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Imaginaerum Update
25.03.2012
Hi everyone, it's Petri Alanko here. Since July 2011 I've been working on Imaginaerum The Movie soundtrack based on the album multitrack sessions and the original songs by Tuomas (and one by Marco). I'm afraid some of my text will be more or less technical mumbo-jumbo, but I'll try and keep it as readable as it's humanly possible for yours truly.
A brief history: I met Stobe Harju whilst working with Remedy Entertainment's "Alan Wake" XBOX game for which I composed the soundtrack. I worked briefly, yet closely with Stobe during the game's cinematic cue production phase. To be honest, he must have enjoyed to make me cry, really. Every visual thing he ever showed me brought me to tears. Obviously he didn't hate me much, as I'm here again - and it's been a damn funky ride! Better than any theme park ride, this; at times you feel the wind on your face and things just couldn't come any better, no matter what you do. Then there's that one occasional moment of "how the eff do I turn this 16 bar riff into a 9 minute monster?", a thought repeatedly waking me up at nights for what seemed like a week. Oh, the agony - and how simple and elegant the solution eventually was! A lot of things have just clicked, which makes this one of my most enjoyable jobs ever and definitely the most original one. What I do is a passion, not a profession. I do make a living out of it, but without the spark that ignites me the living would suck.
Indeed, the sparks were many in this project. Let me elaborate a bit.
The process of turning an album track full of orchestra, keyboards, bass, guitars, Uilleann pipes, percussion and vocals into a mayhem of grief, misery, joy, yearning or wonder is not an easy one. It's a method of analysis combined with the gut feeling, at its best. I think I utilized some serious "blinking" (quick decisioning, a term borrowed from Malcolm Gladwell) during the pre-production phase: I had to listen to and through every single track of every song on Nightwish's Imaginaerum ProTools multitrack sessions - and cut out and paint green every "ok" snippet. If a certain thing sounded like it would benefit from further processing, I'd paint it orange or yellow, depending on my mindset (or a process anticipated for that particular cutout). Yellow meant simply "retune", orange "beat the shit out of it no matter what". Retuning usually meant throwing pitches around until the original sample was no longer recognizable… The decisions had to be made presto prestissimo, as I rapidly understood the more I thought of something, the more the original idea dissolved.
I remember one day particularly well, in the very beginning. I had been working on a single track for the whole day, drinking about 7-8 espresso shots, and finally the last track was cut into grays (no-go), greens, yellows and oranges. The arrange page seemed a bit crowded, so I decided to select only the colored sections… and I think I crapped my pants a bit then: there were - I just checked this - 1073 tiny sections separated from their original tracks, in one song alone. Multiply that number by the amount of songs on the album, and you come across with a number such as about 12773, which my "Imaginaerum raw material" folder tells me whenever I hit cmd-I. (The size of the folder is 7.94 GB, by the way. That's a lot of raw material, in other words.) After a weekend off, I did a second run for the material, and to my surprise, I didn't have to do much additions or corrections.
Some of those snippets were then turned into keymaps, them into instruments, instruments were combined to form multi-instruments - and little by little I had managed to develop myself a virtual Nightwish! Well, not really, as they were only single sounds, not pieces of performances as such. However, I did create some tempo-lockable guitar/bass instruments, shredding Nightwish riffs from one key only - and I could switch the key while they played - but these instruments were often used underneath the orchestral sections, to provide some extra "oomph", and you can _not_ hear them playing solo anywhere on the soundtrack. What's loud and sounds like a guitar or bass, it's Emppu or Marco. Period. I did similar stuff for Jukka's drums (again tempolockable) but this time I ran a lot of his stuff through different resonators and filters. Often I took the tom tracks only, picked up a rhythm from his playing and used that rhythm to control the pitches I was putting into a resonator by a keyboard. The result sounds like a percussive huge bass instrument and must be heard to believe… also, some of the vocals were turned into choirs or manic chanting. Marco's demonic "down down, deeper down" in Ghostriver redefined word "scary" after a treatment. You wouldn't want to hear that at night, I promise. At least my neighbour didn't - and he lived 20 meters away. Lived. Moved. Marco's chanting is used on a dark gray field, by the way... I did use "commercial libraries" as well, but wanted to rely on what I had on the Imaginaerum hard drive.
(A side note: I was constantly amazed throughout the process due to the fact every song still sounds like a proper Nightwish track, thanks to the strong personalities behind the performances. You can't fade or mutilate true passion. Period.)
It's probably pointless to say the number of tracks per song/cue turned into nightmarish amounts pretty soon after I had started. I've never been a fan of "let's just put that trendy Casio shit on and sing on top of it" method, and Nightwish are even less so. These two combined = oh holy crap and a thousand portaloos… "Last Ride Of The Day" alone had 327 tracks altogether when it went to mix, of which about 100 from the band itself, and the rest was put in to emphasize the action of the scene in which it was needed. In some cases I had to keep two spare computers running Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 (a virtual instrument networking application, not an orchestra plugin), slaved to my master computer. Yes, master had two slaves - hmm... I wish I had some assistants, too.
