A lovely nightmare

Cassie Meder, an artist working under the name Casstronaut, is a 22-year-old self-taught filmmaker whose dark and ethereal works represent an underlying distortion of religion, psychology and philosophy. In her films, she encapsulates cinematic storytelling with a dark, demonic approach that breaks away from traditional moviemaking. She describes the style of her films as a cross between confrontational and haunting.

Meder began experimenting with film at the age of 15 when her dad purchased a video camera for her. She explored a multitude of creative avenues as a youth, and turned to film as a way to communicate and connect.

“I used film to entertain myself and communicate—to make up for my lack of friends. I was able to say what I needed to say without sitting down with someone,” Meder said.

Meder is a bit of a one-man show, handling the writing, directing and editing of her films, which, for one person, can be an enormous amount of work. Each of her films is approximately five minutes long, requiring extensive planning and taking weeks, sometimes even months, of preparation.

“I sort of do it all. I like to do all the planning, from scriptwriting to directing to editing,” Meder said.

Tollis Peccata is one of her favorite projects to date. The short, conceptual film is both obscure and romantic, and depicts a young girl in an Oregon forest. The short seems to mix religious themes as the girl discovers she’s covered in a dewy, black bloodstain that slowly molds into a cross.

“It’s a very blatant and confronting film that I shot on a very nasty day during winter a couple years ago,” Meder said. “Many of my films tie back to religious elements, but they’re not necessarily about Christianity.”

She does a lot of the work solo, but collaboration is also common in her work. She worked with Portland costume and bridal designer Holly Stadler on Secrets, a 2012 fashion documentary, which she edited. In typical Casstronaut style, music played a vital role in the themes of the video. Meder aims to outdo herself with her unique style and
music selection.

“I generally look for something that fits the mood and will also coincide with how I edit it. I have a composer in Sweden who helps me out from time to time as well,” Meder said.

Currently, Meder is collaborating with Portland-based photographer Kindra Nikole, describing the project as one of the more challenging she’s worked on. Both combine their photography and film expertise to create a unique means of storytelling. The project began with a series of photographs by Nikole that Meder created a film around.

There have been complications along the way. Meder explained that time and distance ended up creating several problems during the collaborative filming process.

“With the distance between us nearing three hours, along with my constant traveling up and down the West Coast, it made it difficult for us to make time to travel to one another. When we did make the time, everything that could possibly go wrong during our shoot happened at least twice. We probably shot each scene three different times as a result of multiple complications,” Meder said. “It worked out for the best, and the film ended up being this kind of abstract interpretation of the constant battles artists have to face.”

Living and working in Portland, Meder has embedded herself in the city’s art community. It only makes sense that the artist and the city have had an impact on each other.

“I’m very thankful that I started out here in Portland. Everyone is so excited about creating. It’s a very contagious bug,” Meder said. “I can’t say that the physical city of Portland directly influences my work, but I can say that I’ve taken advantage of the great community and the attitude here.”

Meder has become an inspiration to many young, aspiring filmmakers, proving you don’t need a lot of money to create something beautiful just as long as you have perseverance and a unique vision.