To be honest, I did not even think of recording a song in the start of this project. Furthermore, I could not even dream of getting permission to return to my country for the sake of filming the music video. Up until one night. It might sound surreal, but that’s exactly how all of my ideas emerge… REALLY spontaneously. It all came up to me in a dream, the locations I would want to see in my video and the song I need for it to happen. It was not ”The Other Woman”. It was my song that I sketched up that very evening.
Simply because of that “vision”, everything took a dramatic turn. For the purpose of making my final project I made a decision of taking a risk on returning to my hometown – Odesa. A month prior to the trip, I announced my parents about it and they weren’t happy with that idea. At all. For the past couple of months, my city is experiencing daily attacks and power shutdowns that can last for days. Due to these factors, It was a big risk to take, but my vision was unbreakable and final. This December I have turned 18, so as an ultimatum I told my parents that if they will not support my trust in the idea I have – I will go by myself as it is now allowed by the law. After millions of fights and attempts to re-convince me by showing all the horrors happening in my city, my mission stayed unbreakable. I had my ticket.
The reality-check hit me quickly. The night of the trip the only bridge that led to Odesa got destroyed in order to disconnect the city from the food import and even further issues with power and water. I thought, that it will be the end and I will have to remain in Romania. But, obviously, knowing me – I sat on that bus. My mom came with me. Instead of 16 hour trip it took us a bit more than 24 hours to get home. Not because we took an alternative route through Eastern Ukraine, but because we were literally waiting for the bridge to get “patched up” in order for our bus to pass. It was a wild ride, little to say. Riding through the dark December evening, rushing to get on time before the silent hours (00-5).
In terms of locations that I had in my mind, it was pretty simple. But, of course, we had couple of brand new issues. After my arrival, the very first issue that we faced is the fact of not having electricity to recharge the camera. Little did we know, that we will have around 10 one-hour-long bursts of electricity in a span of ONE WEEK. In terms of the weather, it was around -10 degrees with 100% humidity (thanks to the Black sea). Due to these harsh conditions, my initial idea had to be reduced to the very core as I will simply freeze to death… so does the phone I had to shoot with due to the absence of a professional camera.
Anyways, these are my locations of choice.
13th station of Big Fontaine, Odesa, Ukraine
The location
The exact shooting spot on the map.
Outlook
This is the station that I’ve spent most of my childhood in, it holds a lot of personal value to me. It’s considered more of a “local spot” (in contrast with Arcadia beach), as it has less attractions and well-made beach resorts. It is loved by locals as it is less crowded.
The main object
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to film with the Heart of the Sea due to the weather conditions, the path to it got fully frozen, just as me.
Ruins caused by the war. Odesa, Ukraine
Before
This place is located right on the boarder of Odesa city and Ovidiopolska district. It is a big store that sells all kinds of tools and materials for building.
During the attack
Thankfully, the attack happened when the facility was closed. No people died or got injured.
After
This was the location that I thought I’ll get, but it got cleaned up a lot since the attack (couple of months before). Regardless, it still appears dystopian as the burnt smell is present up to this day.
Fast forward, during my last day in Ukraine (28th of Dec), I realized, that I would like to have a bit more material for the final project. It cannot be done in Odesa, as the weather is TRULY unbearable, so I had one more option in my mind. On my way to Chisinau, Moldova (a switch point to get on a bus that leads to Cluj-Napoca, Romania), my best friend calls me with a proposition to celebrate New Years Eve in France, at her cousin’s house. Without hesitation, I started to look for the cheapest way to get there.. I got lucky. A plane that would lend on the French land 3 hours before the New Years with the price tag below 40 euro. I HAD to go… for the sake of the music video, of course.
After leaving all of my clothes with my mom as she’s going back to Romania, I ended up with one backpack and a trash bag that held my music video outfit.
City center. Bordeaux, France
Main square
All of the filming took place at night, while the tourists were tucked away in bars and hotels, which gave me a lot more artistic freedom…even if it was absolutely freezing.
Fontaine des Trois Graces
These tree locations will be featured in my final music project, this beautiful fountain is one of them.
