The answer was Storify.

For those who haven’t heard of Storify, it’s a tool that allows users to curate social media posts from numerous accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo. It’s free to set up and easy to use, so it seemed perfect for my needs.

With numerous stories in the press, video published, comments on Twitter and other mentions for Scotland’s most unusual cinema, I spent a few hours looking back through my work around the web and ended up with the aptly titled Screen Machine: 2011 year in review post.

The success of that post led me to pull together another one this month, detailing the online reaction to the repeat of a 1974 BBC Play for Today, The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil, on BBC ALBA.

While repeats of old TV shows don’t usually cause much of a stir, this one was quite rare, and I wrote about it on ReelScotland just ahead of the screening. When the number of page visits and tweets went through the roof, and I led a live Twitter commentary of the screening, I collected the most interesting responses into another Storify.

The result, Twitter reaction to The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil on BBC ALBA, has already notched up almost 250 views, while my embedding of the post on ReelScotland has itself had many hundreds of views.

I spend a lot of time on Twitter trying to sift through a mass of dross for the best information, and being able to present that to my own followers, or those of Screen Machine or ReelScotland, in a concise way is going to become more important. Hopefully I’ll have another opportunity to use Storify soon.

As well as covering a large amount Scottish films on ReelScotland, I also try to feature as much new television as I can.

Following articles on BBC Scotland’s The Field of Blood and Burnistoun, I was on the set of All Creatures Great and Small prequel, Young James Herriot, in July.

Starring Iain De Caestecker, Amy Manson and Ben Lloyd-Hughes, the series is set in the 1930s and follows a young James Herriot as he becomes the accomplished vet we know from the books and original TV series.

I’ve decided to run interviews with the three leads and their co-star, Tony Curran, from Tuesday until Friday, with episode one showing on BBC One on Sunday evening.

I’m also dropping in some audio clips from the interviews alongside the text, making the interviews more interesting for fans. I’ll add links to the interviews on here during the week and also embed the audio below:

‘It’s about James Herriot becoming the character everyone knows’: Iain De Caestecker on Young James Herriot

‘She just breezes through life’: Amy Manson on Young James Herriot

‘He could be a very good vet, he just doesn’t apply himself’: Ben Lloyd-Hughes on Young James Herriot

‘He’s a man with a lot of fight and compassion’: Tony Curran on Young James Herriot

This past year has found me immersed in cinema history, through my visit to the TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF), my work running the Park Circus blog and my weekly Edinburgh Evening News column.

A few weeks ago I wrote in the paper about the arrival of Scorsese’s Hugo and new silent film, The Artist, both of which celebrate the early days of film, while on Thursday I noted the arrival of Edinburgh’s IMAX screen and the need to keep an eye on some of the smaller films in the city.

As I’ve discovered through working with Park Circus, the world is increasingly looking to the past for its entertainment, something I’m more than happy to be a part of.

I’ll be visiting the IMAX for Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol in a few weeks, and appreciate the need to promote quality new cinema via sites like my own www.reelscotland.com, but I also think it’s my responsibility to tell readers about our rich cinematic heritage, as I did back in September for the Evening News.

It’s also the reason I recently started another blog in the shape of Holyrood or Bust. With the huge volume of DVDs and Blu-rays currently being released, not to mention cinema re-releases and films such as The Artist, it’s a golden period for those wanting to write about classic film.

My most recent post was requested by a friend in New York, Will McKinley, who is a viewer and fan of the US TCM channel. Though I’m unable to watch the channel, I did become a convert to TCM during the TCMFF and used their recent Buster Keaton season to launch the site in October. This time, Will asked if I could write a post to celebrate the return of TCM host, Robert Osborne, to the screen after a short absence.

I obliged by using an excerpt from an interview I carried out with Osborne in LA earlier in the year:

I’m now gearing up for a 2012 filled with even more classic films, including another trip to Bristol’s Slapstick Festival, the second Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema here in Scotland (see my video interview below), a return to Los Angeles and a few other projects that are in the early stages.

Through my work I’ve discovered a vibrant community of classic film fans it’s been a privilege to engage with them on various websites, via Twitter and, most importantly, in cinemas around the world.

Here’s to another classic year of film coverage in 2012.

Brian Cox at the NLS

Last week I attended a talk by Scottish actor, Brian Cox, at the National Library of Scotland, covering it for my Thursday Edinburgh Evening News column. While the following article was published in the 10 November print edition of the paper it didn’t make it online, so I’ve published it here instead:

He may have appeared in a string of Hollywood hits, counting Matt Damon and Hugh Jackman as co-stars, but Dundee-born actor Brian Cox has a special place in his heart for one particular leading lady: Edinburgh.

Speaking at the National Library of Scotland on Tuesday evening, the Braveheart and Bourne Identity star was vocal in his love for the city.

“I look upon Edinburgh as my spiritual home,” he said. “This goes back to when I was two-years-old and my auntie Jean ran away to Edinburgh to marry a Protestant. She lived in Leith and Granton, and I remember years later walking over the Mound and the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.”

