‘Revolve’ November 2022
Redial | Recall | Revisit | Revolve
‘Permutations’
Wed 15 – Sat 18 June 2022
Permutations Overview
Permutations is an immersive dance film installation that positions the audience in the centre of four large screens where a multiple point-of-view story unfolds, taking screendance to a ‘performative film’ experience.
Synopsis:
In 1982, two sisters aged 16 and 17 farewell their mother and her newlywed husband on their honeymoon vacation. However, the short trip soon becomes an extended holiday, and the siblings are left to fend for themselves with the help of the neighbour and the local milkman. What unfolds is a story of two young women cast into a grown-up world – a spiral of abandonment, self-discovery, and recklessness at a time when missing person cases run rampant in the sleepy city. Evoking dark undertones, the experience of Permutations takes a ‘multiple point-of-view’ structure whereby the audience is able to choose their view of the four characters and of the alternative perspectives of the story unfolding.
Format and Screens:
Initially we see four perspectives of the same action, however this slowly beings to permeate to show what is occurring in other parts of the house. At times the dancers transcend the screens, walking from one screen to another, at times we see one dancer in four different rooms at once, and at times we see the different actions occurring at the same time, such as a breakup occurring when a new romance is unfolding. In essence, the viewer becomes the editor, selecting their unique perspective of the story.
Brisbane Powerhouse Season: Wednesday 15 – Saturday 18 June 2022
https://brisbanepowerhouse.org/whats-on/event/permutations/
Format: Standing room with bars in the centre
Permutations is presented by Claire Marshall in partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse and supported by Arts Queensland.
Creatives:
Cast: Richard Causer, Bella Hood, Lucy Hood and Jacob Watton
Director, choreographer and editor: Claire Marshall
Cinematographer: Kevin Holloway
Cinematographer: (additional shots) Saroj Kumar Chauhan
Sound design, set design, costumes and props: Claire Marshall
Hair and makeup: Amelia Le-Bherz
Set installation and additional styling: Tiffany Beckwith-Skinner
Costumes: Claire Marshall
Hero image: Mark Greenmantle
Interactive online platform: Dimity Mapstone (Coming soon)
Technical:
Duration: 33 minutes
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Story Structure: Multiple Point of View
Genre: coming of Age/ period film (1970s-1980s)/ narrative dance film
Format: Reverse theatre-in-the-round. Standing with bars in the centre. interactive online platform (coming soon)
Projectors, Screens and sound: requires four projectors and screens or four large flatscreen TVs and four speakers.
Moments from the four films:
Permutations – how it works:
Audience Experience:
Permutations stills
‘Love Song’
December 2021 (Premiere in 2022)
Love Song ‘Tension’ Trailer
Love Song Synopsis
Dancers: Richard Causer, Anthony Trojman with Matthew Overberg
Choreographer and Editor: Claire Marshall
Cinematographer: Saroj Kumar Chauhan
Hair, Make-up and Production Assistant: Amelia Le-Bherz
Score: Ken Evans for Tycho Sound Design
Duration: 17:30
Resolution: 4096 x 3416
Aspect Ratio: 1.2
LOVE SONG is a story of a perception in a relationship of constant flux, where deception and emotional manipulation occurs, implemented for each persons’ agenda. Featuring dancers Richard Causer and Anthony Trojman as two men in the ever shifting relationship, LOVE SONG unfolds in a parallel structure, highlighting two sides of a relationship concurrently.
The techniques used to present these two perspectives that occur in duality range from subtle, to oppositional in style to show contrasting stages of the story manipulated by: cinematography styles, editing techniques, and with some consideration of location.
The idea to present LOVE SONG in parallel structure opened up the idea to enhance the idea of alternative perspectives in a relationship and provide the viewer alternative perceptions of the characters and story. While each upper and lower frames occur individually the audience may wish to just follow one story, however, both stories are ideally absorbed concurrently – permitting the viewer’s eye to follow what they wish and their ‘perception’ to inform their experience of the story.
