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BrianShennan

  • Sound
Brian-Shennan-Profile.jpg

The screen contributions of sound mixer and recordist Brian Shennan spanned more than five decades. He began his career as a trainee at the National Film Unit. From 1965 to 1984, Brian had a hand in dozens of NFU films. Then he went freelance, launching Brain Shennan Sound Limited. His CV included 500+ documentaries, 50+ TV series, many classic movies, and numerous adverts. Shennan died on 6 August 2022, aged 77.  

Screenography

In Memoriam 2022
2022 Subject Short film
Aotearoa Moving Portraits
2022 Subject Short film
Mo Te Iwi: Carving for the People
2019 Sound Recordist Film
The Great Maiden's Blush
2016 Sound Mix Film
That Was New Zealand
2014 Subject Short film

Biography

An international school trip inspired Brian Vincent Shennan's first experiences with recording sound. "In 1963 I did a school geography tour to South East Asia. I'd always wanted a tape recorder. In Singapore I went into a little backstreet electronic shop and purchased a Sharp tape recorder. I'd try it out and learn all about how to record. I found out how things sounded better when you are close, and how sound is hard to distinguish when you are too far from a microphone. So that was my first experience with recording."

“Brian was a good team player who enjoyed getting out on location as a field recordist after many years at the NFU inside dark studios, sound mixing many New Zealand feature films of the 1970s and 1980s. He enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life ... He considered himself very lucky to be doing a job that he loved so much.”

— Cameraman Ivars Berzins, a longtime friend and colleague

Related images

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A crew photo for NFU film This is New Zealand. From front, starting on the left: Geoffrey Scott (executive producer), Hugh Macdonald (glasses & beard - writer/director), David Fowler (producer), Rob Ritchie (associate director), Martin Townsend (title designer), Sam Grau (camera), Mac Ashley (technical manager), Kit Rollings (sound) Brian Shennan (sound) Cecil Forsberg (title designer), Kerry Coe (technician) Ron Skelley (associate sound mixer) and technicians Bruce McKenzie, Jim Chandler &  Henry van Tulder.
Kindly supplied by The Dominon Post.
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National Film Unit crew at the 1965 Polynesian Festival, held at Wellington's Winter Show Buildings. From left to right, camera operator Warren LePine, sound recordist Brian Shennan (then aged 20), Ian McLean, and camera operator John Blick.
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Brian Shennan in 1977, hard at work on the Neve Mixing Console at the National Film Unit, which was then located in Miramar, Welliington.
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Brian Shennan at work, one summer in the Wairarapa.
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Brian Shennan at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, where he was part of the sound team on National Film Unit documentary Games 74.
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Brian Shennan recording sound in a Wairarapa log cabin during the 2015 shoot of short film Ra and Marama. In the background is production manager Alana Comradie.
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The post-production phase of 1983 documentary Patu!. From left to right, director Merata Mita, editor Annie Collins and sound mixer Brian Shennan.
Supplied by Brian Shennan
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On location in Paris in 1998, for TV series The $20 Challenge. From left to right, man on telephone, Scott Clotworthy, Roger Laxon, Ivars Berzins, Brian Shennan (in red), Craig Herd, Stephen Press and Dan Bevan (brother of Kiwi-born Atonement producer Tim Bevan).
Supplied by Ivars Berzins
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Shooting TV show Town and Around in Bulls, in 1966. Brian Shennan is on sound, Warren LePine is behind the camera and Mike Minehan is interviewing a local. Said Shennan of this shot: "It's the old ST Arri with the sound box underneath. I laughed at the winklepickers I'm wearing".