finite

what would you do if you were all alone?

watch the trailer for my new short film FINITE:


FINITE - trailer from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.

alone

ventured out into the wilds this past weekend to shoot my newest little short film project.
fossil falls is a spectacularly weird geological feature about 2.5 hours north east of los angeles.

the film, finite, follows the last human being alive as she makes a decision about what remains of her life.

made a trek to death valley & badwater basin a few days ago. the desert is my favourite type of environment, & I find death valley to be mesmerizing.

the plan was to experiment more with my new nikon d7500 dslr & it was a success. captured some fun photographs & shot some cool video while out in the desert wilds.

1: sunset at zabriskie point.
can the dslr do time lapse videos I wondered? yes it can. managed to capture this amazing shot of the sunset in death valley on my first ever time lapse experiment.


Sunset at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.

2: poem film - badlands.
got out on the salt flats at badwater basin & thought: why not take some videos just to see? ended up with a few cuts which I've pieced together with my poem for that day (day 354 of the poem a day project). my first ever video shot with the new camera, experimenting with frames per second & the like. it ended up a little wobbly, but I still like it. I'm learning as I go.


Badlands from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.

3: the real goal - photos
initially headed out to death valley to take some pictures, & got some fun shots of my friend/road trip companion. I've added a digital photography section to my website where more portraits & other photography will be added regularly.

in the bones

BONES (full poem/film) from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.

My first excursion into the overlapping space between poetry & filmmaking is this experimental short called BONES. I wondered: how can we bring poetry from its flat life on the page into the dynamic world of visual experience? I imagined a kind of music video for poetry. BONES is the result of these imaginings.

More: natalieraymond.com/bones

This short will likely be the last time I am *in front* of the camera. As I was editing this piece, over a year ago, I was almost unable to watch the clips I was in. Instead of being a kind of "actorish" modesty I felt like I looked uncomfortable. Many months later I had my aura photographed & one thing that was mentioned to me was that my aura read as me being unsure of if I want to be photographed or not. The photographer told me: you're not totally comfortable in front of the camera.

This is true. In the months since I've been thinking about this, turning it over in my mind. Really, all the time I spent fancying myself an "actor" was forced. I was never comfortable in front of cameras or on stages, but I was able to conceal this by not being myself, by trying to become the character. Of course you cannot ever really become a character, there are always still shards of you inside. When I watch myself in my acting projects I feel acutely aware of the viewing experience. You can see me being watched in my body language. What a liberation it is to now be the one doing the watching!

reeling

My project of late has been to work on the frozen-in-place-ness I feel because none of my work is perfect, or good enough, or made on fancy equipment. It's a kind of imposter syndrome I guess. I keep wanting to wait to begin until I am sure I will already be good at it (great?) & I have the excellent cameras & lenses & stabilizers to go with it. But if I keep waiting for these things I'll never get anything done at all.

So, to that end, my first ever directing reel went live today in all it's rough glory. I am still working on the audio & music, & have a few more projects I am hoping to add soon, but this is my first go. Watch it below or on my website: natalieraymond.com/reel.



Natalie Raymond Directing Reel (Rough Cut) from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.

Lime

Made my way to Lime, Oregon to watch the solar eclipse. Lime is an abandoned cement factory in Baker Country on the eastern edge of Oregon. The eclipse was absolutely stunning, but impossible to capture in photos. I am fascinated by abandoned places though, & made a short documentary about Lime. Watch the complete documentary below & check out my photography from the site at natalieraymond.com/lime.


Lime, Oregon from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.

debuts

After much waiting & toil, my directorial debut short film is finally online for your viewing pleasure! Learn more about the film at natalieraymond.com/4bfilm & watch it in its entirety below.


4B (FULL FILM) from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.

BONES

The first look trailer for my short film/poetry project BONES is live! Watch it below.

spent my saturday in the bleached desert wasteland outside mecca, ca shooting my latest project: a hybrid of poetry & film called bones. more information about the project on my website.

the persistent sun left me quite sunburned, so I'm slathering myself in black tea & coco butter. I love the sparse strangeness of the california desert, the way it rolls out into the blue sky like sugar cookie dough.

now we enter post-production.

making it

Excited to be working in pre-production again on a short film project I've written & am slated to direct & star in!

For a while I've been thinking about making videos for poems in the way we have music videos for songs. After a lot of pacing & deliberation I wrote a script based on a poem from my graduate thesis & am in the thick of pre-production! Storyboards done! I'm meeting with my talented friend, & the DP of 4B, Freddy Tang to talk logistics. We're gearing up to shoot mid-October! It's going to be quite the little adventure, a road trip out to location, & a hot summer day, but I think we can make something really rad.

everybody loves a blooper

4B Bloopers from Natalie Raymond on Vimeo.
Enjoy some tasty antics & outtakes from my directorial debut short film, 4B!

more info about the film: natalieraymond.com/4bfilm

living in post production

thinking back on our time shooting my directorial debut short film now that I'm totally embroiled in post production. 

more behind the scenes photos on my website.

making shorts

a little more than a week away from principle photography on my short film/directorial debut. things are coming together, falling into place...

there's a certain amount of delusional grandeur that's required to be a beginner at something. I remember thinking, all those months ago when I first started writing the script, that I'd just make a short film, that it couldn't be "that hard".

it's laughable now that I thought it would be something I could churn out in a weekend.

but after months of getting things together, planning & rewriting, we're finally on the home stretch of pre-production. we shoot the final weekend of January & then the new adventure of post production begins!