Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
February 2019 Video Contest Winner and Review
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN
Winner: Las Rayas by William Goodwin
Winning Video:
Six good films this month and I enjoyed watching them all. Good shooting everyone and look forward to seeing next month’s entries.
Let’s take a look at this month’s entries:
Palau – Sharks and Caves by Daniel Parker
Watch Daniel’s video here.
Hi Daniel. Thanks for the written intro to the film. Makes a huge contribution to the video in letting the audiences know background information to both subject and location. So good to know that Palau has such a strong conservation policy. On to the film….
Nice graphics and opening shot of the boat with good music choice. The split screen worked well. Then came a brilliant sequence from aerial to on-board. The transition from the open book image to underwater was inspirational. A good overall pace to the film with good crisp and well shot images. Just as the film was in danger of becoming a catalogue of brief wildlife shots, you returned to the surface for a change of mood and location. This worked really well. Very clever ending with the camera. Made me smile and wished I had thought of it.
A Tiger shrimp in the reef by Jack Pokoj
Watch Jack’s video here.
Macro and close up work underwater is one of the more difficult disciplines to master. I thought you did well to hold the shot steady and the lighting was very good. There was just a slight issue of focus though. I realise that when in this close the depth of field or depth of focus can be very small. The key rule is, if nothing else, always make sure the eyes are sharp and stay sharp throughout. The size of the shrimp in frame was a difficult one to get all things right and so I think I would have backed off a little to make the shrimp slightly smaller but in doing that it probably would have been sharp throughout.
Painted frogfish feeding by Jack Pokoj
Watch Jack’s video here.
Hi again Jack. That was so much better. You had the eyes sharp and even though the rest of the fish was out of focus it didn’t matter. In fact in this instance it added to the drama. I know it is always tempting to get as close as possible to subjects but don’t miss out on the wider shots. If you had come back a meter or so and filmed from the side or at forty five degrees we would have seen the whole and complete action as well. Then cut in the close up you shot for the drama. But great shot and well done.
Frog Fish Wave by Derek Vanditmars
Watch Derek’s video here.
I’m smiling as I write this. Thanks for the arrow, otherwise I would have missed the wave. Even then I had to play the shot three times. Loved it. Good camera move and nicely lit too. Actually I have just played it a fourth time and am still smiling.
Las Rayas by William Goodwin
Watch William’s video here.
Beautiful opening shot with the ray feeding in a cloud of sand. Very dramatic. The music was perfect. The following shot of the swimming ray was stunning and wonderful to see it coming towards the camera rather that swimming away. The fades to black for shot transitions work really well with the mood of the video. The ray and the puffer was excellent. Very nicely framed and lit. Then all the following Eagle Ray stuff was just magical. (Is it a pet of yours?) Are you on a re-breather? Not sure why you turned to black and white though. I found it to be a bit distracting. People occasionally do that when they have problems with colour balance or exposure issues. The film just got better and better and the two rays towards the end were perfect and very well filmed.
Surprising Paradise – Diving among thousand of juvenile parrots by Elsa Collet
Watch Elsa’s video here.
Loved the opening with the aerials and the music. Very stylish. The Parrot Fish were as you described, amazing. You filmed them really well too. Do you know why the sharks were interested?
And the Winner is….
Choice for winner came down to two of the entries, Palau – Sharks and caves by Daniel Parker and Las Rayas by William Goodwin. They were both outstanding. Well conceived and filmed with extremely good editing. In the end I decided on Las Rayas by William Goodwin because of the magical feel to the film and the extraordinary shots of the rays. I also thought his use of slow motion was extremely effective.
Well done to everyone and looking forward to next month.
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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