In Our Blood was a four-part musical drama inspired by Australia’s radical response to AIDS in the 1980s. It was created by Adriano Cappelletta who wrote it initially for the stage and also featured in the series. It was produced by Hoodlum Entertainment and was directed by Nicholas Verso and John Sheedy.
This production was a joy to work on. Primarily, my role involved working with a chorus of four who were Greek Chorus performers, each a chameleon. They needed to be skilled at singing, acting and dancing. These performers, played by Adriano Cappelletta, Nic Prior, Tomas Parrish, and Alice Birbarra, break the fourth wall to provide historical context and sing songs from the era, which are juxtaposed with the drama’s serious political themes.
In Our Blood – the chorus
I was also involved in the Patches nightclub scenes, where the cast of today required movements reminiscent of the 1980s. In addition, I also helped identify the best movers to the director and bring them into frame. If we were not recording sound, I’d be trying to get the best energy from everyone, calling out various encouraging comments.
In Our Blood
Unit Still Photography 2022
Hoodlum Productions for ABC
The opening scene of In Our Blood – I jumped in as an extra in the background for this shot.
Filming and rehearsals occurred over a number of days in October 2022. I was thrilled to attend the premiere in New Farm, Brisbane, in mid-March 2023 – the night before flying to commence the UK leg of Darren Hayes’ Do You Remember Tour. Often at such events, other industry friends will ask what is next? It was quite exciting to announce I was flying to the UK the next day!
When I returned from overseas, I finally had an opportunity to view In Our Blood on the ABC and was delighted to see it come together as it had.
I commenced my Master of Fine Arts (Dance) at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, in 2019. At the same time, it would be the final year of running my business, Mill Street Studios.
The MFA is a two-year program of full-time study; however, due to COVID-19 in 2020, my MFA program took three years. This was due to several factors, including the need to form new creative collaborations resulting from border closures in Australia. Postgraduate study, despite numerous challenges, proved to be remarkably rewarding and enjoyable. Researching through my creative practice was, in many ways, invigorating.
My MFA investigated experimental methods for dance filmmaking, placing cinematic elements —such as location, cinematography, and editing —at the centre of the creative process as a means to shift and subvert expectations in dance film.
At the conclusion of 2021, I submitted my folio of work, which included four dance films and a 20,000-word thesis.
I was thrilled to graduate the following year with first-class honours.
The graduation ceremony included traditional photos taken in the graduation regalia. The photographer asked if there were any other photos I wanted?
The graduation was a lovely way to close a chapter that spanned from 2019 to 2021. I’m also quite proud of the dance films that were a part of my studies and that have been screened in over 90 film festivals, winning several significant awards.
While editing my films for Permutations, I was already eager to explore new ideas. Even though it felt strange not to be rehearsing at Mill St, due to the closure after the 2022 floods, it was good to be back in the studio (a charming little hall in Paddington), experimenting with new concepts.
working with Erin O’Rourke
After spending time in the studio, I found a few locations to hire and tested various scenes in each. The goal was to translate the content to each location and eventually return to refine these ideas further down the track.
May 2022 – testing ideas in a number of locations
After experimenting with the footage in the edit, I was eager to focus on a single location in particular and draw inspiration from the space’s history and aesthetic. In dance film, this is not an unusual way to work, and for me, films like Pulse, Vault, and Void began by drawing from the aesthetic or history of the location. An alternative approach is to start with an idea or story and identify locations that align with the narrative. My films, Ward of State and Love Song, are examples of working from a story starting point. Dance films might also begin with a movement idea, such as my films Splat or Silt, or they may be conceptual or experimental, such as my film Shift.
In June, we spent a few more days rehearsing at some of the locations. However, some locations didn’t feel like they belonged with the movement, as seen in the images above, but we persevered nonetheless. However, one location that did feel suitable was the old Telephone exchange at Wooloongabba. I decided to scrap the other ideas and focus entirely on the exchange building. The following month, we filmed for two days at the telephone exchange location, followed by an additional three days in August. Spreading out the filming process is not the traditional way with film. Still, the time to reflect in between filming is an integral part of my process, particularly given how editing can alter the outcome.