Love Song Stills
‘Void’
December 2020 (Premiere in 2021)
Void Trailer
Void Synopsis
Dancer and vocalist: Erin O’Rourke
Cinematographer: Saroj Kumar Chauhan
Choreographer and Editor: Claire Marshall
Hair and Makeup: Amelia Le-Bherz
Duration: 15:00
Resolution: 4096 x 1708
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Winding upwards, gazing downwards, a solitary figure, dancer Erin O’Rourke journeys through an old labyrinthine staircase as a metaphor of her psyche. Moments of déjà vu and multiple selves emerge in a dance film that conjures ideas of psychological entrapment of women historically.
Festival Screenings: The creative development of Void was made with the support of a stART Grant from Metro Arts. Completed in December 2020 (premiere in 2021), between May 2021 and April 2022 Void has been selected in Dance (Lens) Festival at Dancehouse Melbourne, Open Vision Film Festival, Moscow, Russia, 11th Festival de Cine-Arte en la Frontera, San Cristóbal-Venezuela, Tipperary Dance Program TDP’21 International Dance Festival, Tipperary, Ireland, Florence Dance on Screen Festival, Florence, Italy, Thessaloniki Cinedance International, Greece, Vesuvius International Film Festival, Campania, Italy (finalist), Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany (Best dance film), Short to the PointBucharest, Romania (Dance category), 7th Dancinema Festival, Washington D.C., Dance Camera Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, In Shadow 14th Annual Screendance Festival, Lisbon, Portugal, Dumbo Film Festival, New York, USA (Semi Finalist), Red Movie Awards, Reims, France(Award Winner – Reims Excellence Director), Short Film Factory – Bucharest, Romania (Award Winner – Dance category), Dark Veins Horror Fest – Lecce, Italy (Award Winner), Stockholm Short Festival Stockholm, Sweden (Award Winner – Best Dance clip), San Francisco Indie Short Festival, San Francisco, USA (Award Winner – Best Dance Short Film), 8th ScreenDance Festival Stockholm, Sweden, Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal, Rotterdam Independent Film Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands (Semi-finalist), Sacramento World Film Festival, California, USA (Semi-finalist) and Milan Arthouse Film Awards, Italy (Nominee – Best Dance Film).
BLOG:
Creative development:
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/void-creative-development/
Process:
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/void-dance-film/
Multiples:
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/void-dance-film-multiples/
Completion:
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/2021/01/
Void Stills
Alternative montage/ Kaleidoscope cut as a part of the creative process regarding the idea of ‘multiples’.
‘Shift’ December 2019
Shift Trailer
Shift Synopsis
Dancers: Richard Causer and Lucy Hood
Cinematographer: Kevin Holloway
Choreographer and Editor: Claire Marshall
Hair and Makeup: Amelia Le-Bherz
Duration: 32:22
Taking an 8-minute duet situated in various locations, and repeated four times, choreographer Claire Marshall investigates how the sense of ‘story’ shifts with the consideration of location, cinematic elements, and editing. The duet explores a discordant couple stuck in a rut, looping manipulative behaviour as four stories eventually shift to become one story.
Rather than impose an idea on a specific location scouted to suit a story, as an experiment, Shift was filmed in numerous locations, and allowed the sense of “story” to evolve in the edit. At the time of filming, the editing of Shift was not pre-planned, making Shift unconventional. Rather, through a experimental creative processes, the sense of ‘story’ unfolded through the integration of the choreography in the various locations, which cyclically impacted on the cinematography and choreography through the editing.
Shift was created as one of the creative outputs of Claire Marshall’s Master of Fine Arts (Dance) at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne in 2019.
Shift was filmed in 18 locations in Brisbane and Ipswich in October 2019. It was a four day shoot, entailed seven weeks of editing, and was completed and screened in December 2019.
