Winners - Underwater Videography Contests

September 2017 Video Contest Winner and Review

Published 8 years agoon October 3, 2017

WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN

Winner: Close Your Eyes by Mauro Francesconi

Winning Video:

Well done everyone. Another month of good films. I think the one thing I would like to generally comment on this month is music choice. No matter what the images, the style and tempo of the music track will determine the overall mood and feel of the final film. Heavy dramatic music should only be used to emphasise or support dramatic images. Where action is portrayed, or danger is a serious potential. Otherwise the music can easily over shadow hard earned images.

Let’s take a look at this month’s entries:

Turtles & Remoras – A Symbiotic Relationship – Henry Hall

Watch Henry’s video here.

Beautiful opening shot but personally not too sure about the music choice. Good to see a very informative graphic narration. Well filmed with sharp images and good colour. The story was good and I commend you for pulling it all together. Well edited and the overall time was just about right. The lighting was good as was the overall colour balance. There were a few occasions where the turtle looked to be a little harassed by divers.

Feeding a Lobster at Night in Honduras – Henry Hall

Watch Henry’s video here.

Fascinating. I’ve never seen that before. Was it really eating them? It was certainly very active. Better music choice this time. I quite like developing shots like this rather than too much editing. One thing to think about for the future is colour balance. Maybe the two shots could have been more matched. This is easily done at the editing stage.

Hidden beauty of the Oslofjord – Cathrine Jægerud

Watch Cathrine’s video here.

You are absolutely right. The wonders of evolution in the marine world are wherever you look. From pristine coral reefs to mud banks of shallow coastlines, wildlife in its infinite guises will adapt and find a home. Your film was a delight to watch and some of the macro shots were exceptional, well framed, sharp, perfectly exposed and very steady camera. I liked the opening graphics.

Blue sharks of the Azores – Tom Scholtes

Watch Tom’s video here.

Excellent graphic and moving image opening. Nicely filmed with sharp and well exposed steady shots…. although I did find the heavy music more threatening than the sharks themselves, especially as on the whole, the mood of the animals looked very relaxed. What stunning creatures. That must have been a very exciting dive. Loved the close passing shots.

Close Your Eyes – Mauro Francesconi

Watch Mauro’s video here.

Hi Mauro. A very beautiful concept. The underwater images were stunning and the overall sentiment of the film was very good. I personally felt the lady, at times, looked as if she were panicking and drowning, although of course she wasn’t, but my wife tells me I am mistaken and thought the whole film was excellent. The film was well thought out and created and the blend of words to wildlife images was memorable. You obviously have a great passion for the marine world.

And the Winner is….

The winner this month is Close Your Eyes by Mauro Francesconi, a well crafted and emotive film. Well done Mauro.

I look forward to watching your entries in October. Good luck to you all!

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Scubaverse.com’s October 2017 Underwater Video Contest is now open! Enter as many as three of your underwater videos here.

Jeff Goodman

Jeff is a multiple award winning, freelance TV cameraman/film maker and author. Having made both terrestrial and marine films, it is the world's oceans and their conservation that hold his passion with over 10.000 dives in his career. Having filmed for international television companies around the world and author of two books on underwater filming, Jeff is Author/Programme Specialist for the 'Underwater Action Camera' course for the RAID training agency. Jeff has experienced the rapid advances in technology for diving as well as camera equipment and has also experienced much of our planet’s marine life, witnessing, first hand, many of the changes that have occurred to the wildlife and environment during that time. Jeff runs bespoke underwater video and editing workshops for the complete beginner up to the budding professional.