How we produced a video for Oxford United’s scoreboard

The unique sizing of the screen, combined with the need for it to stand out to people sitting at the other end of the pitch in the stands, presented a great challenge. To put it into context the unique aspect ratio of the scoreboard at the Kassam Stadium is 32:9. A modern television at home is 16:9.

It meant dimensions of 1920×540 pixels, rather than the usual HD pixel count of 1920×1080, effectively meaning a very wide but not very tall image, which I had to always bear in mind while filming. 

Stand-out video

Linear Fisheries is a sponsor of Sky Bet League One club Oxford United. Our brief was to film and produce an eye-catching video that encapsulated the lakes and its fishing experience quickly and effectively to be broadcast on the big screen on matchdays. 

We needed to produce a video that could grab attention in a packed football stadium and communicate the key messages with and without sound. We held a detailed planning workshop with our client, agreed key messaging, a detailed storyboard and logistics. 

Oxford United’s captain Cameron Brannagan is a talented angler and a regular at Linear Fisheries, so we had the perfect hero of the film. Cameron was more than happy to help and agreed to take part in the video shoot. 

Filming

The super-widescreen look was challenging for filming the interview with Cameron but made some of the scenic shots look expansive and spacious, which was an unexpected upside of the constraints. 

Filming took place on Wednesday, August 30. Wednesdays are Cameron’s only weekday off. Had Oxford not been knocked out of the League Cup he would’ve been playing the night before and that might have put the shoot in jeopardy. 

I arrived at Linear’s new Tar Farm Complex (five new lakes opened in 2022) near Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, at about 6pm the evening before and fished overnight, waking up at dawn to capture what was thankfully a lovely sunrise. I flew the drone and captured on-the-ground imagery as the sun rose. 

Linear is not far from RAF Brize Norton but isn’t in a restricted drone-flying area. However, I did call air-traffic control at Brize twice to let them know of my flights. Cameron briefly fished Tar Farm Lake 6 alongside me before we moved to the main Linear site and fished the Float Lake with two young anglers and the dad of one of them. During the session Cameron caught a couple of fish for the cameras. 

I used a gimbal to help stablise the camera to film slow-motion walk-throughs of the on-site shop. To capture the footage of a rare great white egret hunting on tar Farm 6 I used a long lens with a maximum focal length of 600mm. 

Video content

There were various options available to maximise the time allocation Linear Fisheries had on the digital scoreboard. It was decided to produce two 30-second videos that could alternated at each United home game. 

Clip one features Cameron talking about all aspects of the fishery. The second clip features music and on-screen captions to market Tar Farm, the newest area of the fishery. Linear Fisheries is without question the most popular day-ticket carp fishery in the country and last year staged the women’s World Carp Championships. It is known throughout carp fishing, and angling generally, and has been at the forefront of the sport for more than 25 years. 

Dream work

For me it was a dream commission, combining two of my greatest passions; fishing and Oxford United. 

I regularly make videos for Angling Times and used to make videos for CARPology. They are both national magazine titles with large online audiences and I know that fishing shoots are always unpredictable. The weather and the fish themselves are two crucial elements you can’t control, but my experience in this area (and the favourable conditions) helped with this brief. 

The team at Fortitude relished the challenge to produce a video to an unusual brief and it was a pleasure to work with the guys at Linear Fisheries and Oxford United. Cameron is a genuinely talented angler who loves fishing. He spent two weeks at former Everton star Tony Hibbert’s Lac de Première in France during his summer break. 

A lovely sunset, an array of glistening lakes and some great catches ensured I had some perfect content to help produce a beautiful video. While Cameron added some stardust of his own to complete the package. Now when I watch the video from my seat at the Kassam Stadium ahead of a United fixture it transports me back to the magical Linear Fisheries and I hope it inspires many others to visit soon. 

Get in touch 

If you would like to have a chat about a video project please get in touch here.