Shift Festivals/ Awards/ Reviews:
In late 2019 Shift previewed in Brisbane, and premiered in July 2020 at the 48th Dance on Camera Festival New York where it won ‘Best of Fest’ in the 20-40 minute category. Following this, Shift won the cinematography category in the Silk Road Film Awards, France, won the Close:Up San Francisco Short Film Festival, USA (experimental category), won the Obskuur Ghent Film Festival, Belgium (dance film category) in 2021, won the Open Vision Film Festival, (dance film category), and won the dance film section in the Kadoma International Film Festival, Osaka Japan. Shift was also a finalist for an Australian Dance Award in 2020. Shift has been screened as a featured work at the Dance (Lens) Festival at Dancehouse Melbourne, and programmed as an official selection in the Cascadia Dance Film Festival,Canada, Birmingham International Dance Festival, England, Mill of Performing Arts Festival, Larissa, Greece, DefyFilm Festival, Nashville, Tennessee, and at The International Meeting on Videodance and Video Performance (EIVV, Valencia, Spain), dually with the Festival International de Vidéo Danse de Bourgogne (Burgundy, France). Shift was selected for the 49thDance on Camera, New York, programmed with significant films over the 49 year history of the festival as well as at the London International Screen Dance Festival in 2021. Most recently, in November 2021, Shift was selected for programming in the Brisbane International Film Festival (B.I.F.F).
NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW (48thDance on Camera Festival, Lincoln Centre, NY):
In Claire Marshall’s 30-minute “Shift,” it’s the rotation of location that signifies. We see a man and woman whom the credits call a “discordant couple” grappling in a backyard, then suddenly in a pool, a playground, a bar, a tunnel. The artful editing, combined with the obliviousness of peripheral figures, conveys the self-absorption of a sexual unit and their pattern repetition — wherever these two may be, they’re still tussling in bed.– NEW YORK TIMES
Shift Blog
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/shift-dancefilm-making-the-project/
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/shift-dancefilm-part-2/
Shift Stills
‘Silt’ November 2018
Silt Trailer 1
Silt Trailer 2
Silt Synopsis
Cast: Maddison Campbell, Kirrah Jobst, Amelia Le-Bherz, Paige Rasmussen.
Choreographer/ Producer/ Editor: Claire Marshall
Cinematographer: Kevin Holloway.
Hair and Markup: Amelia Le-Bherz
Duration: 10:00
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Silt was created for four dance students who were 17, 18, 19, and 20 years of age at the time of filming. The four enthusiastic student dancers worked with Claire Marshall to extend dance experiences at a pre-professional level. The full version of Silt is 10-minutes and premiered in Brisbane in December 2019.
Resembling a music video narrative where the cut-a-way moments create the narrative and the dance phrases are the “performance”, this more abstract dance film Silt is entered around four characters who find escape in a quaint little beach in the middle of the Brisbane CBD. The beach situated on the edge of the Brisbane river sees many people pass by, as well as vehicles zoom over the large structure of a bridge above. However, for the characters, it’s a place they connect as people continue to pass by going about their busy lives. Juxtaposed to this sense of freedom and escape, their movement output is deliberate clunky and hard, resonating their surroundings.
Festival Screenings:
Silt was selected for screening at the In Shadow Film Screendance Festival Lisbon in 2020 and Re-think Dance Festival, North Dakota, USA in 2021.
Silt Blog
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/silt-dancefilm/
Silt Stills
‘Ward of State’ 2014
Ward of State Trailer
Ward of State Dining room snippet
Ward of State Synopsis
Cast: Richard Causer, Libby McDonnell. Chafia Brooks, Mariana Paraizo.
Choreographer/ Producer/ Story: Claire Marshall
Cinematographer: Kevin Holloway
Editor: Jane Wallace
Shoot director: Sarah-Jane Woulahan
Score: Susan Hawkins
Duration: 30:00
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Ward of State is a 30-minute narrative dance film about a girl who was taken from her mother and stepfather and placed the care of the state in a Magdalene Convent Laundry. Set in the 1930’s-1940’s Ward of State depicts the journey for both the daughter and mother characters. It delves into subject matters of abuse, neglect, and mental illness.
