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Michael McLennan

@mclennan_michael

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Sydney-based filmmaker & film educator. Screen & Media & Project Officer @bradfieldsc - Recent films: Aristeia, Initiate-Connect. And I am cute too!

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TRAVELLER (part 6)

If you are setting people free, what obligation do you have to the real people who were unwittingly their prison?

@mrjessewatt navigated this scene beautifully.
Thankyou to the crew who came back to do this a second time. @callmerasmus - makes me wistful for the rasmorphic gh5.

#traveller #shortfilm by @mclennan_michael

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4 days ago

TRAVELLER (part 5)

The rules of travel include the following:
No following.
No going back.
No going together.

See the full film at the YouTube link in the bio.
#shortfilm #traveller by @mclennan_michael

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7 days ago

TRAVELLER (part 4)

“Someone close to me came to you. Where is he?”
“Where he wanted to be I expect.”
“And where did he want to be?”

When you have helped someone find a new life, but they have left relationships unclosed, what can you say?

This was a wet, wet night one July. @holly___fraser , @galactic_peacock , @callmerasmus , @evanoirofficial , @seanoo99 all know how wet it was. @joung.jihyun knows how tricky an edit it was. @sydneysoundbrewery knows how hard it is to make rain sound 3 dimensional.

This was only the second night of shooting, and this was still an “exercise” at this point. Thankfully everyone treated it as more.

#traveller #shortfilm by @mclennan_michael

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11 days ago

TRAVELLER (part 3)

The narrator is seen watching a man at night. The man is talking to another. She senses something takes place. He leaves. She follows.

After a largely narration guided intro, a wordless scene. I remember filming this at the end of a 40 degree day in late 2019. K-pop acts were all around us, and the LED wall we were using required difficult sight lines that were very hard to make work.

I was very grateful to @callmerasmus , @evanoirofficial , Jason (I hope you’re well mate) and @reubentir for their patience throughout the evening.

As an editor, these are the scenes I like the most. A dance of eyes. Watching the watcher. I was raised to be a Bressonian, and the Kuleshov effect is never far away. I remember saying to @mrjessewatt that this scene might not need music until the end, and then he did this. The long and careful work with @sydneysoundbrewery to get the thunder, distant skateboard sounds, impressionistic trains and breath in the right proportion makes it one of my favourite minutes.

My Innovation Lab students of years past, and my screen studies students will often remember the 5 obstructions exercise- where one of the obstructions is to build a story backwards from an assigned location. This production’s budget was surprisingly low because we worked backwards from location.

#traveller #shortfilm by @mclennan_michael

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13 days ago

TRAVELLER (part 2)
“In the City, there is a man. They say he knows how to go to other places. And if you see another world, he can show you how to go there. They call him Traveller.”
Full short link in bio. by @mclennan_michael

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14 days ago

TRAVELLER (part 1)
“The City is all we know. We come to it, and we never leave.”

2019 was the year the scales of SFS fell from my eyes and it was clear I needed to stop sacrificing for careless people.
In the midst of that, Rasmus Callmer helped me begin the process of finding the form again. It had been years since I had directed, and while there’d been hundreds of shorts I’d advised in that time, it was like learning it all again.
I started with a sequence from Traveller as I felt it contained scenes that I would need to make more than once. Reflecting on it now, it feels possible this may be as much as the world ever sees of Traveller, and if this is the only evidence of the idea, it might not communicate so clearly what it was all about. However what I think is strong here, and was always strong, is that in a story about people fleeing their reality to other worlds, the camera was always firmly trained on those who were left behind.
Much of this sequence comes from a period when I was filming extensively with a Bolex camera using TriX 16mm stock (cross processed). It was shot in 2011-2012, and Karan- now an established video artist with his own international practice - was still in Sydney after his time at SFS. I did not imagine that it would appear in this context 8 years later.
Enjoy. Follow the link in bio if you’d like to see the whole thing.
#traveller #shortfilm by @mclennan_michael

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15 days ago

THE WAY YOU MOVE (Poster)
To round out this revisit of The Way You Move, this is the poster created by @nicola.macindoe . Nicola is an impressive director, producer and first AD in her own right, but she also puts a lot of herself into every poster she creates.
This poster was a literal puzzle to create, and did a lovely job of reflecting the whole cast.
If you’ve never seen The Way You Move and this poster makes you want to - then please check out the YouTube link in my bio. As with any film, it reflects the efforts of many people. There aren’t a lot of films like it. Check out clips on this grid to see more from the film.
#shortfilm #thewayyoumove #excelsiacollege by @mclennan_michael

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15 days ago

THE WAY YOU MOVE: the Temp track

A draft edit- pre-grade, with the temp track of ABBA. A truly impossible temp track to shake, but Jesse did it.
Still- likely to this day the music the cast most associate with this wild scene, as this is what we played on set. by @mclennan_michael

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17 days ago

THE WAY YOU MOVE (part 20 and the finale)
“It feels like you.”
“It is me.”
Thankyou to artist @artistsarahrowan for creating the painting that tied the mystery together.
That was The Way You Move. by @mclennan_michael

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21 days ago

A Screen and Media class for the ages.
My 11th cert III class @bradfieldsc since 2019. When I think what they are making now, I have high hopes for where they could be if they keep building. Not that they have to - not every spark needs to be a meteor.
Thankyou for using the time well guys. taken in Bradfield Senior College by @mclennan_michael

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24 days ago

Always lovely to have visitors at our screen and media night - it was one of the best. taken in Bradfield Senior College by @mclennan_michael

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24 days ago

THE WAY YOU MOVE (part 16)

The problem with the Everyman is that he doesn’t want to stand out. If someone close to him wants to go along with something, there’s a good chance that will ease his mind enough to go along with it too. That is the way we move.

Malcolm returns home, and finds it quite impossible to sum up the day he’s had since he first received the headset. But that’s ok, the mirror is fixed.

#thewayyoumove #shortfilm #excelsiacollege by @mclennan_michael

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a month ago