I know some of you keep on repeating "Why all this hassle? Why must that nasty bloke destroy everything we love?", I'm sure. Movie scores are a different beast. It's not about egotripping or hating original music (I _love_ it, by the way, I, too, am a fan. "Hello, my name is Petri and I'm a Nightwish fan."), it's about emphasizing the picture and the storyline. Grabbing the essence and rebuilding emotions selectively onto that. Some wiser man (must have been my piano teacher) said movie scores build tools for "dissecting the dreams we see and turn them into consolations or encouragement". There are two (well, three to be honest) tracks that were left as is: Slow, Love, Slow and Scaretale. The third is I Want My Tears Back, sort of.
One by one the songs of Imaginaerum The Album have reformed - transformed - into a soundtrack. It hasn't been easy - and hey, it shouldn't have been; in creative field, comfort zones are for suckers and nine-to-five people. One has to trust the "gut feeling", though. No use to choose the hard way just because it's there. Some things have transformed themselves almost by accident, whereas some have taken a slightly longer time. It's been a damn good ride, and there are still a few good curves ahead - but I can already see the final straight of this rollercoaster, and all you people waiting for your turn on the platform, soon joining the ride. I'm thrilled to be a tiny part of your experience.
There have been a few times when I've wished there was a shotgun in my studio, but only a few. Much more often it was the wind machine that was missed. Or a wedge monitor on the floor onto which to rest my leg. Or a fog machine. A multi-kilowatt PA. A crowd of >20000 people... Heh, the amount of air guitar played in this room has months ago gone through the roof. The end result is going to sound magical, and fear not: I cannot spoil any of it, the original songs and themes are that strong. I'm mixing/cutting the fourth reel (of five) and I can't wait to see this on the big screen.
To be a part of this realising dream is a privilege, and I cannot express my gratitude and pride in an appropriate way; sometimes words just _aren't_ enough. I hope the soundtrack recites wiser words than what I just did.
"My god, it's full of sparks!"
-Petri
A brief history: I met Stobe Harju whilst working with Remedy Entertainment's "Alan Wake" XBOX game for which I composed the soundtrack. I worked briefly, yet closely with Stobe during the game's cinematic cue production phase. To be honest, he must have enjoyed to make me cry, really. Every visual thing he ever showed me brought me to tears. Obviously he didn't hate me much, as I'm here again - and it's been a damn funky ride! Better than any theme park ride, this; at times you feel the wind on your face and things just couldn't come any better, no matter what you do. Then there's that one occasional moment of "how the eff do I turn this 16 bar riff into a 9 minute monster?", a thought repeatedly waking me up at nights for what seemed like a week. Oh, the agony - and how simple and elegant the solution eventually was! A lot of things have just clicked, which makes this one of my most enjoyable jobs ever and definitely the most original one. What I do is a passion, not a profession. I do make a living out of it, but without the spark that ignites me the living would suck.
Indeed, the sparks were many in this project. Let me elaborate a bit.
The process of turning an album track full of orchestra, keyboards, bass, guitars, Uilleann pipes, percussion and vocals into a mayhem of grief, misery, joy, yearning or wonder is not an easy one. It's a method of analysis combined with the gut feeling, at its best. I think I utilized some serious "blinking" (quick decisioning, a term borrowed from Malcolm Gladwell) during the pre-production phase: I had to listen to and through every single track of every song on Nightwish's Imaginaerum ProTools multitrack sessions - and cut out and paint green every "ok" snippet. If a certain thing sounded like it would benefit from further processing, I'd paint it orange or yellow, depending on my mindset (or a process anticipated for that particular cutout). Yellow meant simply "retune", orange "beat the shit out of it no matter what". Retuning usually meant throwing pitches around until the original sample was no longer recognizable… The decisions had to be made presto prestissimo, as I rapidly understood the more I thought of something, the more the original idea dissolved.
I remember one day particularly well, in the very beginning. I had been working on a single track for the whole day, drinking about 7-8 espresso shots, and finally the last track was cut into grays (no-go), greens, yellows and oranges. The arrange page seemed a bit crowded, so I decided to select only the colored sections… and I think I crapped my pants a bit then: there were - I just checked this - 1073 tiny sections separated from their original tracks, in one song alone. Multiply that number by the amount of songs on the album, and you come across with a number such as about 12773, which my "Imaginaerum raw material" folder tells me whenever I hit cmd-I. (The size of the folder is 7.94 GB, by the way. That's a lot of raw material, in other words.) After a weekend off, I did a second run for the material, and to my surprise, I didn't have to do much additions or corrections.
Some of those snippets were then turned into keymaps, them into instruments, instruments were combined to form multi-instruments - and little by little I had managed to develop myself a virtual Nightwish! Well, not really, as they were only single sounds, not pieces of performances as such. However, I did create some tempo-lockable guitar/bass instruments, shredding Nightwish riffs from one key only - and I could switch the key while they played - but these instruments were often used underneath the orchestral sections, to provide some extra "oomph", and you can _not_ hear them playing solo anywhere on the soundtrack. What's loud and sounds like a guitar or bass, it's Emppu or Marco. Period. I did similar stuff for Jukka's drums (again tempolockable) but this time I ran a lot of his stuff through different resonators and filters. Often I took the tom tracks only, picked up a rhythm from his playing and used that rhythm to control the pitches I was putting into a resonator by a keyboard. The result sounds like a percussive huge bass instrument and must be heard to believe… also, some of the vocals were turned into choirs or manic chanting. Marco's demonic "down down, deeper down" in Ghostriver redefined word "scary" after a treatment. You wouldn't want to hear that at night, I promise. At least my neighbour didn't - and he lived 20 meters away. Lived. Moved. Marco's chanting is used on a dark gray field, by the way... I did use "commercial libraries" as well, but wanted to rely on what I had on the Imaginaerum hard drive.
