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.

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.

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.

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.