At Black Range

The camerawork in At Black Range is central to its artistic ambition, focusing on the mobile textures of living surfaces. The camera frequently fades in and out of focus, rendering details like lichen as 'electric, pointilist' patterns. The movement of shadows from tree trunks is depicted with a dynamic, almost violent energy, likened to 'electric blue lightning.' Leaves, in their shivering motion, are visually transformed into 'undersea anemones,' creating a tactile and suggestive visual experience that blurs the lines between the terrestrial and the imagined.

At Black Range was filmed in the vicinity of the Grampians in Western Victoria. This choice of location is integral to the film's aesthetic. The monumental monochrome rocks and the unique quality of light, which casts rainbow shadows and creates coloured vibrations in the moving eucalypts, are key visual elements. The natural landscape becomes a character in itself, providing the canvas for the film's experimental approach to texture and colour, transforming the familiar Australian environment into something dreamlike and profoundly observed.

The film offers a profound, almost transcendental view of nature, moving beyond conventional scientific classification. By loosening the 'straightjacket of the spectrum,' as it's described, At Black Range also loosens the 'straightjacket of taxonomy.' The boundaries between classes, phyla, and even kingdoms seem to dissolve. This approach invites viewers to perceive the natural world not as a series of distinct entities but as a fluid, interconnected tapestry where elements like shivering leaves can morph into undersea anemones, suggesting a deeper, more sensual connection to the environment.

At Black Range employs a strikingly distinct visual language, drawing parallels to Impressionist painting. Shot near the Grampians in Victoria, the film captures monumental monochrome rocks bathed in rainbow shadows. The movement of eucalypts creates coloured vibrations, akin to visual echoes of Impressionist brushwork. This technique extends to the very texture of the film and the rock itself, transforming lichen into a pointillist, almost electric surface. The interplay of light and shadow, with tree trunks appearing like electric blue lightning, contributes to its ethereal and experimental aesthetic.