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)
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.
Address: New Farm Cinemas (Purple room)
701 Brunswick St, New Farm QLD 4005
Duration: 90 minutes
SPLAT
Dancer: Amelia Le-Bherz
2:30 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.
VOID
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/492863659
Dancer and Vocalist: Erin O’Rourke
Cinematographer: Saroj Kumar Chauhan
15:00 minutes
2020
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/597281640
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 (Music Video by Tycho Brahe)
Dancer in image: Sarah Problem-Hoe
Composition: Ken Evans and Georgina Emery of Tycho Brahe
Dancers: Richard Causer and Anthony Trojman
3:30 minutes
2022