Alongside rehearsals and filming, I also researched the history of the location— the former telephone exchange — and I began to weave in some ideas about revisiting and examining all the old, clunky telephones and exchange desks. The Brisbane Telephone Museum in Brisbane also provided some valuable information about the past and the technical aspects of telecommunication. In fact, visiting this museum, I realised that filming some scenes here might provide more narrative content to the other scenes at the old exchange building.
stills on set July 2022
We filmed the second part of the development in July 2022 (above) and an additional 3 days in August 2022 (below).
stills on set August 2022
The creative team included: Dancer: Erin O’Rourke, Cinematographer: Saroj Kumar Chauhan, AC and gaffer: Jared Sexton, Sound recording: Hannah Millar Sound Mix: Rosco Audio (post production)
In the lead up to Permutations at the Brisbane Powerhouse in June, I thought it would be a good idea to show the other new dance films I have created recently. Void has been shown over the world (in twenty four festivals), but not in Brisbane, and Love Song has not been shown in Australia. The screening of these films will occur at the New Farm Cinemas (Purple Cinema) on Wednesday the 18th of May 2022 at 7pm.
Claire Marshall Presents
FOUR DANCE FILMS by Claire Marshall
SPLAT SHIFT VOID LOVE SONG
And the premiere of the music video LOVE BLIND LOVE by Tycho Brahe (inspired by Claire’s film LOVE SONG)
7pm for a 7:15pm start Wednesday the 18th of May 2022 New Farm Cinemas (Purple room) 701 Brunswick St, New Farm QLD 4005 Duration: 90 minutes
The four dance films were created by Claire Marshall as a part of her Master of Fine Arts (Dance) at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne where Claire investigated alternative methods of dance filmmaking and story structures, manipulated by location, cinematography, and editing.
The dance films have been choreographed by Claire Marshall in collaboration with dancers. They are produced, directed, and edited by Claire Marshall.
THE FILMS:
SPLAT
Dancer: Amelia Le-Bherz 2:40 minutes 2019
SPLAT is a quirky short screendance experiment whereby the action of falling or ‘splatting’ to the ground is executed as a constant in every take to establish a controlled singular motif for analysis. When cut together as a montage, using different locations, and proximities of the body to the camera, this repeated action was then considered in relation to meaning making and narrative. Investigating metaphors associated with falling, suggested meanings of exhaustion, defeat and powerlessness became reinforced by repetition.
SHIFT
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/376367674 Dancers: Lucy Hood and Richard Causer Cinematographer: Kevin Holloway 32:20 minutes 2019
SHIFT commences with a duet that depicts a story of a discordant couple. The story repeats four times in different locations, acting to highlight and reinforce the predicament of the dancer and create an overarching sense of atmosphere and defamiliarization. Rather than impose an idea on a specific location scouted to suit a story, as an experimental film, SHIFT was filmed in numerous locations, and allowed the sense of ‘story’ to evolve in the edit.
Winding upwards, gazing downwards, slinking, sinking, vaulting, halting, 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. VOID was a reciprocal response to Shift by exploring one dancer in a solitary location and creating a cinematic world through responding to the architecture. As such, the stairs became a signifier of a journey, the closed stairwell presented the idea of entrapment, and the repetition in the architecture provided the impetus for multiple selves.
LOVE SONG
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/clairemarshall/disco Dancers: Richard Causer and Anthony Trojman Cinematographer: Saroj Kumar Chauhan Score: Tycho Sound Design 16:30 minutes 2021
LOVE SONG is a dance film that explores a story of a relationship in constant flux, where deception and emotional manipulation unfolds. The story of LOVE SONG evolved in rehearsals, developed in collaboration with the dancers Richard Causer and Anthony Trojman. LOVE SONG situates two stories in a parallel structure, showing aspects of the two stories simultaneously establishes conflict and shifts perceptions of the dancers and story.
LOVE BLIND LOVE by Tycho Brahe (Music Video Premiere)
Dancer in image: Sarah Problem-Hoe Composition: Ken Evans and Georgina Emery of Tycho Brahe www.tycho.com.au Dancers: Richard Causer and Anthony Trojman 3:30 minutes 2022
AND…showing the new PERMUTATIONS TRAILER
Dancers: Richard Causer, Bella Hood, Lucy Hood, and Jacob Watton. Cinematographer Kevin Holloway Additional shots by Saroj Kumar Chauhan Image by Mark Greenmantle 3:00 minutes
PERMUTATIONS opens at the Brisbane Powerhouse on Wednesday, the 15th of June 2022.
As with previous screenings, it is nice to get the cast present up on stage to give them a round of applause.
