Packaging: The front package was well presented and edited in
prospective, but the quality of the image was bitty and
pixcelated in the background. After all the packaging is what
makes you pick the DVD out from all the rest on the shelf and
doesn’t do the production inside justice and could be
overlooked:
The production most of the time was relatively good, with nice
panoramic scenery shots, but at the beginning I felt it was the
wrong place to have it, with voices coming out over the
panoramic shot which made it feel at times as if it was
unscripted and thought out without a story board and a case lets
go for it approach.
The presenter Andy Commons was nicely introductive and came
across full of energy and passionate about fishing and what a
wonderful ‘Catch Phrase Jurassic Park!’ Which made me laugh and
took me back to good old of channel 4 and ‘Wilson’. Andy come
across as a normal week end angler who can do the business and
doesn’t work for a major tackle company giving the general
public who watch this video the feeling that they also have the
opportunity to go down to Diggle and whack a twenty out and not
have to sit for months waiting for a run, this was a nice touch
even though it may be unintentional.
He didn’t come across as a know it all or even wooden and
non-interesting like some presenters on other video’s I have
seen over the years, ever seen Jan Porter he gives Steve Davis a
personality.
It didn’t go into too much detail on rigs and tactics just
enough as everything has been written week in and week out in
the monthly carp mag anyway. But again preparation and
storyboard would have made a smoother finish choosing correct
view shots and angles to show the rigs closer in detail with a
voice over.
Then back to the reason we all watch fishing videos to see big
fish being played and landed and the traditional fish pose it
may be an old fishing format but one that works for me.
One thing that did get me was when Andy was playing a carp a
black screen with writing came up which wasn’t up long enough to
read and saw no reason for it?
A different choice of a fade out if the fish fight was too long
or interruption possibly would have been better than a black
screen with a bit of writing.
Also it was nice to see the cameraman out at the front instead
of behind the limelight playing a carp and for him to be a
‘Chris Yates’ look alike must have took Andy a long time to find
him.
All in all UCF 7 was a good DVD to watch and actually watched
three times, it is one that grows on you and not one that
you watch and is then destined to gather dust or end up at a
fishing raffle down the line.
The out takes were great and the joke about the one armed
fisherman got me laughing and should be in all fishing videos as
fishing doesn’t always go smoothly and you don’t catch all the
time.
Even though it wasn’t the best fishing video I have seen it
still has got me interested in watching the rest in the series.
Damian Wood.
Hi Andy, I watched UCF Series 7 a
couple of times now; sorry to have not reported back
earlier, bad manners and a busy couple of weeks took the
better. It looked a fantastic day taking the Video footage,
on the technical side your commentary was spot on, very
informative, very educational and appeals across to all the
angling fraternity, your passion and local knowledge is
invaluable in that piece of water, both above and below. I
could hear a couple of planes overhead too; your mic’s very
sensitive, once or twice the wind got the better, but 99.99%
of the time the audio was bang on.
The additional video editing showing
the rigs, and tackle, then cutting back to your commentary
looks perfect, along with blending together of various
scenes, An 18lb fish to kick off the session isn’t too bad
either. The out takes remind me of cannonball run,
refreshing when you have listened and absorbed the
commentary, you certainly enjoyed the making, and after all,
that what it’s all about. I downloaded the link you sent me,
it took me a while to play on my pc, in the end I downloaded
real player, it worked a treat, the footage was brilliant,
and your choice of background music was excellent.
Take care Andy; you’re probably onto
UCF 8 or 9 now, let me know how things develop with video
active, I’ll be keeping an eye open on the home and leisure
channel from now on.
All the best,
Stuart