Ward of State is inspired by choreographer Claire Marshall’s research into her family genealogy and her quest to understand things that occurred in the past. A significant portion of the narrative and the films characters are based on what Claire learned about her family history. A common story in Australia, Claire has also drawn from research and interviews with women who were wards of the state.
Ward of State was made with financial investment from Arts Queensland, and through crowd funding of Possible.
Festival Screenings:
Ward of State won an Australian Dance Award in 2015 and was screened internationally in 2016 including at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival where Claire travelled to as a finalist and was invited to discuss her film. In addition it was programmed in the EnCore: Dance on Film, Georgia USA, Tenerife International Film Festival, Kent, Lombardy International Film Festival, Milan, International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema, Europe, Helios Film Festival, Cincinnati, USA, Blow-Up International Art House Filmfest Chicago, USA, The IndieFEST Film Awards La Jolla, CA, USA, and won the Mexico City Videodance Festival in 2016.
Ward of State Blogs
History: https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/278/
Part 1: https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/journey-of-making-ward-of-state-part-1/
Part 2: https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/journey-of-making-ward-of-state-part-2/
Part 3: https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/375/
Part 4: https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/ward-of-state-post-production-to-premiere/
Ward of State Poster
Ward of State Stills on set by FenLan
‘Vault’ 2013
(completed in 2019)
Vault Trailer
Vault Alternative perspectives
Vault Synopsis
Cast: Michelle Barnett, Jake Kuzma, Frances Hannaway, Matthew Overberg
Choreographer, Producer, Editor: Claire Marshall
Cinematographer: Kevin Holloway
Director: Piia Wirsu
Score: J Valenzuela Didi
Lighting: Simon Cook & Daniel Endicott
Duration: 20:00
Vault is a contemporary dance film exploring memories of spaces formed as a child, revisited as an adult. In 1983 as a child on a school excursion to the Queensland Museum, I became lost from class and found myself inquisitively exploring the museum, it’s winding staircases, hidden spaces, progressive eclecticism style architecture, and strangely interesting museum staff. Journeying through the now defunct building as an adult, memories of the people and discoveries I made as a child return and inspired the making of Vault. Vault was filmed in 2013 and completed in 2019.
Festival Screenings: In 2020 Vault was screened at the Festival Internacional de CineDanza, Canary Islands.
Vault Blogs
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/dancefilm-vault/
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/vault-snippet/
Vault Stills by Gemma Blake
‘Pulse’ 2012
Pulse Trailer 1
Pulse Snippets
Pulse Synopsis
Cast: Libby McDonnell, Miranda Zeller, and Anthony Trojman.
Choreographer, Producer, Editor: Claire Marshall
Cinematography/ Film Mentors: Grant Marshall and Jane Wallace
Sound: Forces
Duration: 12:00
Pulse was created at the Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse. Pulse was choreographed around the existing space (as a location) around concrete support beams, graffiti walls and open areas. Pulse also drew inspiration from images of bygone days when the Powerhouse functioned as an industrial power station.
Pulse was the starting point of Claire’s quest to explore the dance on screen medium, with the specific interest in making a project that was:
– inspired by the space, and
– informed by research of the history of the space where created.
Pulse is a collaboration with Claire’s brother Director Grant Marshall and Jane Wallace. The creative development component of Pulse was created with financial support from an Ausdance Qld Creative Development Grant and as a Brisbane Powerhouse Powerlab.
Festival Screenings: Pulse premiered at the Brisbane Powerhouse in December 2012 and was a shortlisted finalist for an Australian Dance Award in 2013. The re-cut was selected for the International Festival of Blois, France in 2020 and Rogue Dance Festival USA in 2020.
Pulse Blogs
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/pulse-making-of-a-dancefilm/
https://www.clairemarshall.com.au/making-pulse-dancefilm/
Pulse Stills: FenLan/ Grant Marshall
Pulse Poster
