Ransom Riggs
Strange Geographies: The Accidental Sea
by Ransom Riggs - May 12, 2011 - 8:11 PM

Today’s Strange Geographies post revisits a place I’ve been several times before — the Salton Sea. It’s one of my favorite places to visit; just a few hours from my house, it may as well be on the moon. This time, though, I shot video rather than photos while I was there, and the result is my first Strange Geographies-style short film. Hope you like it!

[See all my Strange Geographies photo essays.]

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Click here to get a Risk-Free issue of mental_floss magazine
Comments (43)

  1. Great stuff!

    posted by David on 5-12-2011 at 9:02 pm

  2. Absolutely brilliant. Terrific work.

    posted by Stephen on 5-12-2011 at 10:32 pm

  3. Strangely moving! I like your quote towards the end. It reinforces this sense of change and fleetingness.

    posted by Jay-R on 5-12-2011 at 10:35 pm

  4. I agree with Jay-R – strangely moving!

    I live in Joshua Tree and drive to Yuma about 8 times a year, I always stop by the Salton Sea. It is where my first Sony Alpha died! (I threw it into the lake.)

    posted by okinawadato on 5-12-2011 at 11:53 pm

  5. Simply amazing. It was one of your initial Strange Geographies posts about the Salton Sea that introduced me to mental_floss. It is so stunning to see this eerie place in motion, thank you very much!

    posted by Halo on 5-12-2011 at 11:57 pm

  6. WOW, that was an awesome job. What you did was better than any documentary I’ve seen on Discovery or History. They should snatch you up.

    posted by Mike on 5-13-2011 at 12:12 am

  7. Beautifully shot!

    posted by Taylor on 5-13-2011 at 12:50 am

  8. Ransom, Everything you produce entertains me and inspires me. Your view of the world is what mine would be if I took the time to see. I hope to follow your work for many years to come. Thank you.

    posted by Devin on 5-13-2011 at 12:55 am

  9. Both video and narration reminds me of Fallout game. Nice one!

    posted by Vijay on 5-13-2011 at 3:52 am

  10. Great little film – really enjoyed it – well presented!

    posted by Stoko on 5-13-2011 at 6:07 am

  11. great job. not sure, but i think video might be more eerie than photo…

    posted by theYerg on 5-13-2011 at 8:28 am

  12. What a powerful and strangely moving film. I had no idea that Salton Sea even existed, let alone its odd history. Thank you for opening my eyes to a part of the country I hadn’t known about before.

    posted by Alana on 5-13-2011 at 10:43 am

  13. Exceptional short film. Very well done. Great topic of choice!

    posted by scott on 5-13-2011 at 10:48 am

  14. An amazing short! Truly a beautiful piece of artwork.

    posted by Braddle on 5-13-2011 at 10:57 am

  15. Excellent. Very nice videography

    posted by Brian P on 5-13-2011 at 11:04 am

  16. The Earth will recover from the infestation of Humans! I love your work and this is excellent…you know strange and weird and show it to us so well … thank you

    posted by Jude on 5-13-2011 at 11:08 am

  17. I grew up only 20 mins from there i always thought i was a place that was super cool to visit and looks at. there is so many hidden things there like the mud pits and rocks that are the size of trucks. an old army base and much much more. i always thought it would be a great place to film a movie. begin married and older its still a fun place to take people and show them what the world could be like.

    posted by Wot on 5-13-2011 at 11:36 am

  18. Brilliant video Ransom, gave me chills… Especially the footage of what the Salton Sea looked like and how promising a place it could be to live. As Halo said in an earlier comment, I think the best way to describe it is eerie, I would love to go there myself!!

    posted by Rina on 5-13-2011 at 2:13 pm

  19. Eerie! Nicely done.

    posted by Jobin on 5-14-2011 at 1:47 am

  20. That was really cool! Also eerie…

    posted by kelky on 5-14-2011 at 1:23 pm

  21. Ransom I love your pictures but the video and naration are awsome.

    posted by Ken C on 5-14-2011 at 7:05 pm

  22. That was the most awesome film! I remember going there fishing, and playing in the canal that had red clay and we made ‘stuff’.. LOL! great job. Thanks

    posted by Cindy on 5-14-2011 at 11:34 pm

  23. Terrific mini-doc on the Salton Sea. You captured some stimulating imagery. The tone you set worked a perfect undertone to the subject. Like a continuous bass guitar thrum, it leant a seriousness and gravitas to the pairing of the imagery and words.