In December 2020, I completed cutting my dance film Void. This film was the most complex editing project I had ever undertaken, involving multiple matte layers. I think some people thought I had added a collideascope effect to make the multiple versions of Erin, however, it took months to create with intricate and precise layers. This was particularly complex when a lot of movement was involved.
After its completion in late 2020, I submitted Void to a few film festivals over the next few months, curious to see how it was received. Festival submissions can be costly and rarely see much financial remuneration. Every film is different and can extend beyond the ‘genre’ of just dance film in submissions. I was very selective with the submissions for Void. Despite some rejections from the usual favourite festivals, I was surprised that Void was accepted into more European festivals, as well as some more specific ‘genre’ festivals. For example, Void was accepted into a festival specifically for darker genres, such as horror. Although Void is not a horror film, it explores themes of psychological entrapment and is generally a darkly aesthetic film.
The creative development of Void was made with the support of a stART Grant from Metro Arts. Completed in December 2020, Void premiered in July 2021 in the 11th Festival de Cine-Arte en la Frontera, San Cristóbal-Venezuela, and has since screened in 24 festivals around the world including the Tipperary Dance Program TDP’21 International Dance Festival, Ireland, Florence Dance on Screen Festival, Florence, Italy, Thessaloniki Cinedance International, Greece, Dance (Lens) Festival at Dancehouse Melbourne, Short to the Point Bucharest, Romania, 7th Dancinema Festival, Washington D.C., Dance Camera Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, In Shadow 14th Annual Screendance Festival, Lisbon, Portugal, Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal, 8thScreenDance Festival Stockholm, Sweden and 14th Lighthouse International Film Festival on Long Beach Island, NJ.
In 2021, Void was a finalist in the Vesuvius International Film Festival, Campania, Italy, and in 2022 was a semi-finalist in 3 festivals, including the Rotterdam Independent Film Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Sacramento World Film Festival, California, USA, and Dumbo Film Festival, New York, USA. Void was also a nominee for the best dance film in the Milan Arthouse Film Awards, Italy (Nominee – Best Dance Film) 2022.
Void has won 7 festivals including Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany (Best dance film 2021), Red Movie Awards, Reims, France (Award Winner – REIMS Excellence Director 2021), Short Film Factory– Bucharest, Romania (Award Winner – Dance category 2022), 5th Dark Veins Horror Fest, Lecce, Italy (Award Winner 2022), Stockholm Short Festival Stockholm, Sweden (Award Winner – Best Dance clip 2022) and the San Francisco Indie Short Festival, San Francisco, USA (Award Winner – Best Dance Short Film 2022) and most recently in May 2022 won the Braga International Video Dance Festival, Portugal!
I feel so grateful that people have appreciated this film, and it has been screened in many amazing festivals.
In February 2022, following heavy rainfall, many suburbs in Brisbane experienced flooding, and for some, the flooding was more severe than the 2011 floods. When the water started rising, I was on set for some pickup shots for Permutations.
the red circle at the top left marks where Mill St was
While trying to navigate all the dramas the rain was throwing us on set (with a leaking house), I also learned that Mill Street Studios was flooding. Focused on the pickup shots, I tried not to think about it, but now, seeing Mill St. destroyed is heartbreaking, particularly because the flooding has caused the business to close. While I have not owned the business for a few years, I have remained a part of the team/ family.
Mill Street was tucked around the corner behind the BP service station
And what goes up must come down – but not without a floodline
This was not the first time the space has flooded. I have fond memories of teaching there under the previous owner for many years, however, she was hit with the 2011 floods, which went entirely over the 7-metre-high roof. Thankfully, she was able to eventually salage the space and her business. This time it was not the case for the new owners – it was too much immediately after COVID 19. I don’t think I could have kept the business open either.
The “Goodna Flood Marker” at the Goodna roundabout indicates the peak flood level from the devastating 2011 flood, reaching 16.4 meters at the Queen Street shops around noon on Wednesday. This marker serves as a visual representation of the flood’s height during this specific event, showing the extent of inundation in the area.
2011 floods. Mill St is completey under water.
In the 1974 floods, the water levels were even higher. The pedestrian bridge was replaced with the one pictured above many years later.
The pedestrian bridge is at the top right side of the photo
Mill Street has many special memories and years of hard work, including numerous hours of painting and renovating, all in preparation for its opening in late 2013. While it’s the people who make memories special, many of these memories are embedded in the space, which is why it is sad to see it close. It is also very sad for the new team that took on running Mill and everyone who loved it dearly.