Cox spoke about his memories of attending the cinema in Dundee when he was a boy, deciding that acting was for him as Spencer Tracy and James Cagney filled the screen.

“Edinburgh is where everything came together for me as an actor,” continued Cox. “Working at the Lyceum with actors such as Duncan Macrae and Fulton Mackay.”

Mackay is also the star of one of Cox’s favourite Scottish films, 1952′s The Brave Don’t Cry, with the work of directors Bill Forsyth and Peter Mullan also high on his list.

When I ask Cox if we can expect to see him filming on Edinburgh’s streets he’s unsure, though one project may come to fruition in 2012.

As he plans to head back to the USA to shoot Will Ferrel’s latest comedy, Dog Fight, can we expect to lose him to Hollywood? Cox shakes his head: “The weather is beautiful and I love going there, but after a while it gets boring.

“Edinburgh’s always meant a lot to me, it physically charges me whenever I come back here.”

To celebrate the release of Mullan’s first feature on DVD, 1998′s Orphans, I interviewed Armstrong for Park Circus’ blog. We discussed his close working relationship with Mullan and some of his other projects, including the latest Justin Timberlake sci-fi, In Time.

I was also recently able to interview film director/critic/scholar, Pierre Rissient, for the Park Circus blog, when we discussed his work on 1969′s La Piscine and his recommendations for forgotten classic films.

Here’s one of Armstrong’s best known tracks, ‘Escape’.

Last week was a bit of a busy one around these parts, meaning I didn’t have time to mention the talk I gave at the Discovery Film Festival on Saturday 22 October, held at Dundee’s DCA.

As part of a workshop entitled From Tweets To Blogs: Online Film Writing, I offered some of my thoughts on film reviewing today and the role of the blogger/film journalist to an audience of young film fans.

With anyone now able to set up a blog and start telling the world their views on the latest movies, I strongly believe there are some basics that everyone should at least attempt to heed if they want to appear semi-professional to their readers. Having a wide frame of reference and not simply discussing the latest Hollywood movies were two of the points I offered up, as well as advising them to enjoy what they’re doing.

Writing this post also reminded me that it’s been a year since my AmbITion talk was put online. I discussed how arts organisations can use social media to help promote themselves and the tone of voice required for online audiences – click through on the image below for the full talk.

I recently accepted an invitation to become a member of the BAFTA Scotland jury deliberating the Feature Film category, which now includes Peter Mullan’s NEDS, Morag McKinnon’s Donkeys and David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense.

As the awards aren’t announced until Sunday 13 November I can’t say much more about the process or the nominess, except that it’s been an exciting few months being part of the BAFTA Scotland deliberations.

I’m as intrigued as everyone else to see who wins on the night and wish everyone the best of luck.

The brief here was to both interview senior operator, Iain MacColl, about his work on the cinema and to show how Screen Machine is set up, a question often asked by the 25,000 visitors who attend each year.

Both videos have had a positive response, mainly on Facebook from some of our 2,000+ followers. Let me know what you think.

Back in July I wrote about some of my work with Scotland’s mobile cinema, The Screen Machine, which sees me managing the Machine’s social media presence and PR. With the promotion of an upcoming tour of 1940s film, Whisky Galore, the cinema is back in the news again.

We may have over 2000 Facebook fans and a growing Twitter presence, but nothing beats the traditional press release to generate some buzz around a project, particularly one as exciting as Screen Machine taking Whisky Galore back to Barra, where it was filmed in 1948.

Within a day we had news items on the BBC, STV and Stornoway Gazette websites, plus news items in the Daily Mail and other print publications. I also started some discussion on Twitter, inviting film fans to suggest other famous Scottish films that should be taken to locations around the country.

The response was fast and good fun, with some interesting ideas coming from all over the Twittersphere.

Screen Machine locations

The buzz has continued over subsequent weeks, with a new competition recently added to the main website, offering a tour of the Scotch Whisky Experience and DVDs of the film.

Most importantly ticket sales are strong and the response from attendees positive, hopefully ensuring more special screenings in the coming year.

Listen to the BBC Film Programme’s trip to see Screen Machine on Barra on the BBC iPlayer.

One part of the Creative Scotland project I’m producing is scottishfilms.com, a resource for Scottish filmmakers which allows them to have their short films uploaded to a password protected section and watched by film festivals around the world.

The blog is a recent addition to the site and I’m carrying out a series of interviews with filmmakers, finding out more about their work and giving an overview of the talent working in Scotland today.

As well as talking to the organiser of documentary festival, Edindocs, my first two video interviews are now online, one with documentary filmmaker, Martin Smith, and the second with You’ve Been Trumped director, Anthony Baxter.

For last week’s Edinburgh Evening News column, I spoke to the Scottish Documentary Institute, the Edinburgh-based research centre specialising in documentary training, production and distribution, about their work, while this week was the turn of Edindocs.

I have further videos waiting to be published, with more in the pipeline, and I’m hoping it builds into a useful resource for other filmmakers and anyone interested in Scottish cinema.