(A side note: I was constantly amazed throughout the process due to the fact every song still sounds like a proper Nightwish track, thanks to the strong personalities behind the performances. You can't fade or mutilate true passion. Period.)
It's probably pointless to say the number of tracks per song/cue turned into nightmarish amounts pretty soon after I had started. I've never been a fan of "let's just put that trendy Casio shit on and sing on top of it" method, and Nightwish are even less so. These two combined = oh holy crap and a thousand portaloos… "Last Ride Of The Day" alone had 327 tracks altogether when it went to mix, of which about 100 from the band itself, and the rest was put in to emphasize the action of the scene in which it was needed. In some cases I had to keep two spare computers running Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 (a virtual instrument networking application, not an orchestra plugin), slaved to my master computer. Yes, master had two slaves - hmm... I wish I had some assistants, too.
I know some of you keep on repeating "Why all this hassle? Why must that nasty bloke destroy everything we love?", I'm sure. Movie scores are a different beast. It's not about egotripping or hating original music (I _love_ it, by the way, I, too, am a fan. "Hello, my name is Petri and I'm a Nightwish fan."), it's about emphasizing the picture and the storyline. Grabbing the essence and rebuilding emotions selectively onto that. Some wiser man (must have been my piano teacher) said movie scores build tools for "dissecting the dreams we see and turn them into consolations or encouragement". There are two (well, three to be honest) tracks that were left as is: Slow, Love, Slow and Scaretale. The third is I Want My Tears Back, sort of.
One by one the songs of Imaginaerum The Album have reformed - transformed - into a soundtrack. It hasn't been easy - and hey, it shouldn't have been; in creative field, comfort zones are for suckers and nine-to-five people. One has to trust the "gut feeling", though. No use to choose the hard way just because it's there. Some things have transformed themselves almost by accident, whereas some have taken a slightly longer time. It's been a damn good ride, and there are still a few good curves ahead - but I can already see the final straight of this rollercoaster, and all you people waiting for your turn on the platform, soon joining the ride. I'm thrilled to be a tiny part of your experience.
There have been a few times when I've wished there was a shotgun in my studio, but only a few. Much more often it was the wind machine that was missed. Or a wedge monitor on the floor onto which to rest my leg. Or a fog machine. A multi-kilowatt PA. A crowd of >20000 people... Heh, the amount of air guitar played in this room has months ago gone through the roof. The end result is going to sound magical, and fear not: I cannot spoil any of it, the original songs and themes are that strong. I'm mixing/cutting the fourth reel (of five) and I can't wait to see this on the big screen.
To be a part of this realising dream is a privilege, and I cannot express my gratitude and pride in an appropriate way; sometimes words just _aren't_ enough. I hope the soundtrack recites wiser words than what I just did.
"My god, it's full of sparks!"
-Petri
ShareImaginaerum Update
14.03.2012
Dear friends of Nightwish and Imaginaerum.
Where should I begin. Much has happened since the last update, too much, to write you another one.
Last months have been a battle getting all the required visual effects into the film as they deserve to be made. As I'm writing this update, the people in Montreal are working hard on the visuals. Since we are still in this stage the teaser trailer and trailer edit have had to wait for a while.
As some of you might have seen from Twitter, the film has reached a picture lock. It means, that no more raw editing will be done for the film and all the shots have their final length so that the visual effects team can finalize them. Naturally, it doesn't stop there.
What we have done during the past month has been looking through the film and doing a list of all the adr (additional dialogue recording). In short. Dig out the script, watch the film, see where the lines can be improved or new lines added, mark them down, send them out, close the script, lock the bastard, get the actors to do some new lines, record them, mix and sync them over the old lines in the film and voilà we have the final top quality dialogue for the movie. Sounds mundane, but many of the films have improved greatly because of this procedure.
The soundtrack on Petri Alanko's desk is doing great. After the last edit for the film, there were many things that made the guy literally pull his hair out of his head. I guess it's sync issues mainly. Nevertheless, the band is very impressed of what they've heard so far and remember, there's only going to be a few original songs from Imaginaerum album because the rest will have a more cinematic nature to them. I've asked Petri to write an update specifically to you all who are reading this since I gather, you all are getting fairly bored reading my scribbles only.
As I was visiting Nightwish, Helsinki gig on last saturday with some friends, Including Petri Alanko, I was pretty sure we got some shivering ideas of what you, the Nightwish fans, would like to hear in the film. Anyway, Nightwish was fantastic as always and I really got some kicks getting to see the old friends in the backstage once again. Emotional stuff.
