Ready, Set, Action! Filming Allan Burnett at Stirling Castle

I had the pleasure of taking a day out of the office on Friday to film Allan Burnett, author of the 'And All That' books, performing at Stirling Castle. A new venture for Birlinn, we hired some very fancy camera equipment and, along with film students Michael Kidd and Ross Hill, we headed to Stirling to catch Alan in action.

Appearing in purple tights and a doublet Alan certainly looked the part as he regaled crowds with his stories of James VI and the worst teacher in history, George Buchanan. His descriptions of Buchanan's giant skull and drew many laughs from the admiring visitors, and some of the kids were scandalised that the king drank ale as a child (little did they know the consequences of drinking water in the 16th century!).

Over the course of the day we gathered lots of footage of Allan in his element. It was fascinating watching the cameramen at work as they ensured that we had a range of angles, lighting, audio and establishing shots. As I write the footage is being edited into a short clip to promote Allan's great 'And All That' history books. So watch this space!

ANNA