MAKING OF YAMATO – SABATON ⚡ PART III

Underwater

One of the most iconic — and most challenging — parts of creating the music video Yamato was the underwater shoot. It was my first time directing underwater filming on such a scale, and it became an incredibly valuable experience. I have to say: despite all the briefing sessions and the constant support of the diving instructors, underwater filming is unbelievably difficult — both for the crew and for the performers.
Personally, I have absolutely zero diving experience. At some point, I imagined myself in Sabaton’s place and realized what it actually feels like to descend underwater wearing an oxygen mask and weights, literally walking toward the bottom, then staying underwater without a mask for a certain amount of time while also performing acting and fulfilling the director’s tasks. Because the challenge wasn’t simply to sink to the bottom of the pool — first, they had to “wake up” underwater, grab their guitars, and swim upward to the surface, and then do the reverse process: sinking again, together with their musical instruments! (Though, as they say, they asked for it themselves ; )
And yes — sacrificing the musical instruments alone was worth those immortalized moments in the video! 🎤🎸🎥
The shooting schedule was relentlessly intense, but thanks to the endurance and artistry of the Sabaton musicians, the excellent swimming skills of Joakim, and the outstanding teamwork of the entire crew, we managed to pull off this difficult challenge brilliantly — and I’m endlessly happy about that!
P.S. After the shoot, the long-suffering drumsticks were given to me by Hannes as a signed trophy!
The sticks are now safely dried, and I’m just waiting until I find some truly special giant sushi, so I can try eating them with the drumsticks from the Yamato shoot ; )
And yes — if you still haven’t seen the video: watch and enjoy! In just a month and a half, Yamato has already reached 3.5 million views ⚡

It was a truly amazing adventure, resulting in a truly awesome video!
Thanks everyone, guys! It was a blast working with you! 🔥

Backstage photos by📷 : Ben Alexis & Wargaming
Backstage video by: Wargaming