Memories include rehearsals for Slowdive for APAM in 2015, Flaunt in 2014, recording sound for Ward of State in 2014, remounting Flaunt for the tour in 2016, Test Pressing Projects in 2017 and 2018, and developing work for my later dance films Splat, Shift, Splat, Void, Love Song, and very recently rehearsing for Permutations. The years running the business were special too – connecting with the local community and creating work for younger people, from older teenagers to university students, with whom I could truly test out almost any creative idea. During this time, it was rewarding to see young people’s love of dance beautifully fostered by the fantastic teachers at Mill Street. I feel so lucky to have had those years – there are just so many memories.
Below are a few photos of recent flooding at Mill St, as well as my renovations of Mill St from earlier years, sprinkled with a handful of memories. There are far too many memories and people to include in this post.
For them, myself and for anyone who loved Mill St, it is sad to see the end of an era at Mill Street Studios.
Mill Street in its former glory
In addition, losing a shipping container (also on site) full of my show sets and props was sad – more memories washed away. The mud-dredged mannequins from my show, Flaunt and piece, Spare Parts, found their final resting places in a submerged Corvette in the neighbouring mechanic’s yard. The mechanic never reopened after the floods.
Bonquisha Dancer and Susan Dancer in thier final resting place
CLEAN UP:
Once the roads were no longer cut off, I was able to travel to Mill St to help. Thankfully, in the immediate time, there were many people nearby – including the army. It was a massive job clearing out the entire space, both items ruined by the floods and those that were salvageable.
As for my shipping container of show sets and props, everything in it was ruined :(
Finally, after all the clean up was complete, we threw a little party, bringing in some lights and a hazer to give it a bit of the old Mill Street style vibe, and said farewell, sharing many memories over the years with a bunch of special people. And yes, we threw shapes!
Trying to give Mill St a little sparke of the past
More than smoke and mirrors
The following day, Mill St staff and I finished cleaning out the space after the farewell event, and by 9 pm, it was empty. It felt hollow and empty, void of all the care and love it had been given over the previous years.
A few photos with long time Mill St teacher Will, who lead the clean up
William and I had been the last two people to close up, but he gave me the honour of closing up the studio for the last time. I should note that William was a long-standing teacher at Mill St and helped with the original renovations in 2013.
I left my keys in the space and took a moment before turning off the lights and closing the door for the very last time. I thought back to the moment in late 2013, almost eight and a half years earlier, when I first got the keys cut and walked into the space, seeing all the potential. It was a moment that felt like the final episode of a TV series – like Cheers.
I am deeply saddened to think it won’t be there anymore. I feel thankful to have many unforgettable memories and am proud of the creative work produced at Mill Street over the years. More than anything, it is the little legacy that Mill Street left, and the lifelong bonds made there. All through dance – which is magical.
RIP Mill St.
Closing the doors, I took a photo and said goodnight.
The Screening We bumped into the Brisbane Powerhouse on Monday, the 13th of June, and tested the four screens and sound. Seeing the four films on such large screens, rather than my mock-up version at home, changed the experience of the films. I spent the time between bump-in and opening night tweaking and exporting the new versions. One change to one film would impact the others, so I had to be very careful with any final adjustments. Furthermore, making a 30-minute dance film is significant, but I realised that four x 30-minute films were a huge undertaking. Each new render and export took about 90 minutes, which led to a few sleepless nights.
Here are some photos from the bump-in.
Testing three of the four screens
The Permutations season took place from June 15 to June 18, 2022, at the Brisbane Powerhouse, featuring four shows each night. The audience was positioned in the centre of the space as the four films played around them, creating an immersive experience. I snapped a few photos throughout the season.
PERMUTATIONS – part 2 editing and pickup shots Following the filming of Permutations in January, I spent the next month editing the footage. While I was happy with it, making four 30-minute films was ambitious, and I could identify some gaps in the story. It probably should have been a five-day shoot rather than four, and it was remarkable that we managed to capture all the footage we did in just four days.
Below are some stills from the footage:
Fortunately, the location, dancers and team were available for the day except for cinematographer Kevin Holloway, who was on a job in Canberra. Thankfully, Saroj Kumar Chauhan, who shot Love Song and Void, was available and willing to take on the task.
