More and more we are seeing members of our community embrace cinemagraphs as a storytelling medium. It’s exciting to see their living photos executed with a larger idea and narrative and used in place of traditional mediums.

Swedish singer-songwriter Hanna Turi took this challenge to task for her new single “Heavy Heart”, creating a cinemagraph music video to accompany the song. We are thrilled that we got to connect with Hanna to not only find out more about her shoot and music, but to also premiere her cinemagraph music video for “Heavy Heart” exclusively on the blog today.

Congratulations on your new song “Heavy Heart”! Tell us a little bit about it and what inspired you to write this song.
Thank you! I wrote it with three other songwriters in northern Sweden and it was right after a very dark period in my life. I was fascinated with how my perspective changed the world around me dramatically, at least in my head. Depression is more common than we think, and it’s an important subject to shine a light on.

How did you first come across cinemagraphs and why did you decide to use them for the “Heavy Heart” music video?
I wasn’t planning on making a music video for “Heavy Heart” at first, but then I discovered cinemagraphs and immediately thought they would fit the message and mood of the song perfectly.

 I really like the surrealistic and melancholic vibe of cinemagraphs and the separation of still and moving picture just fit the story.

I think it was about a year ago, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. It just excited me and when I found out how easy it was to make one, I immediately wanted to do hundreds of them!

How was this shoot different from your other music video shoots? Were there any challenges during filming?
Usually we have a vague idea and just go with the flow and try to trust the process in the moment. This time we had to plan a little; what was going to move and what was going to be still and why. We decided to add some regular filming to achieve dynamic to the video. To me it was important to always stay true to the message and not get carried away with cool ideas just for the fun of it – which was hard at times!

I created the cinemagraphs. The part where I stand by the ocean, I’m frozen but the water moves, was the most difficult since I had a flowy garment that moved in the wind. It was a challenge to find a frame where I could separate it from the water, but I’m happy with the result.

“Heavy Heart” focuses on these very intimate and personal moments that happen while the world carries on. How did you and the crew decide which moments you wanted to capture in a series of cinemagraphs that would reflect the message of the song?
It was important that it was an everyday situation, something that we all can relate to. Waking up, drinking coffee, doing the make-up, going to a party. The difference is that we show her version of what’s going on. All of the drama is all in her head but we only show it from her perspective. The feeling of separation from the world, feeling haunted, hearing voices in your head and feeling attacked by people around you.

We couldn’t help but notice that there were a few adorable furry creatures on set for the shoot. Will they have a starring role in the music video?
I know!! They were great supporters, but unfortunately they’re not in the video. Maybe next time!

Any plans to follow “Heavy Heart” with an EP or an album?
Yes, right now I’m recording two EPs with two different producers. I don’t know when they’ll be released, but there are a lot of songs in the making.

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Looking for more storytelling inspiration? Find out how creator Michel Molder developed the narrative for his cinemagraph film #WOKEUPLIKETHIS here.