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Ottoman Odyssey
The best DVDs give the impression that the editor was spoiled for choice with the material available. With the worst, a few strands of interesting footage can appear to have been back-combed and stretched way beyond their natural limits.
Wreck dives often seem to invite film-makers to inflate their subject, so we are required to watch the entire build-up to the dive, however uninteresting. Attempts to inject excitement - 'Will the weather hold?' ... 'Will they be able to locate the site?'... 'Will there be enough sandwiches for lunch?' - can appear all too desperate.
Ottoman Odyssey is a case in point. Five years ago, British diver David Oldale found the wreck of a 14th century Turkish warship off Marmaris. Great, though in reality the viewer can spend only so long looking at sand-covered ribs, a pile of concreted cannonballs and a couple of anchors.
Before we get to the wreck itself, however, we have half an hour of scene-setting, with a disproportionate amount of food-shopping, talking heads, worries about the kit and weather etc. The most patient viewer will soon be fast-forwarding, and unlikely to want to repeat the experience.
The solution? Dont try to turn a 10-minute dive into a 50-minute experience. Unless it is a genuine voyage of discovery, lets have a load of different dives on one DVD and get our moneys worth! (£12.95, Ocean-Eye, www.ocean-eye-video.com) |
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