Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
May 2017 Video Contest Winner And Review
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN
Winner: Macro Symphony in BOLSEL by ayub mooduto ( yubzukamoto )
Winning Video:
As I have said many times in the past, it is not easy making videos and especially underwater ones. It takes time, patience and some degree of luck. Well done to everyone for producing the work I have seen in this month’s competition.
Let’s take a look at May’s entries:
Diving the Lembeh Straits – Kenneth Lee
Watch Kenneth’s video here.
Good selection of the weird and wonderful. Nature is quite incredible. Thanks for sharing. When you are next shooting, make a concerted effort to hold your camera steady. If you are using a GoPro then look at mounting it onto some sort of tray to help stabilise it.
Pembrokeshire Barrel Jellyfish – Lloyd Jones
Watch Lloyd’s video here.
I think Barrel Jellyfish make excellent subjects to film. You did this really well but do have a look at colour balance and continuity. Good framing and well exposed.
Devil’s Eye Cave – Jørgen Birkhaug
Watch Jørgen’s video here.
Loved the moody opening. Really set the scene and feel of the film and the slow motion worked perfectly with the music. Fantastic quality images too with good lighting.
Drifting – Brett Stanley
Watch Brett’s video here.
Very stylish in every way. Music, camera work, editing and model. Loved the fluidity of the model and the fact she was so comfortable underwater, especially with the ray and shark.
Macro Symphony in BOLSEL – Ayub Mooduto ( yubzukamoto )
Watch Ayub’s video here.
Good concept and some nice images. Do have a go at colour rendition in the edit just to give some continuity to the overall colour balance. Do like your super macro. Very difficult to film. Overall, the video has a lovely feel to it.
Maldives 2016 – Marc Eeckhaut
Watch Marc’s video here.
Well done Marc. You set a good pace to the film. Good camera work and very nice lighting on the wreck. The music worked well. The night turtle was a bonus and made a good change of pace to the film, followed by a wonderful shot of the ray and other night life.
Diving in Protected Natural Areas: Isla Isabel, México’s submarine paradise – Diego Chacón Chávez
Watch Diego’s video here.
Nice film Deigo with good music choice. I would have liked to know a little about the island and the protected area perhaps either as subtitles or narration.
PRINCESS RANI – Ajdin Suhonic
Watch Ajdin’s video here.
Excellent opening with the drone and sunrise. The early morning feel to the following shot of the ray was perfect as it gave the feeling of the whole reef waking up (even if it wasn’t). Nice idea to intercut segments of underwater life with that on the ship. Where the whole film fell apart for me me was after looking at all that wonderful marine life I was was then told about the Tuna meals on board. We cannot truly expect to see rich wildlife in our seas while at the same time eat our way through it. This is of course just my feeling and won’t detract from the excellent technical work in making the overall film.
Raja Ampat – Ajdin Suhonic
Watch Ajdin’s video here.
Good graphics and great drone aerials to start the video. Nice to get a feel of the islands but I felt the intro before getting into the water was just a little too long. Once we got underwater there was plenty to see which huge shoals of fish. Liked the photos at the end. All well shot and good music.
SOUTH EGYPT LIVEABOARD FOTO SAFARI ’15 TRAILER – Ajdin Suhonic
Watch Ajdin’s video here.
Well done for putting all that material together. You certainly gave the feeling of a wonderful trip and places to dive.
And the Winner is….
This month the winner is Macro Symphony in BOLSEL by Ayub Mooduto ( yubzukamoto ). This was not technically the best entry but there was a wonderful feeling of discovery to it. Congratulations Ayub.
Well done to all of you for some really great videos this month – looking forward to what you come up with in June!
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Scubaverse.com’s June 2017 Video Contest is now live! Enter here.
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN
Winner:
Winning Video:
Hi everyone. Happy Christmas and New Year. Just four videos this month. I felt the Maria Bereozka film ‘Jingle Fish’ had the edge over the others by way of carefully executed shots and editing, which gave a good steady pace to the video.
Looking forward to more films next year.
If you are keen to advance in your film making skills, don’t forget to look at my book and/or take my RAID Action Camera course.
A love story by Ronald Faber
Synthetic voice – Really!!! Didn’t know there was such software in existence. Should have know better really. Nice video though. I don’t get many entries with David doing the narration. Good story and well shot with great steady camera work and lighting. The editing was spot on as was the music choice. The David voice did give it a certain quality that no matter how good or poor the film actually was, the audience automatically assume it has to be professional and thus top quality. It’s a clever trick but not sure I like it.
Jingle Fish by Maria Bereozka
Nice thoughts and excellent images with great quality. All works really well. The video has a real good feel to it and I love the diver/animal shots.
Fish Dance by Maria Bereozka
Ah Maria, Once again it is your narration that lifts the film by 100%. although your camera work is very good with steady well lit shots.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Dives! by Maria Bereozka
Not sure about this one. Didn’t quite work for me. It seemed to be a collection of loose shots put together to the music.
The January competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN
Winner: Sharkydelity by Fredi
Winning Video:
Such good films this month. It took me a while to decide on the winner. I had to watch them all twice. But in the end my choice was Sharkydelity by Fredi. You can seen my comments on this film as well as all the others below.
If you are keen to advance in your film making skills, don’t forget to look at my book https://www.divedup.com/shop/action-camera-underwater-video-basics-the-essential-guide-to-making-underwater-films/
Time to breath by Maria Bereozka
Yep! Love it. So relaxing to watch and I really feel a bond with Turtle. Good camerawork.
Sharkydelity by Fredi
Lovely written intro thanks. Adds so much to the actual film. It’s a great story and stunning images.
A perfect blend of aerial, land and underwater sequences. Your music choice was perfect as was your camera work and lighting which gave wonderful clear, steady, sharp, well exposed and beautiful framed images. I liked your creativity with the editing, especially where you made the most of the music phrases.
Point of view by Maria Bereozka
The written intro was obviously heart felt and moving. It is so good to set up a video in this way. Once again it is your narration combined with your artistic skills and imagination that make your videos so unique.
Underwater Red Sea paradise by Maria Bereozka
Nice feel to the video which was well complimented by the music. My only suggestion is that for general reef shots you try some way to hold the camera steady. It’s not so important with moving subjects like the ray but when there is just coral and background fish the camera must be as steady as possible.
Banda Sea, Seram Sea and Raja Ampat by Daniel French
Sounds like a fantastic trip from your write-up. The on-screen identification captions work really well. I like the slow motion throughout. The slow steady tracking shots and the slow animal movements. It creates a very peaceful feel and the music is perfect. Great camera work and lighting. I also like your camera angle perspective on subjects where you get below the animals.
Maldives Far North Expedition with MantaTrust by ondrejv
Good written intro thanks. I liked the personal on-screen introduction. Wonderful shots of the mantas. What amazing animals they are. Having gone this far though with the shooting and editing I would have loved to have had some information on what you learned about the Mantas especially as you were with the Manta Trust.
Calm Indian ocean by ondrejv
Stunning opening shot of the Sweetlips. Fabulously sharp and well lit. You have captured some excellent wildlife images and the music fits really well. Loved the turtle turning to look at you.
The December competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.
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