Films

The Mouse Escapes from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

The Mouse Escapes (16 mm, 2007, UK, Dir. - Simon Mclennan)

This narrative/dance film follows a young scientist as he questions the ethics of his genetic
research, while pursuing his passion for physics.
Interspersed with dream sequences which take the form of butoh dance -

"Butoh gropes beneath the overlay of socialisation and cultural authoritarianism
 for 'the body that has been robbed'...the 'fiery body', the wild inner flame in the 
heart of darkness."  (Taghairm Arts) 

The 16mm film tracks the movements of the female dream figure, as she counterpoints
the storyline in the labyrinth of a pine forest.

With leitmotifs of a growing mark/tattoo on the body of the central character, echoed
in the structure of the dress of the dancing figure in the forest, along with the web that
binds her.

"in the subject who desires, desire can be made to desire its own repression" (Deleuze and Guattari).

Structurally the film is divided into two parts: both visually through the use of B&W
and colour film, and audibly, through the use of the string quartet,
which opposes the found sounds i.e. bird song, rivers, wind etc.

Shot on location in Mid-Wales and London, the film's soundtrack was specially written
for string quartet.




Park House from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

Park House (Super 8 mm, 2010, UK, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

Taking the form of a visual poem the B&W sequences were shot in
London's King's Cross while the colour sections were captured in and
around the eastern Lake District.
Can random jump-cuts in film echo the random nature of out fates?
The spoken text describes a childhood scene from the memory of the artist.
What is the nature of memory in relation to first experience?
How do we make sense of our seemingly random lives? Does the past
bring an acceptable meaning to the present?



Big Moth from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

Big Moth (Super 8 mm film, 2010, UK, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

Collaged and affected sound are juxtaposed with layered colour and B&W super 8 mm
film.
A spoken poem describing the embodying of a moth follows on from the found sounds
of Glasgow buses and the preparation of coffee.
Images capture movement, animal bodies, winter and naturally lit interiors.



Caveo Vestri Mens from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

Caveo Vestri Mens (HDV and Super 8 mm film, 2012, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

As the media tends to maintain a hegemony of representation, so by scratching and
removing the under exposed emulsion of a film we can bring about both light and transparency.
Charlemagne required the clergy to adopt the repertory of Gregorian chant,
on pain of death: another hegemony, despite the form’s intrinsic beauty.
The soundtrack collages and manipulates found sounds and references Gregorian chant,
the Eton Boating Song, canned laughter and audio from war footage published
on youtube by soldiers in the field.



The Visitors from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

The Visitors (Super 8 mm film, 2012, UK, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

A  B&Wsuper 8 mm experimental documentary, edited in camera, depicting the sketch books and
writings of the artist, in the context in which they were created i.e. the home of
the artist.
A soundtrack composed by Paul Gardner using virtual real-time programmable synthesisers.
The narration seeks to bring an ambiguity to the images upon which they
inevitably reflect.



Glass Flesh Kiss from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

Glass Flesh Kiss (Super 8 mm film, 2012, UK, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

" Semiotic... is an emotional field, tied to the instincts, which dwells in the fissures and prosody
of language rather than in the denotative meanings of words. In this sense, the semiotic opposes
the symbolic, which correlates words with meaning in a stricter, mathematical
sense." (Augustine Perumalil on Kristeva).

A series of automatic charcoal drawings of semi-abstract figures were animated on super 8mm film.

Recordings of speech were reversed and cut up to produce a meaningless, yet recognisably

human counterpoint to the movements and shapes on the film.

These Eiderdowns from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

These Eiderdowns (HDV, 2010, UK, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

Experimental film with intentionally cut and disjointed poem.
The sculptural qualities of the frozen landscape are presented alongside
words and images that conjure up a vision of a garden in the full bloom of summer.




The Ship from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

The Ship (DV cam, 2006, UK, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

A disjointed narrative of an artist on a quest. Using an ambiguous spoken text
over an already unclear narrative, the film moves from scene to scene with few
obvious clues as to meaning and story.
The scenes were shot around Haweswater reservoir in Cumbria, a London gallery and a nightclub.



Slider! from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

Slider! (HDV, UK, 2013, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

Slider is a dialogue with the space we call home. It documents a negotiation with the space.
Endlessly repeated actions, although typically relegated to the mundane, are our way
of navigating through time and space: Sliding as negotiation.

Dream from Simon Mclennan on Vimeo.

Dream (HDV, Super 8 mm film, 2013, UK, Dir. Simon Mclennan)

A spontaneous dance captured on camera. With a composed soundtrack for piano.
The music was added after filming and editing. The film was slowed down and
composited in two layers.
Dance by Carolina Diaz.
Music by Simon Mclennan.