As usual, saving the best for last is the obvious thing to do. The teaser trailer is on my desk at the moment, meaning that the editing for the raw version will begin shortly. This will take some time though, because the visual effects that should be in the teaser are still work in progress, there's the sound mixing and coloring to do for those parts of the film and therefore we cannot predict the date, but it's coming out sooner or later anyway. Hopefully sooner dear friends.
In the meanwhile, have a magical spring time waiting for that winter's last snowflake (wink).
Stobe Harju - The Director, Imaginaerum (Helsinki, Finland 12th March, 2012)
Where should I begin. Much has happened since the last update, too much, to write you another one.
Last months have been a battle getting all the required visual effects into the film as they deserve to be made. As I'm writing this update, the people in Montreal are working hard on the visuals. Since we are still in this stage the teaser trailer and trailer edit have had to wait for a while.
As some of you might have seen from Twitter, the film has reached a picture lock. It means, that no more raw editing will be done for the film and all the shots have their final length so that the visual effects team can finalize them. Naturally, it doesn't stop there.
What we have done during the past month has been looking through the film and doing a list of all the adr (additional dialogue recording). In short. Dig out the script, watch the film, see where the lines can be improved or new lines added, mark them down, send them out, close the script, lock the bastard, get the actors to do some new lines, record them, mix and sync them over the old lines in the film and voilà we have the final top quality dialogue for the movie. Sounds mundane, but many of the films have improved greatly because of this procedure.
The soundtrack on Petri Alanko's desk is doing great. After the last edit for the film, there were many things that made the guy literally pull his hair out of his head. I guess it's sync issues mainly. Nevertheless, the band is very impressed of what they've heard so far and remember, there's only going to be a few original songs from Imaginaerum album because the rest will have a more cinematic nature to them. I've asked Petri to write an update specifically to you all who are reading this since I gather, you all are getting fairly bored reading my scribbles only.
As I was visiting Nightwish, Helsinki gig on last saturday with some friends, Including Petri Alanko, I was pretty sure we got some shivering ideas of what you, the Nightwish fans, would like to hear in the film. Anyway, Nightwish was fantastic as always and I really got some kicks getting to see the old friends in the backstage once again. Emotional stuff.
As usual, saving the best for last is the obvious thing to do. The teaser trailer is on my desk at the moment, meaning that the editing for the raw version will begin shortly. This will take some time though, because the visual effects that should be in the teaser are still work in progress, there's the sound mixing and coloring to do for those parts of the film and therefore we cannot predict the date, but it's coming out sooner or later anyway. Hopefully sooner dear friends.
In the meanwhile, have a magical spring time waiting for that winter's last snowflake (wink).
Stobe Harju - The Director, Imaginaerum (Helsinki, Finland 12th March, 2012)
ShareImaginaerum update
21.12.2011
Dear friends of Nightwish and the Imaginaerum movie.
This must be the hardest update I had to write because of my principal "hands on" work is getting less frequent. For that, I feel emptier than ever.
As most of you may know, we finished the director's cut for the film. Everyone involved in the screening sessions were very happy and gave precious feedback that made the director's cut. I can say this now, we are very, very, very happy with the cut. There are many people who deserve our appreciation, they are fellow directors, co-writers, actors and producers. There is still editing required for the visual effects to make us stay in the budget. This phase eventually makes the film and is crucial to the success of the final movie. Again, we are living exciting times .
Now, filmmaking is mostly about letting go. Besides the editing, I had to say farewell to my very good friend and the editor of the film, Mathieu Bélanger, and his fantastic family who joined me in Finland for couple months. The heart and soul Mathieu put into this film cannot be described by words and I'm sure, our paths will cross in the future and in another project.
Now, the film is in the good hands of another friend of mine Joshua Sherrett, his Workshop and the great team of Vision Global in Montreal. Their visual effects and their early concept sketches have blown us away several times already, and finally, they get to show us the meaning of the word "magic". Believe me when I say we've seen some pretty exciting stuff so far.
As my work continues with them it also continues with Petri Alanko and the soundtrack he's producing with Tuomas. It's miraculous how these guys can pull off something completely different but at the same time similar with the Imaginaerum album songs. Well, it must be the 350 tracks per song on the album that give that possibility for the variations. Those crazy bastards.
It's just a matter of time when we have got something new and special to show you. We hope it's quick because we can't wait either.
Meanwhile, the great people working on Imaginaerum would like to thank you all and wish you a magical Christmas and imaginative New Year! May your dreams come true.
Stobe Harju - The Director, Imaginaerum (Helsinki, Finland 18th Dec, 2011)
This must be the hardest update I had to write because of my principal "hands on" work is getting less frequent. For that, I feel emptier than ever.
As most of you may know, we finished the director's cut for the film. Everyone involved in the screening sessions were very happy and gave precious feedback that made the director's cut. I can say this now, we are very, very, very happy with the cut. There are many people who deserve our appreciation, they are fellow directors, co-writers, actors and producers. There is still editing required for the visual effects to make us stay in the budget. This phase eventually makes the film and is crucial to the success of the final movie. Again, we are living exciting times .
