Magna Potentialitas

This film was the product of a collaboration between myself and contemporary dancer, Clare Dark.

The main catalyst for this film was our shared frustration with creative stagnancy and the uselessness of unharnessed potential.

The location came next - primarily filmed in the gorgeous Paragon Theatre in Childers, Queensland. I first visited this theatre in 2020 with my sister and friend for a Fanny Lumsden concert (which was incredible). I fell in love with the space and its heritage and had since wanted to use it as a location for film or photography.

I reached out to the owner, Merissa Craft, pitched our idea and asked if we could hire the space for the day.

She generously approved and the film was a go.

At first, I was wanting the film to be slow and dramatic with muted colours. Clare suggested a more playful approach to the same narrative. We then landed on Frank Sinatra for the music. Clare’s insight always translates effectively into the project’s final form. There is something so special about creative works that touch on negative emotions and experiences that are also uplifting - trust Clare to bring that balance to pieces every time.

With a date now locked in for the filming at the Paragon, it was time to start planning the specifics - the shot list, the choreography, the transitions.

…We did none of this…not on purpose either…this was the mere product of some serious procrastination despite our passion for the project.

So, we rocked up to the Paragon at 7am and waited half an hour because I got the start time wrong. We had my Fujifilm XT4, a gimbal I bought off of Facebook marketplace that wouldn’t balance properly (I think this was my fault), two camera batteries, and oodles of SD cards.

We hadn’t worked together in this regard before, so there were some nerves heading in that we might clash, and because of the lack of planning that we might not have anything we liked come the end of the day. We had no additional time or days booked in for the Paragon…so this was it.

As a heritage listed building, it has had to remain in its original form. This building was established in 1927 - there were no air conditioners in 1927. This was a 30 degree day - it was HOT up in that building.

Once Clare had warmed up and we had decided on the colour grade, the day flowed mostly like this:

Clare would choreograph a section for 10 minutes then we would shoot that phrase around 3 times…and repeat.

We were absolutely exhausted, but we kinda smashed it out.

Over breakfast the next day with my mum and sister, they had suggested the different sights you see us switch between throughout the film. Sticking primarily to the heritage-listed-sight theme, we shot in front of The Bailey Gate, The Isis Masonic Lodge and Fort Lytton Park - the other two sights were Sandgate Beach and a random bunch of pine trees off of the Bruce Highway.

Clare edited the piece together and Magna Potentialitas was complete.