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On Stream (1954)

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clip The building of a dream education content clip 3

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Clip description

Once the site for the oil refinery has been identified, the work begins. The land is surveyed, grass is burned off and the land is cleared. Meanwhile, ‘the dream comes true in miniature’ as a model layout of the refinery and site is shown. The camera pans across model hostels, pump stations, boiler houses, furnaces, generators and distillation units. Bulldozers clear the land for access roads; workers erect boundary fences and temporary storage buildings; and ditch diggers dig the trenches where cables are to be laid. The shipping docks – once used to export wool and wheat – now bring in iron for construction.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

The clearing of land for this large scale development is framed as a romantic story of progress and development. Phrases such as ‘the dream comes true in miniature’, ‘a river of vehicles’ and ‘the whine of winches straining under massive columns of iron’ all serve to tell this tale of achievement. The ‘dream’ analogy – used consistently throughout the documentary – comes from part of the speech given by JW Platt, the managing director of the Shell Group of oil companies on the plant’s opening in 1954.

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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 download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • 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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ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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