyone perfectly.
Actually it was a fuss! When I left home for filming that day, I couldn't imagine what it would be like...
The day was very special, it passed really quickly. We didn't realize how quickly time went by.
Despite the chaos on the filming set...
everything was really precise.
One helped another to put make-up on...
another girl did a hairstyle... And everything was the way it was supposed to.
Beautiful ballet dancer, marvelous Kristaps with his fire show.
100 takes of setting up a tent. 200 takes of serpentine. It was fun.
But I loved it. I was a little bit afraid of that Bee's costume...
I am quite hairy, and I had nothing to put on,...
you could see the hair, I had to be a hairy Bee.. They are quite hairy, though.
We tried really hard so that everything around was bright and extraordinary.
People around were constantly changing. Many interesting costumes...
movements, a very interesting screenplay..
We had some fine nurses out there! Yeah... Beautiful nurses.
It was fun all the time.
Sometimes it was hard a bit. I had to move my hands and my head really fast.
I guess, we were filming the first scene for an hour...
and I shook my head all the time, so that my neck hurt a lot.
I was sitting like… I couldn't hold my head later on.
It was very interesting to switch parts yourself and do things...
that you don’t have to do every day. Really trying to play the part.
We have one shot with slow motion, and we had a huge ventilator...
and needed to get a light dress, for the effect.
So I searched my wardrobe for it and found nothing. Went to a shop...
bought a really light material and put a dress together with a friend...
right on the set – this was a moment of my pride.
I guess everyone will remember, how a tent that we searched for a lot...
opened with a 25th take, the moment we didn't film.
I wanted to sleep the whole day, but I managed to stay awake.
I remember it was hard but a lot of fun there, it kept me alive.
It was hilarious when we asked them for example
“Do you have a beautiful 7 years old child?”
“Can you show me a body butter, that looks good on a body after ten takes in a row?”
“Do you have a barrow to ride a director?”
It's a huge difference when you film something not organized by you...
It doesn't matter then, you stand somewhere, you’re filmed and free to go, not participating in the whole process.
It was a totally different attitude here: it's yours, for you, and you care…
about every detail, help everyone.
More involved, because it's yours.
For me the hardest part was that I knew everything we planned in the screenplay...
from the beginning to the end. I knew who played what, who had to do what.
It was hard to separate an actress from a director within me.
There was a moment when I wanted to point out that here we should have done something differently...
we didn't plan that, we’ve planned something else for that.
The most difficult thing is getting a result...
How we get it and how we show it to our listeners.
I think that the most difficult things lay ahead, we need to give the video a life...
we must find the right way to present it. This is just like working on an album...
that we are also trying to record now: you can get everyone in a studio and record everything...
but the main work starts after that.
The filming day, some of our actors told a phrase
that the crew will probably remember forever.
Someone said that this was the most low-budget video in Latvia with the most important, expensive actors.
This experience was very significant. Any choreographer, any director could only dream …
about an experience of this kind. A huge job was done.
It was a fantastic project. The whole team worked as a family...
everyone did his 100% every day and every night
spent on rethinking, planning, inventing, was a gain.
And I think this is just the beginning.