On 31st December 1929 one of Paisley’s saddest chapters in the Town’s history  took place in the Glen Cinema.

At an afternoon show, a cannister of film started to smoulder, causing smoke to enter the main cinema. In the panic to leave the cinema 71 children perished, crushed in their desperate attempts to get out.

Cellulose Nitrate was the base of the old film stock which was highly flammable not only that the lamps used in those days were arc lamps which were very hot to give such intense light, that was long before safety film appeared in the early nineteen forty’s which was made from Cellulose acetate film.

Eighty five years later Stuart McKenzie has embarked on a documentary about Paisley old and new and the disaster plays a big part as his late father was one of the children who survived the Glen Cinema Disaster.

Stuart was one of the early adopters of a Glidetrack slider so my part in this story was to film Stuart filming the Memorial erected to  commemorate the 70 children who died in the disaster.

My documentary is about Alistair Brown the founder and MD of Glidetrack and Stuart gave me a cracking testimonial about Glidetrack.

The kit I am filming with is a Panasonic GH3, Tascam DR60, Manfrotto mini arm and Manfrotto MVH500 video head. Having the Tascam DR60 takes the pressure off buying the sound adapter (DMW-YAGH) which needs a 4pin power input unlike the Tascam which is self powered.

I find this setup the best for doing interviews as the DR60 screwed underneath the GH3 makes the camera less stable, I found this out at IBC last year though I still plan to sit down and design a plate for the DR60 that will be more fit for purpose.

My thanks to Allen a very competent broadcast cameraman himself for taking the background pictures.