CULTURE
Ellen Alexander: “I wrote a song for a friend, but it turned out to be for the whole world”
Ellen Alexander, an American model of Russian origin, recently surprised her admirers with her musical talent. It turned out that Ellen has been writing music and songs since her early childhood, and she’s doing a great job. Ellen’s songs are very touching, tender, and inspiring, many of them Ellen writes to support others or to express her feelings and thoughts. Now Ellen can be congratulated on the first large-scale video she shot for her song “Shadows”.
Today we will ask Ellen Alexander about her plans for her music career, creativity, and the video itself.
Ellen, just recently you released a stunningly beautiful video for your song “Shadows”. As I understand, it was your first large-scale shooting for the music industry?
Yes, you’re right. Before “Shadows” I already had a video for the song “Good Girl Go”, but “Shadows” is my first such global work for today. And I am not going to stop there. I see “Shadows” as the first step to further work in this area. There will be other shootings, this is just the beginning.
Did you benefit from your very impressive experience in the modeling business?
Yes, of course. In general, I think that always one creative experience helps with another. Of course, thanks to my modeling career, I’m able to work for hours, see beautiful poses and shots. I don’t complain about the cold and other moments that usually accompany any outdoor shooting.
How do model shootings differ from music video shootings?
I will say such a banal thing now, but model shootings are more static than music video shootings. The creation of any video is a movement, is a story, narration in every frame. When shooting a video, you should always remember who your heroine is and the stage of her development. You need to playback her story, show her feelings. This is the difference.
There is a lot of beautiful scenery in this video. Was it hard to shoot them? Didn’t you freeze in your stunning but very light dress?
Yes, of course, I did. But what to do? I was ready for it for the sake of a beautiful frame and the story we told.
Maybe you share with us the brightest story or the coolest memories from the shooting?
I can tell you about the video “Good Girl Go”. This is one hell of a memory. The director decided to bathe us in the icy ocean in order to tell his story. And we spent several hours in a row in the cold water. It was the quarantine time when everyone had to take care of themselves, and we were under icy waves in the ocean frozen to bones. But we did excellent shots, and the story was told in full.
You shot in different locations. Can you tell us a little about them?
We shot everything in the LA area. I don’t understand how we managed to shoot everything here, because we couldn’t leave because of the situation with COVID-19. So, all the views, landscapes, forests, and fields we found within Los Angeles.
What is the “Shadows” video about? What sense did you put into it?
This video tells about the desire for a good future, for a bright beginning. “We come out of the dark fog and go to the light”.
It turns out that it is very relevant today.
Yes, of course, it turned out to be very relevant. Although initially I wrote a song and shot a video for my friend. He had problems and I wanted to support him with “Shadows”, show him how to solve the situation, emphasize that I’m always next to him and he can always rely on me. And it so happens that now this video and its main idea are relevant to many.
The video sequence is not only very rich in aesthetics, the beauty of some frames takes your breath away, but it also carries a lot of meaning?
Yes, that’s right. But I can’t explain it, it’s still a music video, you have to watch it. The meaning is hidden in associations, in the frames that cause them. And, probably, everyone will have their own meaning.
What is music for you? Is it a pleasure or a necessity?
Both. I’m an active person, I don’t like to sit still. I like to create something, to express myself in creativity, to be useful. And music is one of my activities, and it’s very important for me.
Have you already chosen which song you will be making a video for next time?
Yes, I did. I’m redoing my “Good Girl Go”, as I said, I already have a video on it. But now this song has changed a lot, I brought it to perfection, I put something new into it, so I think it’s worthy of a new video.
Ellen, thank you so much! I wish you further success and look forward to your new songs and videos!
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