Raúl B Fernández
In Raúl B Fernández’s video for “The Final Breaths of a Main Character,” singer Ian Dudley of the The Woods wakes up lying on the ground in a forest. We see him from above, in a perfectly imagined shot. We see a bed with a red and white striped blanket that seems to glow. Raúl hones in on the musician drawing a lighthouse on a sketchpad, and a sun; we watch the artist lost in his imagination. Then the whole sequence explodes when the yin of forest gives way to the yang of the ocean, and we witness not just the musician cracking open his imagination, but also we see Raúl B Fernández drive full bore into his.
This is the sea of Jules Verne as conceived by a visual artist: vibrant blue paper cut-out waves ripple and crash. Vultures keep an ominous eye on the artist as he tumbles in the sea and floats on his red striped bed. Men in diving bells guide the singer. They take up ancient instruments: a rickety piano, a snare drum, a slide guitar, a big marching band bass drum, and play along with the music. Bringing together his old friends from college and a new team of filmmakers from USC, Raúl and his crew create a stirring dream perfectly captured.
This beautiful vision is one of many reasons why The Masses is honored to welcome Raúl B Fernández into our world as a director. His appreciation of narrative, coupled with his eye for cinematography, will add yet another sparkle into our kaleidoscopic world.
Raúl, who was born in Buenos Aires and grew up somewhere between Chicago, Costa Rica and Florida, got his Bachelor of Arts from Florida State University, then relocated to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California, where he completed an MFA in Film Production. He has received the Charles B Lang Award for Merit in Cinematography and has been honored for his commercial work by Coca-Cola and Nestle, among others.
But we’re drawn to Raúl’s work not because of its pedigree, but for his vision. Take his wildly popular video for Kate Micucci’s “Dear Deer.” With humor, grace and a lot of cuteness, the short follows the singer, perhaps best known as part of the comedy/musical duo Garfunkel and Oates, as she (too) wanders in the woods, where she comes across a deer – in actuality a little boy dressed in a deer costume. We follow the action as the singer tries to protect the critter from being shot by a hunter, to a tragic – and, yes, adorable – end.
Raúl’s first video for The Masses is for San Francisco band Port O’Brien, and it illustrates why we’re so excited to have him on board. Shot in a Los Angeles gymnasium with a girls’ double-dutch squad, the video moves around the space with images of faces, feet, jump rope and Port O’Brien watching from the bleachers, playing music while the girls bounce and play. The piece captures joy, energy and rhythm in shot after magnificently crafted shot.
Watch his videos and you’ll better understand why we invited Raúl into our world: We want to be around that joy, energy and rhythm all the time.