My friend suggested that I come up with a format for a music show and direct it, under the pretext that it would help attract investors and gather a team.
The idea for the show is to feature Russian musicians from around the world. We would visit them at their homes, where they would act as tourist guides, telling us about their country and city, and ending with a performance of a few songs.
I wanted to create something similar to the movie "Night on Earth" (1991) by Jim Jarmusch. The stories take place in different parts of the world, showing the unity of humanity and giving hope to the viewer, all under the guise of a morning show. Morning is the beginning of a new day, a time of hope, a new beginning, a new life - photosynthesis.
We developed the format, confirmed the artists with Yandex Music, and I set off on my journey. The show was intentionally formatted like a diary. As a director, I went on the shoot and visited three countries, documenting everything on VHS and mini DV cameras. I interacted with the artists as a guest, as a tourist, because I really was in all these places for the first time (except for St. Petersburg).
Intro Animation and Sound Design
I created a storyboard for the animation idea, and our 3D artist made a full video. My friend, the sound designer, created the intro music and background music for all the episodes. I wanted the background music to sound like the album "Six Songs for Invisible Gardens" by Green-House. It's a very ambient album that gives off a morning vibe. This storytelling format reminds me of the YouTube show about architecture, NeverTooSmall.
Ssshhhiiittt in Tbilisi, Georgia
I arrived in Tbilisi and was immediately charmed by the city. While I was planning locations for the shoot, I had only seen everything on the internet. Our team of cameramen and I went to see these planned locations before the shoot. Not all of them worked for us, but our friends showed us many beautiful places where we ultimately shot, such as Mziuri Park.
We rented a house in the mountains for a live shoot. When we arrived on set, we immediately encountered three problems:
1. The mountain wind was very strong, causing all our equipment to fall over and making loud noises as it blew into the microphones.
2. The owner of the house saw the amount of equipment and people and asked us to leave (of course we had warned him about everything in advance).
3. The electricity in the house couldn't power all our equipment.
In the end, we were able to solve all these problems, and the shooting process went smoothly. I was happy to work with such a professional team; they are all listed in the credits.
Lisa Gromova in Belgrade, Serbia
It was extremely hot in Belgrade, and we did our best to cool off with thermal water. Everything went smoothly, but a few days before the shoot, our musicians who were supposed to accompany Lisa disappeared. The elderly Serbians we had arranged to film with were missing for several days, and Lisa and I were getting ready to just walk around the city, go to all the pubs, and look for them. In the end, they showed up a day before the shoot, and we breathed a sigh of relief. It turns out this is a common occurrence; it's called "polako" in Serbia.
Wildways in St. Petersburg
We filmed a live performance at Resonance Studio. We wanted to shoot everything as unedited as possible, like a live performance by The Chariot - David De La Hoz.