However, the weekend I chose for the pick-up shots was the weekend of February 26th, when Brisbane flooded. In the lead up to filming while rehearsing and setting up, two of the key team members were cut off in the floods, one of the dancers had to walk through flood water to get to the set (because she could not drive through it), Mill St studios was going under water, and I lost thousands of dollars of show sets and props in my shipping container. The house we were filming at began to leak in multiple places, and some of the dancers might not have been able to get home.
For the first time, I began to question if it was worth persevering. I thought the stresses of COVID during the initial shots were extreme; however, in the years of making work, I’ve never experienced such a stressful series of events as this particular weekend. However, I think I can say we got the shots, primarily due to the fantastic team who all helped out significantly and were incredibly supportive through all the dramas.
This was meant to be a sunny scene but the dancers were such great sports. Here, Lucy Hood embraces the torrential rain.
After bumping everything out, it slowly began to dawn on me that the Brisbane Powerhouse had flooded, and that the place from which the projectors were being hired (at Southbank) had flooded severely. Despite feeling like I had got all the shots and beaten COVID and the floods, there came the ‘sinking’ feeling that I would need to postpone the season.
The flood levels at the Brisbane Powerhouse nearly reached levels similar to those in 2011. Some say it was higher. Below are some stills from the Brisbane Powerhouse in 2011 and 2022 (see photographer credits attached).
After four funding attempts, my application to Arts Queensland to make a new work was accepted. The idea of Permutations came from an idea that evolved through making my dance films for my Master of Fine Arts at the VCA where I was investigating alternative story structures in dance film.
Permutation is an immersive dance film installation that positions the audience in the centre of large screens where a multiple point-of-view story unfolds.
The story of Permutations is centered around two sisters aged 16 and 17 who farewell their mother and her newlywed husband on their honeymoon vacation in 1982. 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.
Permutations features four stunning dancers, Richard Causer, sisters Bella Hood and Lucy Hood and Jacob Watton.
The starting point of Permutations was to have a strong hero image so I returned to work with photographer Mark Greenmantle who shot the hero image for Flaunt in 2014. Mark cleverly put these three images together which is most exemplary of Permutations with different versions of a story that unfolds at once.
Image by Mark GreenmantleImage by Mark GreenmantleBTS of the photo shoot
Due to COVID and state border restrictions, rehearsals were set back until November and December. However, we were fortunate to have space to rehearse at Mill Street Studios (RIP).
I tried to be as creative as possible with rehearsals by creating mock-up scenarios similar to the location and surprised the dancers with games such as Twister and Uno to development movement with them. I had also made a gigantic 2.1m x 3.6m twister with my white tarkette and some coloured vinyl.
In December we had rehearsals on location, and we filmed over four days in January. Rehearsals on location were important for embedding the choreography into the location.
The location was a gorgeous late 1970s house that I’d taken a lot of time to find. I had met with the owner for a recce of the house and she was excited to have a dance film shot there. The house had a great vibe and was ideal for the early 1980s era. Some things needed to brought back to the era however, and my Mum had made some fantastic curtains from vintage sheets I had purchased. Tiffany Beckwith-Skinner and the dancers looked after making and installing other fabric and furniture.
Various moments posing for photos on set
In the lead up to filming state borders had opened but that meant COVID 19 was starting to spread in January. We were faced with the predicament that if one of the team became infected they would have to isolate. Sometimes people are not replaceable and this was the case on this project. There was no other time we could get everyone together. Kevin Holloway would have to fly up from Sydney again but he was booked on a long form project following this. There was no guarantee the house would be available again and the dancers were all still catching up on jobs that had been postponed already due to COVID. Consequently, calling ‘It’s a wrap’ on the Permutations shoot was a moment I will never forget. Fortunately, we made it with all the team healthy through the 11 days on location (bump in, rehearsals on set and subsequent 4 day shoot). However, making what was essentially four x 30 minute films was huge and there was some compromises. It would not be until I got to editing that I would know if I had all I needed. Still, what we achieved was massive.
THANKS: I need to say I was absolutely in awe of the four dancers (Richard Causer, Lucy Hood, Bella Hood, Jacob Watton) who went above and beyond to help things all come together, Kirrah Jobst with short scene too, as well as the creative team (Kevin Holloway, Amelia Le-Bherz, Tiffany Beckwith-Skinner and helpers). We also had some amazing help from Jane Hood (and the entire Hood family), Judy Le-Bherz, William Eggleton, and my Mum – all who were so kind to help in various aspects of the production.
