NIGHTWISH have posted video footage and photos from their recent orchestral sessions with Pip Williams held at Angel Studios in London, UK from February 14th-20th. Check it out the video on YouTube below:

Photos courtesy of Anette Olzon's official blog can be viewed below. Check out many more here.

A new studio diary from Nightwish leader Tuomas Holopainen can be read below:

We arrived at Angel Studios in Islington, London in the evening of Valentine´s Day and had a most friendly welcome from studio engineers Steve Price and Mat Bartram. They`d already set up everything for next day`s recordings, which would include three three-hour sessions with a 53-piece orchestra, most of the players being familiar faces from the Once and Dark Passion Play - sessions. Pip (Williams, the orchestral arranger) joined us at the hotel and we were all excited and ready for a week of long days and for witnessing some superb musicianship.

A heartwarming feeling of reunion and nostalgia filled the air when we met the session musicians on Tuesday morning. We started off with 'Goat`s Liver' (working title...probably), followed by a couple of more epic pieces and all the rest that required a large orchestra. The musicianship of these people never ceases to amaze me. They've never heard the songs before, they haven`t had any rehearsals, and still they nail all the songs, even those in the hardest imaginable key, after just one or two run-throughs. Their prima vista - playing is something out of a science fiction story... Respect.

Mr. Thomas Bowes did a fantastic job as our orchestra leader, Mr. James Shearman was a most superb conductor, and once again, Pip topped himself with the arrangements. We had put much more effort and thought into them than on the previous two albums, too.

On Wednesday we continued with the orchestral recordings, last of the day`s sessions being with a 20-piece string / harp - section. Some new working titles were also born, such as 'The Birdie Song', 'Teriyaki' and 'Haunted Mansion Ride'.

Thursday was the day for percussion and ethnic drums. This time we decided to record all the rhythmic instruments separately from the orchestra to make it easier for the mixing process. Because some of the sounds the percussionists came up with would literally blow your eardrums off.

The highlight of the day was when we let loose Mr. Paul Clarvis and Mr. Stephen Henderson with their ethnic percussion arsenal. Paul`s 350-year-old taiko-drum really did the trick for me, as did the five-foot hammer and a dustbin. We put all this into a one three-minute instrumental, and the result is breathtaking and madly passionate.

Friday was booked for choirs. Again that sensation of nostalgia when The Metro Voices entered the building. We had 13 titles to sing and they did it in less than seven hours, prima vista. Utterly gorgeous stuff!

A childrens` choir is something we haven`t tried on a Nightwish album before and its turn was on Saturday morning. The Young Musicians London, led by the wonderful Mary Poppins - like Lynda Richardson were simply heartbreaking. These kids have immense talent, they are future superstar musicians and we are proud to have them on our album. Their sound was beautiful, innocent and in parts very, very scary. And that`s exactly what we were after.

During the evening we had two more guest musicians, Mr. Dermot Crehan (of The Lord Of The Rings - fame) with his hardanger fiddle and Mr. Dirk Campbell with his zurna. Both performances were stunning and added a nice little ancient touch to two of the songs.

Our most humble thanks to all the session musicians, the Angel Studios staff, Pip, James, Thomas, Lynda, Dick the music copyist and Jenny the choir mistress. It was a huge honor to work with you all and to have such talent and spirit captured on Imaginarium!

We miss you all dearly already and try to be faster with the next album."

In the midst of recording a new album, the Finnish symphonic metallers have been preparing a movie. Imaginarium is a music fantasy film based on the forthcoming Nightwish album of the same title and its 13 songs.

The protagonist of the film is a songwriter with an otherworldly imagination. He is an old man who still thinks he`s a young boy. While asleep he travels into his distant past where his dreams of old come back to him mixed to the young boy`s world of fantasy and music.

In his dreams the old man fights to find the memories most important to him.

This never-done-before project originates to more than two years in the past when Nightwish mainman Tuomas Holopainen first introduced his ambitious idea of the Imaginarium concept to the fellow band members and to Mr. Stobe Harju, the director behind 'The Islander' music video. He will be the director of this full-length feature. The film will be produced by Solar Films Inc. together with Nightwish.

The shootings for Imaginarium will begin this spring, it will have its premiere in 2012 and the album it`s based on will be released in an undefined point in time.

Nightwish will hold a press conference related to this project at the end of February.