Now, filmmaking is mostly about letting go. Besides the editing, I had to say farewell to my very good friend and the editor of the film, Mathieu Bélanger, and his fantastic family who joined me in Finland for couple months. The heart and soul Mathieu put into this film cannot be described by words and I'm sure, our paths will cross in the future and in another project.
Now, the film is in the good hands of another friend of mine Joshua Sherrett, his Workshop and the great team of Vision Global in Montreal. Their visual effects and their early concept sketches have blown us away several times already, and finally, they get to show us the meaning of the word "magic". Believe me when I say we've seen some pretty exciting stuff so far.
As my work continues with them it also continues with Petri Alanko and the soundtrack he's producing with Tuomas. It's miraculous how these guys can pull off something completely different but at the same time similar with the Imaginaerum album songs. Well, it must be the 350 tracks per song on the album that give that possibility for the variations. Those crazy bastards.
It's just a matter of time when we have got something new and special to show you. We hope it's quick because we can't wait either.
Meanwhile, the great people working on Imaginaerum would like to thank you all and wish you a magical Christmas and imaginative New Year! May your dreams come true.
Stobe Harju - The Director, Imaginaerum (Helsinki, Finland 18th Dec, 2011)
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» Photo gallery
11.11.2011
A fantastic day everyone!
It's Wednesday the 9th of November and the first single of Imaginaerum called "Storytime" is finally out today. It's part 1 of a very long homecoming, 4 years in the making. Makes me feel a bit sad, fairly relieved and ultimately proud. Sad that a certain journey is finally coming to an end, relieved that everything worked out beautifully, and proud of the band members' and the fellow imagineers' effort in getting this colossal project together. Thank you.
I saw the first edits of Imaginaerum The Movie a week ago. Stobe and Mathieu have been working with the edits a few weeks now and the parts I saw were very convincing. The demo scores (by the tech wizard Petri Alanko) are working out wonderfully, even though we still need to toy around with them quite a bit. The special effects guys have also begun their work, so once we get all these layers together some truly mind blowing movie magic will be born. Basically now we just have to wait patiently and try not to breathe too much into their backs, and let them do their magic.
In the meanwhile, loads of promo and rehearsals still to be done.
Such exciting times,
-Tuomas
It's Wednesday the 9th of November and the first single of Imaginaerum called "Storytime" is finally out today. It's part 1 of a very long homecoming, 4 years in the making. Makes me feel a bit sad, fairly relieved and ultimately proud. Sad that a certain journey is finally coming to an end, relieved that everything worked out beautifully, and proud of the band members' and the fellow imagineers' effort in getting this colossal project together. Thank you.
I saw the first edits of Imaginaerum The Movie a week ago. Stobe and Mathieu have been working with the edits a few weeks now and the parts I saw were very convincing. The demo scores (by the tech wizard Petri Alanko) are working out wonderfully, even though we still need to toy around with them quite a bit. The special effects guys have also begun their work, so once we get all these layers together some truly mind blowing movie magic will be born. Basically now we just have to wait patiently and try not to breathe too much into their backs, and let them do their magic.
In the meanwhile, loads of promo and rehearsals still to be done.
Such exciting times,
-Tuomas
» Photo gallery
ShareImaginaerum Update
11.10.2011
Dear friends of Nightwish and Imaginaerum,
Four years have passed now since the first idea of the film got out and when I thought Nightwish, Tuomas and I were merely crazy dreamers.
As many of you know, we've already shot the film's principal photography, and only in 18 days. I promise you though, the material says different. The shots we got in that short period of time were priceless and there's no way, you could tell we were in a hurry.
I have learned a lot since we first began shooting. Everyone has to understand that most feature films, even with great concepts, never get shot. The team, the production staff, me and most of all the band have battled and bled to get the shootings on the way and the job done. That said, you have to be aware that many battles are still to be fought in the editing room, the visual effects, sound mixing, original score and the distribution of this film. Nothing is clear when it comes to filmmaking. However, with this team: our producers and the post production specialists, it's nearly impossible to fail.
Now, as the editing phase has begun and there's not much more to tell than it is going very well, the scenes look great and that I'm homesick, we're trying to get you as much candy as possible. Here are SOME of the names of our great cast, who all believed into the screenplay and carried out performances I've been never able to witness before.
Francis X. McCarthy, Quinn Lord, Marianne Farley, Joanna Noyes, Ilkka Villi, Keyanna Fielding, Ron Lea, Victoria Jung, Hélène Robitaille, Stefan Demers, Anette Olzon, Marco Hietala, Tuomas Holopainen, Emppu Vuorinen and Jukka Nevalainen.
One battle has gone past with a triumph by the greatest team and crew imaginable. You could think we've been lucky but luck never comes to us without hard work, heart and faith. I my self couldn't thank the fantastic Montreal crew enough and you, the fans of Nightwish, for believing into this project. Keep it up. There are still miles to go. The journey to Imaginaerum continues, and for now, I'd like to say thank you for your support.
Stobe Harju - The Director, Imaginaerum (Montreal, Canada 9th Oct, 2011)
PS: Max, I feel empty as you're not driving me to the studio anymore. Where are the morning conversations and the strong cheap cigarettes?
Four years have passed now since the first idea of the film got out and when I thought Nightwish, Tuomas and I were merely crazy dreamers.