    On an interesting note, my British publisher sent me the link to the video. I’m an author and my most recent novel (Empire of Salt) is a mass market paperback zombie book that takes place in Bombay Beach on the shores of the Salton Sea. I get so many comments about the geography of my book. Many folks think that I made it up. Clearly I didn’t. Still, the imagery was so captivating, my book is sold out in the U.S. I think it’s only available in Europe and U.K.

    Anyway, we share amazement on the Salton Sea. Thanks for creating this.

    Weston Ochse

    posted by Weston Ochse on 5-16-2011 at 11:20 am

  24. The Salton Sea is mindblowing. Where else can you find a place called “Slab City”? Great job.

    posted by donnalethal on 5-16-2011 at 10:27 pm

  25. i am sharing this with all my friends
    simply stunning!

    posted by murasaki moon on 5-16-2011 at 10:54 pm

  26. Amazing work! Really looking forward to more videos. The music, the angles, the flow, everything about this video was pretty much perfect.

    posted by Katie on 5-16-2011 at 10:55 pm

  27. that is is creepiest place i have ever seen. amazing shots. you are a great videographer!!!

    posted by Cynamin on 5-17-2011 at 12:28 am

  28. That was excellent! I love your photo essays, and this is a great film. Very nicely done!

    posted by Kylie on 5-17-2011 at 3:26 am

  29. I live near Chicago, and I had never heard of the Salton Sea. Why isn’t it on maps of California? Tahoe is, and you said the Salton Sea is bigger. Interesting. Being from the Midwest, I’ve always been kind of afraid of deserts- the dearth of vegetation seems to tell me I’m not supposed to be there.

    posted by Megan on 5-17-2011 at 5:19 pm

  30. My grandparents used to take us to the Salton Sea when we would visit them. How sad to see what has become of it.
    I hope to see more of this type of work here on Mental Floss! Great job!

    posted by Sheryl on 5-17-2011 at 7:27 pm

  31. Lived near there for 2o years..enjoyed the video and commentation. It is an incredible site from freeway.Have been to slab city..great take on this. glad to see the artist of “salvation mountain”

    posted by jeff on 5-17-2011 at 11:05 pm

  32. fantastical, loved it.

    posted by xavier on 5-20-2011 at 2:29 am

  33. Great job reporting.

    posted by Cris on 5-24-2011 at 4:59 pm

  34. Thank you for sharing. I had no idea.

    posted by bannie on 5-28-2011 at 8:12 pm

  35. Ransom, your work is so compelling! More, please!

    posted by Heaz on 6-2-2011 at 1:09 am

  36. What an incredible video. Haunting. Looking forward to more of your fine work.

    posted by Deej on 7-24-2011 at 4:20 pm

  37. Brilliant video. I was totally engrossed & disappointed when it ended.

    Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.

    posted by Katie G. Hope on 8-22-2011 at 11:06 am

  38. Incredible. Couldn’t even bring myself to pause it for anything.

    posted by Anna on 8-30-2011 at 8:37 pm

  39. Absolutely terrific. I’m using this as a text for a class I teach at UC Berkeley.

    posted by Jane on 8-31-2011 at 1:11 pm

  40. Thank you…may I have another!

    posted by Davidw on 9-7-2011 at 11:19 am

  41. awesome! I’ve actually been there and was able to see (and smell) how it is out there…very strange feeling, but also very cool!

    posted by Blondyy on 9-21-2011 at 3:08 pm

  42. Excellent story! More!!!

    posted by CCollazo on 10-5-2011 at 4:11 pm

  43. I grew up there at Salton Sea Beach. I left the valley in 1963 to go to UC Riverside. Really blows me away to see it now. Memories of tourists, parties at the Hut outside Helen’s Beach House, and waitressing at Salton City, Red Tides and florescent night swims contrast deeply with your film. From there to Europe in five years time…still on a beach but the cold North Sea not beaches of the Hell Divers ski runs but Polar Bear swims.

    Extremes.

    Thank you…I think….

    posted by Jean on 2-17-2012 at 7:45 pm

Comment

commenting policy