IF4 - A review

Time/Date: 1115 AST, 23-Jan-12
Location: My Kitchen, Fredericton, NB

On Friday, my lovely girlfriend & I traveled to Dieppe to attend a screening of the International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4), held at the community college.

Note #1: this is NOT the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T). Two separate entities.

Note #2: I'm seriously trying to not let the road conditions on the drive there (it was snowing) or the fact I ran out of windshield wiper fluid on the return trip (adding an hour to a typical one hour, forty-five minute trip) play a part in my review.

My honest review of the whole experience: meh.

That's right. Meh. M-E-H. Meh.

Note #3: This isn't meant to slag on the hosts of the IF4 screening, the Dieppe Fly Tying Club. I think they are a wonderful group of anglers that do tremendous work in the region. They host the annual Fly Fishing Forum each March, which is the best (read: only) fly fishing show in the area.

The show started with the IF4 preview/promo trailer, i.e., the videos you see when you go to the IF4 home page, and therefore, the trailers everyone has been seeing online for the past five months or more.

First thing I noticed (other than thinking, "Huh. I've watched these before.") was the video quality. Definitely not HD. Not even close. Think YouTube on 240p. Full-screen YouTube on 240p.

Then I noticed the audio quality. Think ear-splitting volume on speakers meant for a P.A. system.

Once we finished watching the promo video...we started watching it again.

The exact same promo trailer. It was on repeat. It was an ominous start to the evening.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable seat-shuffling by the 50 or so attendees, someone went to the DVD player and started skipping ahead to get to the actual videos. And we're off...so we thought.

Onto the screen popped the intro to Faceless Fly Fishing's Plan B...for about 25 seconds. Our DVD technician apparently didn't like that one, so he skipped it.

That's right. We didn't see it.

Note #4: If anyone from Faceless Fly Fishing happens to read this: I'd like to see the video you fine folks have worked so hard at shooting & editing. Let me know if/when you ever post the full version on your Vimeo page.

So then we moved onto the rest of the shorts & the features.

Some of them were really good (A Backyard In Nowhere, Chasing the Run).

Some of them were entertaining (Three Times Golden).

One was a sneak-peak for a television series (The Costa Rica Challenge), while some were essentially promos for lodges (The Cuba & the Guatemala videos).

Note #5: the Guatemalan video, Vela, had very similar footage to the video shot by Salty & Jon of my sailfish fly fishing adventure. I am NOT claiming plagiarism by any means, as I'm 99.9% sure the group shot their video months previous to us...and it looks like they were using the boat that Captain Tom now owns...I'm just stating the "ha-ha, I paid money to watch someone do what I already did" factor of it.


Note #6: with regards to The Costa Rica Challenge: an hour & a half with a tarpon...on a 14wt? Were you using 6x tippet? Not to call anyone out, but...I dunno, I'm definitely no expert, but it just seemed long to me...

A little over 2 hours later, our IF4 experience was over.

Door prizes? No.

Guest speaker(s)? None.

Giveaways? Nope.

Fifty-fifty draw? Uh-uh.

Back in the fall of 2010, a couple of us spoke about hosting either IF4 or F3T here in Fredericton last winter.

My first text message about it: the boys at BabZees Entertainment. You know, the guys who brought the Black Crowes and Our Lady Peace and GirlTalk to town. I figure if we were going to host an event, it was gonna be AN EVENT! Prizes, giveaways, speakers, exhibitor booths, beer, fun...

Unfortunately, the Dieppe screening felt half-assed to me; i.e., "It's eight dollars, grab a seat, watch the videos, and leave. Thank you."

When you tie in the four & a half hours of driving in less than ideal conditions, the whole experience measures as a "meh" at the most.

At least my lovely gf & I got a chance to eat at Arby's on the way out of town.