Post by neil6147 on Feb 3, 2007 2:39:35 GMT 10
Hello to you all I have came over this very interesting article in a Scottidh Borders Paper.
If you happen to be taking a leisurely weekend stroll across the Border hills next month, don't be put off by scenes of blood-splattering brutality and men in kilts being slaughtered in their hundreds.
No, it's not the RBS Six Nations. It is, in fact, a re-enactment of the Battle of Culloden for a film that producers have described as being "psychologically nerve-shredding".
Around 300 actors and a crew of 30 are expected to descend on moorland of Lauder Common on March 17 for three days of filming that will eventually be edited down to just five minutes of adrenalin-inducing action.
The short film has been commissioned by The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and will be the centre-piece of a new visitor centre due to open in August at Drumossie Moor, the original site of the 1746 battle.
Plans for the £10million centre have been under development for eight years and the film will be an integral part of the experience, shown in a state-of-the-art 'immersion theatre', which throws the audience right into the heart of the action.
Director and producer Craig Colliston said: "It will be in a small room with the battle being projected all around you on all four walls from floor to ceiling. The aim is to give the audience an all-seeing perspective on the action.
"It was a huge event but if you were an individual soldier on the ground it would be a bit like being at a really bad T in the Park – all you would see would be people around you dying and in pain.
"We want people to come out thinking 'Oh my God – that actually happened!'."
Plans to shoot the film on Lauder Common are currently being finalised by Edinburgh-based production company Nobles Gate, after NTS ruled out the possibility of filming at the Culloden site itself.
Project coordinator Alexander Bennett explained: "We have a very strict policy on not re-enacting at Culloden because it is essentially a war grave. We wanted to find another similar location and the producers suggested Lauder, which is a good location and pretty central for everyone involved."
Professional battle re-enactors have been hired to add to the authenticity of the project, which has been a priority for producers right from the start.
Mr Bennett said: "We're going for authenticity and reality. It will be in your face."
But while they are keen not to exclude children, who make up a high proportion of Culloden's 250,000 visitors each year, producers insist the bloodiness and brutality of the battle is key to the film's success.
Mr Colliston added: "It won't be gratuitously bloody, but it will be psychologically nerve-shredding, a bit like 'Psycho'."
Graeme Donald, chairman of Lauder Community Council, said this week that the film was an exciting prospect for the region.
"I'm absolutely delighted that they've chosen Lauder Common. One of the advantages of the site is that it is so close to Edinburgh and many of the actors will be travelling from there each day. But a large number of the crew will be staying in the hotel here and some of the actors will bunk in the public hall. There's no doubt it'll be good business for local traders," he said.
Producers are appealing for extras and would like to hear from local men in their 20s who would be interested in taking part, particularly on Sunday and Monday (March 18 and 19).
Those interested should contact Nobles Gate at info@noblesgate.co.uk
Plus there was also mentioned in the same paper.
Culloden relic for Gala display
A SHAWL, thought to have been worn by a woman scouring the battlefield of Culloden in the aftermath of the Jacobite rout in 1746, is among many fascinating items on display at an exhibition of Highland dress which opens today at the Borders campus of Heriot-Watt University at Netherdale, Galashiels.
The show, which runs until May 4 in the main reception, is part of the Highland 2007 promotion, a year-long celebration of Highland culture.
All exhibits come from the textile archive in Galashiels, plus items from the university's Edinburgh collection.
Heriot-Watt archivist Helen Taylor said: "We have been fortunate to have received individual and company collections over the years, including one from Alan Paterson, a graduate of the then Scottish College of Textiles.
"Alan did his thesis on tartan and retained a life-long interest in highland dress, eventually donating his collection, which included the 18th-century shawl, to the college.
"We are also displaying items from a collection donated by Lewis Anderson, a Galashiels textile manufacturer working in the family business, Peter Anderson, and another keen collector of tartan. There are pieces, too, from the Tweedie local history collection.
"This collection includes photographs (above] from the 9th Battalion The Royal Scots, known as the 'Dandy Ninth', who had kilted uniforms. Sir Archibald Gibson-Craig, the 4th Baronet of Riccarton, whose family owned the land on which Heriot-Watt's Edinburgh campus is now built, was a Lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry, also features in a photograph from this collection."
