Synopsis

"Planet Melancholia" blends live-action performance with surreal cosmic imagery. Markas Palubenka appears alone in a stark outdoor landscape while an enigmatic creature and digitally created planets introduce a more abstract, subconscious dimension. The video moves between these connected worlds, using space imagery to explore isolation, inner feeling and the possibility of connection. Its restrained performance footage contrasts with the elaborate computer-generated sequences, creating a dreamlike visual interpretation of a song inspired by Lars von Trier's film "Melancholia."

Factoids & Trivia

• Palubenka said the song was inspired by Lars von Trier's 2011 film "Melancholia," but described his own idea as being about "non-melancholia" and the melancholy that exists within an otherwise non-melancholic inner world.

• The video's concept combines three related strands: a human figure representing everyone, a creature symbolizing unspoken subconscious impulses, and action taking place between planets.

• The cosmic imagery was created specifically for the video rather than assembled from existing material. The production makes extensive use of 3D graphics and computer-generated effects alongside natural landscapes.

• The live-action footage was shot in Avizieniai, near Vilnius. Palubenka performed outdoors in only a shirt and trousers, with temperatures of just a few degrees above freezing, making his visible physical reactions genuine rather than acted.

• Approximately six hours of live-action filming produced only about a minute and a half of footage in the finished video. Palubenka also noted that producing a single second of 3D imagery could take roughly a full day.

• The song had already been performed publicly in early 2012, but Palubenka said he had wanted a video for it from the beginning.

• In May 2013, "Planet Melancholia" won the first KlipVid music video competition organized by AGATA and LRT. It was selected from 85 competing videos and earned Palubenka a prize of 5,000 Lithuanian litas.

• The music was co-produced by Vygintas Kisevicius, the leader of the Lithuanian band Kurak.