A Model Held Her Breath For 5 Minutes for this Single Take Music Video
Typically, tying a model up and throwing her to the bottom of a pool isn’t a recommended practice for both legal and moral reasons. However, this new music video for the song “Lydia” by Highly Suspect dares to do just that. You begin to realize something is a bit odd as the video rolls on and on — there are no cuts, meaning Marina Kazankova actually had to hold her breath during the entire 4-minute-plus video.
It turns out the woman, Marina Kazankova, is not only a model but also a world champion freediver. According to the production team, it took years to comb through the freediving community and find the field-experts needed to bring the concept to life. Specialists such as underwater camera operators, lead safety divers, and more were required to ensure the project was captured correctly while keeping all the participants safe.
“Everything you see is 100% authentic. Shot in one-take, over the course of 5-mins,” writes Pier Pictures. “However unsettling, this experiential project was carefully created with the intention of rolling a single-take in a single-location, with one character facing a dire, life-or-death situation.”
“If you can make it to the end, the unbroken nature of the sequence enables the action on screen to come alive.”
“Focusing on real sensations and emotions associated with love and its loss, in any form, our exploration was in seeking to create just that, real feelings. We’ll leave it to you to decide how this moves you, we only ask that you take note that it has… you’re probably not alone. This is the power of cinema.”
The video was shot at 60fps on REDdragon 6K equipment enclosed in a Gates Deep Dragon housing. Needless to say, the choice of a practical stunt over video cuts or CGI is impressive, but this idea is extremely dangerous and it isn’t something you should try at home.
