Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
February 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: The Beauty of the Philippines by Marc Eeckhaut
Winning Video:
Another month just flown by. Where does it all go? Some wonderful video entries this month with a very high standard of camera work and editing. Making good videos is always harder than you may first think and the prospect of all the work may be a little daunting. But in the end the final product is well worth the time and effort put in.
Let’s have a look at this month’s entries:
Sharks of La Jardin de la Reina – Jeremy Keith Brown
Watch Jeremy’s video here.
Nicely shot. It’s always exciting diving with sharks. Good sharp and well framed images with good colour balance. Quite a long film at 5.20mins without any music or narration. Have a think about adding another dimension with a script.
Ibrice 2016 – Peter Salvatore
Watch Peter’s video here.
Like the opening which was followed by some lovely underwater images. Music worked really well. I like the way you played around with the still images.
Aplysia – Bob Blauvelt
Watch Bob’s video here.
That was lovely but why cut it so short?
It’s a Small World – Dimitri Skoularakos
Watch Dimitri’s video here.
Excellent opening with the octopus. Then beautiful images to follow, all sharp, well exposed and very steady. Good wide shots as well as excellent macro. Liked the music too. To complete the film there was a very dramatic and poinient ending. Well done.
The beauty of the Philippines – Marc Eeckhaut
Watch Marc’s video here.
Good opening and perfect music. The wildlife images are very good and well shot. Nice to see the Mimic Octopus there. I would think the Philippines Tourist Board would like to see some of this. All rounded off with a good ending.
Whale Shark Feeding at night – Balky
Watch Balky’s video here.
Inspiring!
Bulls and Lemons – Hannes Klostermann
Watch Hannes’ video here.
Great shark images and very well edited to the music. How good to see such healthy sharks. Well filmed.
And the Winner is….
A couple of very close contenders for first place this month but the one that came out on top is The beauty of the Philippines by Marc Eeckhaut. There was a lot of time and work put into this video with the end result being a beautiful film to watch.
Looking forward to seeing next month’s entries.
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Scubaverse.com’s March 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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