As many of you know, we've already shot the film's principal photography, and only in 18 days. I promise you though, the material says different. The shots we got in that short period of time were priceless and there's no way, you could tell we were in a hurry.
I have learned a lot since we first began shooting. Everyone has to understand that most feature films, even with great concepts, never get shot. The team, the production staff, me and most of all the band have battled and bled to get the shootings on the way and the job done. That said, you have to be aware that many battles are still to be fought in the editing room, the visual effects, sound mixing, original score and the distribution of this film. Nothing is clear when it comes to filmmaking. However, with this team: our producers and the post production specialists, it's nearly impossible to fail.
Now, as the editing phase has begun and there's not much more to tell than it is going very well, the scenes look great and that I'm homesick, we're trying to get you as much candy as possible. Here are SOME of the names of our great cast, who all believed into the screenplay and carried out performances I've been never able to witness before.
Francis X. McCarthy, Quinn Lord, Marianne Farley, Joanna Noyes, Ilkka Villi, Keyanna Fielding, Ron Lea, Victoria Jung, Hélène Robitaille, Stefan Demers, Anette Olzon, Marco Hietala, Tuomas Holopainen, Emppu Vuorinen and Jukka Nevalainen.
One battle has gone past with a triumph by the greatest team and crew imaginable. You could think we've been lucky but luck never comes to us without hard work, heart and faith. I my self couldn't thank the fantastic Montreal crew enough and you, the fans of Nightwish, for believing into this project. Keep it up. There are still miles to go. The journey to Imaginaerum continues, and for now, I'd like to say thank you for your support.
Stobe Harju - The Director, Imaginaerum (Montreal, Canada 9th Oct, 2011)
PS: Max, I feel empty as you're not driving me to the studio anymore. Where are the morning conversations and the strong cheap cigarettes?
ShareImaginaerum Update
27.09.2011
Dear friends of Nightwish and Imaginaerum.
Two weeks have passed since the first day of shooting. It has been a triumph so far. Even as the band sat down to look at some raw pre edited scenes, their faces couldn't lie. They were very happy with what they saw.
Many of you must be dying for information and images from the set. We can't pour all that out since we really believe that some of the reveals would spoil the show. However, if you've read the previous update you know some of the character names already, which of at least Tom and Ann sound familiar to a many. And they should sound familiar.
As I started to write Imaginaerum screenplay, I planted one single parameter above everything else: This is a Nightwish film, no matter how fictional story about the band it would be. I didn't just wanted to use the band's name but also, to come up with character names resembling Nightwish members' names. The band in Imaginaerum became Ann, Tom, Marcus, Emil and Jack. I know, not very clever when it comes to molding names. Yet, I wanted the audience to feel the presence of Nightwish and to me the convergence had to be clear. I had endless battles trying to convince people that using names similar to Anette, Tuomas, Marco, Emppu and Jukka was a perfect bridge between Nightwish in reality and Nightwish in a fantasy world. The band didn't agree with me originally. It became my decision and my responsibility I am proud of. That said, if someone ever thinks this might be an ego thing for the band, think again. It's my decision completely, and that's how I intend to keep it.
These first two weeks have been a blast. So many great people have bled together with us pouring their fantastic creativity into the project. We have a fantastic art director and her team. Our director of photography couldn't be more dedicated to his line of work or his visuality. Our make-up and wardrobe departments have made magic in a short period of time. And the cast... wow! The whole crew is filled with professionals I could've only dreamt of when starting the project. And, our producers are the kind who really understand the drama, art and the story while keeping our budget safe and sound. I must be the luckiest director in the world. What more can I say.
What strikes me the most, is the fact that this project is not only titled as "the trip to one's imagination", but it is exactly that on every aspect of the game with all the beloved people involved.
Yours truly.
Stobe Harju, The Director - Imaginaerum
PS: "Wandering after far off music through a desert of ashes. If the tune had a color, it would be a mixture of pink and red. Constantly afraid of it fading away, terrified of the silence that may come."
Two weeks have passed since the first day of shooting. It has been a triumph so far. Even as the band sat down to look at some raw pre edited scenes, their faces couldn't lie. They were very happy with what they saw.
Many of you must be dying for information and images from the set. We can't pour all that out since we really believe that some of the reveals would spoil the show. However, if you've read the previous update you know some of the character names already, which of at least Tom and Ann sound familiar to a many. And they should sound familiar.
As I started to write Imaginaerum screenplay, I planted one single parameter above everything else: This is a Nightwish film, no matter how fictional story about the band it would be. I didn't just wanted to use the band's name but also, to come up with character names resembling Nightwish members' names. The band in Imaginaerum became Ann, Tom, Marcus, Emil and Jack. I know, not very clever when it comes to molding names. Yet, I wanted the audience to feel the presence of Nightwish and to me the convergence had to be clear. I had endless battles trying to convince people that using names similar to Anette, Tuomas, Marco, Emppu and Jukka was a perfect bridge between Nightwish in reality and Nightwish in a fantasy world. The band didn't agree with me originally. It became my decision and my responsibility I am proud of. That said, if someone ever thinks this might be an ego thing for the band, think again. It's my decision completely, and that's how I intend to keep it.
