December 2015 Video Contest Winner And Review
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EDITOR JEFF GOODMAN
Winner: Tony Reed
Winning Video:
Four very different films in December and all very enjoyable to watch. It’s good to see other divers’ underwater experiences being captured on video and shared. December’s videos gave us some great wildlife encounters which were all well filmed.
Let’s take a look:
Harassment from a Hawaiian Monk Seal – Keith Saddler
Watch Keith’s video here.
I would guess the seal was very lonely and craved some warm mammal company. It can be a bit unnerving when large animals pay you such close and unending attention. I assume it all ended well.
Well done for videoing it all. The still images in the middle were a little confusing at first but I see why you wanted to include them. Can I suggest you have a go at a bit more editing and removing parts of video clips that have no action in such as at the surface near the end. Also have a think about music and/or narration.
Copulating Cuttle Fish – Alex Binnen
Watch Alex’s video here.
Nice. Good music choice too. Good steady camera work and well done for keeping the camera going. Sometimes it can be tempting to try and get closer but if you had then I think the cuttlefish would have separated earlier. It may be that after the separation that you filmed, the animals disappeared, but if they did stay around then it would have been an idea to try and get close to one or both just to get a few detailed close up shots which could have been edited in either at the end or the beginning of the video.
Heaven is in Devon – Tony Reed
Watch Tony’s video here.
Hi Tony. The dynamic openings are getting quite, well… dynamic.
Love the time lapse sequences on land to start the video off and very nice choice of music.
Good montage of wildlife and even though I recognise many of the shots from previous videos, it just goes to show that material can always be reused again and again in different edits to great effect. The only issue I have with some of the ‘already used’ shots is that some of them have ident graphics on them which breaks up the continuity of the sequence. Also some of the graphics are half out of frame.
I liked the naming of all the dive sites at the end.
Mission Impossible – Craig Mainprize
Watch Craig’s video here.
Great looking bit of kit. Well filmed but I would have loved to have had some facts about what was going on as well as some details about the building and the testing. This could have been done with a simple narration or perhaps a few graphics. It just keeps the audience interested. The music kept the pace of the film going and the lighting was quite moody. If you shoot more, then think about a few close ups such as in the cockpit or the drivers’ faces.
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As usual there can only be one winning video, and for December that is ‘Heaven is Devon’ by Tony Reed. Tony had gone the extra distance and added both music and informative graphics as well as putting together a solid opening and ending. Congratulations Tony – a serial winner!
