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Rocking the Foundations (1985)

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clip Construction

Original classification rating: G. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

This sequence describes the impact of the 1960s development of the Sydney skyline on the work of labourers building its new skyscrapers.

Curator’s notes

by Susan Lambert

The filmmaker has used mixed forms – animation, interview, archive, location shooting and narration – to tell history in a dynamic and dramatic way. This combination of filmic devices is used throughout the film. The deliberate use of black-and-white graphics and black-and-white film stock to shoot the interviews ties all the elements of the film together. Shot by Martha Ansara, herself a documentary filmmaker, and edited by Stewart Young and Pat Fiske, the battles of the workers take on a heroic quality similar to the newsreels of the 1950s.

The interviews are always with people who were there, not academics or historians. We find out from the workers themselves what they were feeling and planning. As the worker Tommy Hogan says, 'our own destiny was, for the first time, in our hands and ours alone’. The interviews are always shot on location which helps to take the audience into a feeling of the times.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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