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| Lidia Nikonova. |
LOS
ANGELES, Calif. – The 80s are back in the new T. Soomian music video “Can’t Hold My Love” shot by
a Russian cinematographer Lidia Nikonova. The video features juicy visuals and Paige Elkington’s energetic performance as an
aerobics instructor.
“I
became involved in the project through its writer-director Edgar Obrand, with
whom we shot a number of music videos and commercials. He came up with the idea
of a touching friendship between two people bonding over their love for
aerobics,” she recalled. “I grew up with my mother's aerobics VHS tapes and was
always fascinated with the shiny outfits and The Flirts-like sound tracks.
Edgar also was a big fan of the 80s aerobics videos and so we went down a very
deep YouTube rabbit hole of obscure Soviet and Japanese aerobics videos,
Jazzercise and Jane Fonda Workout tapes. T. Soomian and his team were onboard
with the plan and so we went full Miami Vice mode on it.”
The video follows a very relaxed guy walking down the street
until he finds a poster with actress Paige Elkington as an aerobics instructor.
He finally meets her in person, which then triggers a life-changing experience
for both of them.
“In order to emphasize
the significance of their encounter visually we opted for very expressive
lighting full of lush colors and pop lighting gags,” she said. “Another
important part of the visual design was a slightly vintage texture of the
image. We went for older Hawk C-Series Anamorphic lenses sourced from Keslow
Camera Los Angeles so to give the images a little more halation and
distortion.”
The end result is a
stylish music video with a cinematic feel from the cinematographer whose roots
lie with photojournalism and independent filmmaking.
“Lidia brought a great
energy and amazing visual quality to the music video,” says director Edgar
Obrand. “She’s very creative and has spent days researching the right look for
the project. We all are very excited to share the results.”
Having worked on a
variety of films and music videos in the past, it’s Nikonova’s work on the
Weeknd’s music videos from his new album that has earned her much acclaim and
attention.
Born in Moscow, Nikonova
has lived and worked across the world, shooting narrative films and
documentaries. Working as a news photographer in Australia, France and the UK,
she exhibited her documentary photography with much success. But it was in
Sydney where she found a real appreciation for cinematography at a university
course on philosophy in film.
Upon graduation, Nikonova decided to come to the
U.S. and pursue cinematography. She has gone on to work on films, documentaries
and music videos, sharing her passion for creating mood and tone with her
cinematic high-quality visuals. Her recent work includes such films as “If This
Is Wrong,” from director Chelsea Woods and “The Day That,” from director Dorian
Tucker.
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