These first two weeks have been a blast. So many great people have bled together with us pouring their fantastic creativity into the project. We have a fantastic art director and her team. Our director of photography couldn't be more dedicated to his line of work or his visuality. Our make-up and wardrobe departments have made magic in a short period of time. And the cast... wow! The whole crew is filled with professionals I could've only dreamt of when starting the project. And, our producers are the kind who really understand the drama, art and the story while keeping our budget safe and sound. I must be the luckiest director in the world. What more can I say.
What strikes me the most, is the fact that this project is not only titled as "the trip to one's imagination", but it is exactly that on every aspect of the game with all the beloved people involved.
Yours truly.
Stobe Harju, The Director - Imaginaerum
PS: "Wandering after far off music through a desert of ashes. If the tune had a color, it would be a mixture of pink and red. Constantly afraid of it fading away, terrified of the silence that may come."
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23.09.2011
Very good evening from Montreal Canada!
As a band we've had some extremely long and sweaty days here. Early wakeups and late evenings have defined our lives so far. I'm happy to say that all the band shots are in the wrap.
This has also been fun, enlightening and one of the most interesting experiences ever. At least to me personally, but I have a hunch the rest of us feel pretty much the same.
We're going to continue for a couple of days here shooting stills for the album and the media. After that the long flights to home await us.
We have to give really big thanks to the absolutely great, friendly and professional crew, actors, extras and everybody here! They've helped us through these new and weird days with a lots of laughs and advice. See you at the premiere, front row or where ever anytime we have a chance.
Thank you!
Marco
As a band we've had some extremely long and sweaty days here. Early wakeups and late evenings have defined our lives so far. I'm happy to say that all the band shots are in the wrap.
This has also been fun, enlightening and one of the most interesting experiences ever. At least to me personally, but I have a hunch the rest of us feel pretty much the same.
We're going to continue for a couple of days here shooting stills for the album and the media. After that the long flights to home await us.
We have to give really big thanks to the absolutely great, friendly and professional crew, actors, extras and everybody here! They've helped us through these new and weird days with a lots of laughs and advice. See you at the premiere, front row or where ever anytime we have a chance.
Thank you!
Marco
» Photo gallery
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16.09.2011
Yesterday I had the chance to walk into the studio for the first time and see the set-up, props and dresses, and meet the actors. I was blown away by everything I saw, from the dedication of the people working there to the otherworldly atmosphere of the different stages. I had my make-up tests and dress fittings done, and truly enjoyed seeing myself as a gray and wrinkled 50-year-old. Ha!
4 years in the making, and finally Imaginaerum is coming alive in a most beautiful way. I can't help feeling completely awestruck and grateful for the chance of doing something that was nothing but an insane (but sincere) idea a few years ago.
- Tuomas
4 years in the making, and finally Imaginaerum is coming alive in a most beautiful way. I can't help feeling completely awestruck and grateful for the chance of doing something that was nothing but an insane (but sincere) idea a few years ago.
- Tuomas
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07.09.2011
IMAGINAERUM – A word from the director
It was four years ago. We had just shot Nightwish’s music video, ‘The Islander’, in Rovaniemi, Finland. As we sat down afterwards with Tuomas Holopainen, we pondered over the idea of having a music video for each of the songs on their next album. Back then it was the distant dream of two ambitious people.
One year later Tuomas called me and said: “This is it: would you be willing to come over and talk about our next project together?” The next few months were full of excitement, writing treatments for twelve clips, thinking how hard it would be to make all this happen.
At one stage I lost track of time as I was writing a story about a young boy, growing old in his own dream. It was in fact a fictional story about Nightwish, but above all about Tuomas himself, a forever-young genius, who loved life but also every single person around him. As we got inside each other’s minds, we knew that music videos weren’t enough for what we wanted to say to the world. We wanted something more.
Our love for life, our families, our memories, music, waking up to new wonders each day and love for the best tool available to us human beings, our imagination, became the cornerstones of the story. It had to be about the mixture of our lives and our worst fears of growing old. As we wanted to emphasize all these things, we found there was only one way to convey the story.
Imaginaerum tells the story of an elderly composer, Tom, who suffers from severe dementia. As he has had the disease for years and has regressed into childhood, he remembers practically nothing from his adult life. His music, friends, all his past including the memory of his daughter are a blur in his fragile mind. All he has left is the imagination of a ten year old boy. As he drifts away into coma, it seems impossible to get back what he has lost. Or is it?
The film is a journey between two different dimensions. Tom travels through his imaginary world seeking answers and finding memories, while his daughter, Gem, tries to recover the bond she had once shared with her father in the real world. As they have become more and more distant from each other over the years, and as there’s even greater obstacles separating them now – Tom’s coma and his imminent death – Gem’s project feels doomed to failure. However, through Tom’s darkest secrets, Gem discovers the path she must follow in order to find her father again.
There are some questions we must ask ourselves before entering the world of Imaginaerum. What is most important in life? Can the power of memories protect us during our last moments? Will our imagination help us find the spark of life in the deepest darkness? Can we still find love after bitter forgiveness?
