Page 11 - Young DPs

ROSSMCLENNAN
BORN: 2 SEPTEMBER 1971, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
How did you get into this industry, any family connections?
“I started working in the film indus- try straight out of high school as a runner in a corporate production company
in Sydney, up the road from my Dad’s hard- ware store.
After three years of doing everything from running, dubbing, editing, sound recording and camera assisting I set my sights firmly on becoming a camera assistant.
After going freelance as a video assis- tant, a Sydney DP and good friend, Allen Koppe, showed me how to load his SR2 mag- azines and from that point on I was hooked.
I loaded on commercials for a few years while focusing for Allen on low budget music videos. I then stepped up to Focus Puller working on everything from music videos, commercials, TV dramas and feature films, and was lucky enough to do dailies on some major films like Babe 2 - Pig In The City and The Matrix.
In November 1999, in an effort to make the leap from Focus Puller to Cinematogra- pher shorter, I took advantage of having a British-born mother and a Right of Abode, and moved to London.
The move to London was not as easy as I thought it would be as I was struggling to get work.
My first job in the UK was driving 4x4’s on the set of Enigma - ferrying HoDs and cast from unit base to location. One day, on a rough bit of road, I managed to knock Mick Jagger’s head on the ceiling of the 4x4. to say the least, he wasn’t too happy!
I’ve had to do everything from working as a waiter in the “Sausage & Mash” café on Portobello Road to being a pushbike courier around London. After a while I finally got enough work as a Focus Puller on commer- cials, music videos and TV dramas and could give up the part-time jobs. I really en- joyed Focus Pulling and I travelled all over the world to some amazing places working with some very talented cinematographers.
I got my first break as a Cinematogra- pher shooting for The Gate Films in Manchester after Focus Pulling on commer- cials with DP Nic Sadler and Director Bluey Durrant.
When Nic moved to LA, Bluey took me under his wing and let me shoot for him, taking me from sand dunes in Dubai for a Matalan commercial to the streets of Seville shooting a “quick and rough” for San Miguel - which the client in the end liked more than
the “full up” they did and ended up airing our Q&R instead!
I got my break shooting in London through Chris Youlton, who is now at Arri Media, recommending me to Partizan. I have since shot music videos for Partizan direc- tors Kinga Burza, Dan Lowe, Ollie Evans, Nima Nourizadeh and Paf Le Chien.
Colin O’Toole of Pulse Films gave me my very first music video while I was still focus pulling. He later took me around the world for six weeks shooting a documentary for Adidas and Adicolor which covered eight countries and a dozen designers, each with a different colour theme and each needing a different visual approach. I found that to be one of the most rewarding projects I’ve done as Colin gave me free reign to experiment with all visual aspects of the project.
I’ve since shot two music videos for Ian Brown with Colin: Illegal Attacks which we shot on 16mm Anamorphic with Panavision’s C series lenses and on Fujifilm’s ETERNA 500T, and Sister Rose which I bleach by- passed ETERNA 250T to get the contrast closer to the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon, which Colin was referencing.
What was your favourite job
to date and any unusual anecdotes
whilst working?
I really enjoy the pre-production stage of each job, discovering the directors’ vision and working together to plan out the shoot and get the most out of the resources we have at hand to tell the story. It sounds cheesy but the motto of the production company I first worked for was “exceed expectation” - that’s something I try to do on every job.
What were your most recent projects and what was your job on each?
COMMERCIALS:
• William Hill Bingo, x3. Dir Bluey Durrant. The Gate Films. 35mm.
• Jet2.com Plane, Dir Simon Lewis.
The Gate Films. HD.
MUSIC VIDEOS:
• Infadels Free Things For Poor People, MiniVegas. Agile. 16mm.
• Ortzroka Planets,
Dir Dan Lowe. Partizan. Digi.
DRAMA:
• Friday Night, Short. Dir Ornette Spencely. South West Films. HD.
• Break Kids, Series. Dir M. Hines/
S. Mork. Disney Channel. DigiBeta. DOCUMENTARIES:
• Adidas Adicolor, Dir Colin O’Toole Un-
orthodox Styles. HDV.
What are your current and
future projects?
Awaiting news, but my proudest moment to date was when I recently signed to Wizzo and Co. who are now my agent.
What is your experience of working with Fujifilm stock?
I’ve shot every stock Fujifilm has in its range in both 16mm and 35mm on commercials,
FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE • THE MAGAZINE • EXPOSURE • 27
music videos and short films. I find they
give a richer looking image with real con-
trast giving you a larger palette to work from
for whatever the project requires. I
think Fujifilm is moving in the right
direction making a wider, more di-
verse range of stock. I wish they’d ” bring out Velvia in motion picture
stock, the more the better!