Honestly, the first time you see that cover, you kind of just assume it’s CGI or a really high-end Photoshop job. It looks too perfect. The way Billie is just... suspended there. But it turns out the Billie Eilish hit me hard and soft photoshoot was actually a six-hour physical ordeal that she described as "waterboarding myself." No joke.
She wasn't just dipping her toes in.
To get that specific shot for Hit Me Hard and Soft, Billie went to a massive 10-foot-deep tank in Santa Clarita. This wasn't some tropical vacation vibe. It was the day after the 2024 Grammys. Most people are nursing a hangover or sleeping in after winning a Grammy for a Barbie song, but Billie was busy dying her hair black—it had been bright red the night before—and heading to a cold studio to sink to the bottom of a pool.
The Brutal Reality of Being a Human Anchor
Working with underwater photographer William Drumm, the team had to figure out how to make a 20-foot tank look like the infinite abyss of the ocean. It sounds cool in a pitch meeting. In practice? It’s kind of a nightmare.
To keep her from floating back to the surface, Billie actually had a weight strapped to her. Think about that for a sec. You’re 10 feet deep, you have no goggles, no nose plug, and you’re wearing:
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- Giant, heavy pants
- Thermal long-sleeves
- A button-up flannel
- A tie
- Rings and bracelets
Water-logged flannel is heavy. Adding a literal weight to your body while you're trying to look ethereal and "soft" is a wild level of commitment. She told Stephen Colbert she spent about six hours in that tank. She’d hold her breath for two minutes at a time, sinking down until she hit the right spot in front of that white door.
"I've almost died in these shoots so many times," she half-joked. But you can see the results. There’s a raw, suffocating tension in the image that you just can't fake with a green screen.
Why the "Door" Matters More Than You Think
The visual of the door isn't just a random prop. Fans have been obsessing over it since the album dropped in May 2024. If you look closely at the Billie Eilish hit me hard and soft photoshoot imagery, the door is floating right above her. It represents this idea of falling through a threshold—leaving one state of mind and plunging into something deep and overwhelming.
Some people think it’s a callback to the Happier Than Ever era where her house flooded. Others see it as a reference to the "open up the door" lyric in the song CHIHIRO.
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Making the Ocean in Santa Clarita
William Drumm usually shoots in the actual ocean. You know, with sharks and whales. Bringing that "deep blue" feel to a controlled set required massive 20-foot diffusers and artificial lighting designed to mimic how sunlight filters through miles of seawater. They weren't just taking photos; they were trying to capture a feeling of "calm sadness."
It's that balance of "hard" (the physical pain, the weights, the cold) and "soft" (the blue tones, the weightless look of her clothes).
The Fashion Behind the Submersion
Most artists wear a swimsuit or something light for underwater stuff. Not Billie. She stuck to her signature oversized aesthetic, which made the physics of the shoot ten times harder.
The weight of the water makes baggy clothes behave like lead. Every time she moved, the fabric would billow out, and the team had to wait for the bubbles to clear and the silt to settle. It was a slow, grueling process of "sink, pose, gasp for air, repeat."
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Actionable Tips for Understanding the Visuals
If you’re a fan trying to "get" the aesthetic or even a creator looking at how she pulls these off, keep these things in mind:
- Look for the Optical Illusions: Billie mentioned that she wanted the visuals to make people "question it or think about it for longer." The way she’s positioned makes it unclear if she’s falling down or floating up.
- The Color Palette: The "Blue" isn't just a color; it’s the mood of the whole record. Notice how the lighting isn't bright; it’s moody and diffused.
- Check the BTS Footage: If you haven't seen the TikToks of her in scuba gear between takes, go find them. It puts the "suffering for art" quote into a very real perspective.
The whole era is basically a lesson in high-concept physical art. While most of the industry is leaning into AI-generated backgrounds, Billie Eilish went the opposite direction and put her actual body at risk to make sure the "soft" moments felt "hard" enough to be real.
Next time you scroll past that blue square on your Spotify, just remember there was a girl with a weight strapped to her waist and water in her lungs making sure that door looked exactly right.