2025
DRAINED
Music video
DRAINED was selected for five international film festivals, along with one award selection and two nominations for the best music video.
A mermaid roams through the drained sea, which became a forest a long time ago. She mourns for the life lost and prays for the new life that will welcome her soon.
DRAINED music video was shot in Catalonia, Spain, on September 20, 2024, near the Albera Massif, which is the eastern end of the southern Pyrenees, where a firefighting DC-6 plane crashed in strong winds, killing its four-member crew, leaving wreckage that's now a hiking landmark.
The place's history was one of the reasons I picked this location. Since our plot was about mourning the loss, inviting a real life in a dream, resurrecting a past, but also about landscape and environmental change, to make the air vibrate, I needed the location to be as meaningful as the story.
The place's history was one of the reasons I picked this location. Since our plot was about mourning the loss, inviting a real life in a dream, resurrecting a past, but also about landscape and environmental change, to make the air vibrate, I needed the location to be as meaningful as the story.
Crafting Tale of Tails
Concept behind the image
From the outset, we chose an environmentally conscious, green filming process based on the use of recyclable materials. The protagonist’s costumes were made from dried palm leaves, cardboard packaging, and second-hand clothing. After the shoot, the cardboard crown and fish, along with parts of the palm-leaf costume, were archived, while all fabric garments were upcycled, gaining new life and functionality.
For the set design, we also used faux and natural fur coats. These were lent by our crew friends. After the cleaning, all items were returned to their owners.
The filming process itself adhered to the same principles. The location was situated in a mountainous area, inaccessible by car and requiring a two-hour walk from the nearest parking area. As a result, only items that the five-member crew could carry by hand were used during the shoot.
These conditions also meant that we could shoot exclusively with natural light and within a single daylight period.
For the set design, we also used faux and natural fur coats. These were lent by our crew friends. After the cleaning, all items were returned to their owners.
The filming process itself adhered to the same principles. The location was situated in a mountainous area, inaccessible by car and requiring a two-hour walk from the nearest parking area. As a result, only items that the five-member crew could carry by hand were used during the shoot.
These conditions also meant that we could shoot exclusively with natural light and within a single daylight period.
DRAINED behind the scenes
All five girls of our crew:
MARINA ZVIDRINA producer / director / costume designer
NADYA BERGMAN camera
ELINA DJAN singer and songwriter
IRA ZVIDRINA costume designer
ELIZABETH OKULOVA makeup artist