Imaginaerum is an emotional fantasy-adventure powered by the music of Nightwish. The story reminds us of our childhood where the smallest but most precious thing meant everything and losing it would have left an everlasting scar. Now it’s time to reopen the wound and see what became of it, but above all, where it came from.
Stobe Harju, Director
It was four years ago. We had just shot Nightwish’s music video, ‘The Islander’, in Rovaniemi, Finland. As we sat down afterwards with Tuomas Holopainen, we pondered over the idea of having a music video for each of the songs on their next album. Back then it was the distant dream of two ambitious people.
One year later Tuomas called me and said: “This is it: would you be willing to come over and talk about our next project together?” The next few months were full of excitement, writing treatments for twelve clips, thinking how hard it would be to make all this happen.
At one stage I lost track of time as I was writing a story about a young boy, growing old in his own dream. It was in fact a fictional story about Nightwish, but above all about Tuomas himself, a forever-young genius, who loved life but also every single person around him. As we got inside each other’s minds, we knew that music videos weren’t enough for what we wanted to say to the world. We wanted something more.
Our love for life, our families, our memories, music, waking up to new wonders each day and love for the best tool available to us human beings, our imagination, became the cornerstones of the story. It had to be about the mixture of our lives and our worst fears of growing old. As we wanted to emphasize all these things, we found there was only one way to convey the story.
Imaginaerum tells the story of an elderly composer, Tom, who suffers from severe dementia. As he has had the disease for years and has regressed into childhood, he remembers practically nothing from his adult life. His music, friends, all his past including the memory of his daughter are a blur in his fragile mind. All he has left is the imagination of a ten year old boy. As he drifts away into coma, it seems impossible to get back what he has lost. Or is it?
The film is a journey between two different dimensions. Tom travels through his imaginary world seeking answers and finding memories, while his daughter, Gem, tries to recover the bond she had once shared with her father in the real world. As they have become more and more distant from each other over the years, and as there’s even greater obstacles separating them now – Tom’s coma and his imminent death – Gem’s project feels doomed to failure. However, through Tom’s darkest secrets, Gem discovers the path she must follow in order to find her father again.
There are some questions we must ask ourselves before entering the world of Imaginaerum. What is most important in life? Can the power of memories protect us during our last moments? Will our imagination help us find the spark of life in the deepest darkness? Can we still find love after bitter forgiveness?
Imaginaerum is an emotional fantasy-adventure powered by the music of Nightwish. The story reminds us of our childhood where the smallest but most precious thing meant everything and losing it would have left an everlasting scar. Now it’s time to reopen the wound and see what became of it, but above all, where it came from.
Stobe Harju, Director
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07.08.2011
Dear friends of Imaginarium,
Secretly we all hoped that at some point we would be able to say this aloud: The Dream is about to become reality! It`s been a hard battle beyond all measures, as it is in all projects this size, but finally creativity and heart took over the evil called Money.
Imaginarium will be shot in September in a location we still need to keep as a secret but it will be quite far from our homely Finland & Sweden.
The casting of the characters is now done. The cast is chosen not only because of their talent but because of the personal passion of everyone involved. The actors and their representatives have been overly enthusiastic about the auditions after reading the script. We believe many of you will be very surprised once you see the final result and the story behind it. This long journey began more than 3 years ago, and neither Nightwish or Stobe had a clear idea of where the path would lead. The script is now fantastic. It`s about Life, and the little spark of light you see during the darkest and most hopeless times. The same spark we`ve had to find over and over again during the process of making this film happen.
The production crew is a group of professionals with one aim only: To realize the original vision of Imaginarium that Tuomas and Stobe had. All the pieces of the puzzle are now on the tables, and the building of the props, costume design, schedule planning, special fx production, dialogue & band performance rehearsals, etc. has begun.
It`s easy to shed some tears while writing this, since we now know the story will have an ending after all.
"She spins around elegantly, softly. The chords are now found and something that was broken never needed to be fixed."
Secretly we all hoped that at some point we would be able to say this aloud: The Dream is about to become reality! It`s been a hard battle beyond all measures, as it is in all projects this size, but finally creativity and heart took over the evil called Money.
Imaginarium will be shot in September in a location we still need to keep as a secret but it will be quite far from our homely Finland & Sweden.
The casting of the characters is now done. The cast is chosen not only because of their talent but because of the personal passion of everyone involved. The actors and their representatives have been overly enthusiastic about the auditions after reading the script. We believe many of you will be very surprised once you see the final result and the story behind it. This long journey began more than 3 years ago, and neither Nightwish or Stobe had a clear idea of where the path would lead. The script is now fantastic. It`s about Life, and the little spark of light you see during the darkest and most hopeless times. The same spark we`ve had to find over and over again during the process of making this film happen.
The production crew is a group of professionals with one aim only: To realize the original vision of Imaginarium that Tuomas and Stobe had. All the pieces of the puzzle are now on the tables, and the building of the props, costume design, schedule planning, special fx production, dialogue & band performance rehearsals, etc. has begun.
It`s easy to shed some tears while writing this, since we now know the story will have an ending after all.
"She spins around elegantly, softly. The chords are now found and something that was broken never needed to be fixed."
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