If you happen to be taking a leisurely weekend stroll across the Border hills next month, don't be put off by scenes of blood-splattering brutality and men in kilts being slaughtered in their hundreds.
No, it's not the RBS Six Nations. It is, in fact, a re-enactment of the Battle of Culloden for a film that producers have described as being "psychologically nerve-shredding".
Around 300 actors and a crew of 30 are expected to descend on moorland of Lauder Common on March 17 for three days of filming that will eventually be edited down to just five minutes of adrenalin-inducing action.
The short film has been commissioned by The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and will be the centre-piece of a new visitor centre due to open in August at Drumossie Moor, the original site of the 1746 battle.
Plans for the £10million centre have been under development for eight years and the film will be an integral part of the experience, shown in a state-of-the-art 'immersion theatre', which throws the audience right into the heart of the action.
Director and producer Craig Colliston said: "It will be in a small room with the battle being projected all around you on all four walls from floor to ceiling. The aim is to give the audience an all-seeing perspective on the action.
"It was a huge event but if you were an individual soldier on the ground it would be a bit like being at a really bad T in the Park – all you would see would be people around you dying and in pain.
"We want people to come out thinking 'Oh my God – that actually happened!'."
Plans to shoot the film on Lauder Common are currently being finalised by Edinburgh-based production company Nobles Gate, after NTS ruled out the possibility of filming at the Culloden site itself.
Project coordinator Alexander Bennett explained: "We have a very strict policy on not re-enacting at Culloden because it is essentially a war grave. We wanted to find another similar location and the producers suggested Lauder, which is a good location and pretty central for everyone involved."
Professional battle re-enactors have been hired to add to the authenticity of the project, which has been a priority for producers right from the start.
Mr Bennett said: "We're going for authenticity and reality. It will be in your face."
But while they are keen not to exclude children, who make up a high proportion of Culloden's 250,000 visitors each year, producers insist the bloodiness and brutality of the battle is key to the film's success.
Mr Colliston added: "It won't be gratuitously bloody, but it will be psychologically nerve-shredding, a bit like 'Psycho'."
Graeme Donald, chairman of Lauder Community Council, said this week that the film was an exciting prospect for the region.
"I'm absolutely delighted that they've chosen Lauder Common. One of the advantages of the site is that it is so close to Edinburgh and many of the actors will be travelling from there each day. But a large number of the crew will be staying in the hotel here and some of the actors will bunk in the public hall. There's no doubt it'll be good business for local traders," he said.
Producers are appealing for extras and would like to hear from local men in their 20s who would be interested in taking part, particularly on Sunday and Monday (March 18 and 19).
Those interested should contact Nobles Gate at info@noblesgate.co.uk
Plus there was also mentioned in the same paper.
Culloden relic for Gala display
A SHAWL, thought to have been worn by a woman scouring the battlefield of Culloden in the aftermath of the Jacobite rout in 1746, is among many fascinating items on display at an exhibition of Highland dress which opens today at the Borders campus of Heriot-Watt University at Netherdale, Galashiels.
The show, which runs until May 4 in the main reception, is part of the Highland 2007 promotion, a year-long celebration of Highland culture.
All exhibits come from the textile archive in Galashiels, plus items from the university's Edinburgh collection.
Heriot-Watt archivist Helen Taylor said: "We have been fortunate to have received individual and company collections over the years, including one from Alan Paterson, a graduate of the then Scottish College of Textiles.
"Alan did his thesis on tartan and retained a life-long interest in highland dress, eventually donating his collection, which included the 18th-century shawl, to the college.
"We are also displaying items from a collection donated by Lewis Anderson, a Galashiels textile manufacturer working in the family business, Peter Anderson, and another keen collector of tartan. There are pieces, too, from the Tweedie local history collection.
"This collection includes photographs (above] from the 9th Battalion The Royal Scots, known as the 'Dandy Ninth', who had kilted uniforms. Sir Archibald Gibson-Craig, the 4th Baronet of Riccarton, whose family owned the land on which Heriot-Watt's Edinburgh campus is now built, was a Lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry, also features in a photograph from this collection."
I always thought the film they used at the Culloden centre was pretty effective so this one must be going to be even better.
