Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
June 2018 Video Contest Winner and Review
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN
Winner: Hunt, run, hide, deceive, bluff, sting, poison: surviving in Lembeh Strait – Craig Beasley
Winning Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=ADMcSEaaLe4
What an excellent summer we are having here in the UK! Perfect for getting under the water and shooting video. This month we had five very good films from around the world which all excellent in their own different ways.
I have had it said to me by quite a few divers that they would like to enter, but didn’t feel their videos were good enough. Please don’t worry about that – it’s only by showing your work and getting feedback that will help you to improve.
Let’s have a look at June’s entries:
A Long Weekend in Barbados – Hank
Watch Hank’s video here.
That was a pretty good weekend! Nice opening, great shot and good music choice. Lots of animals all really well lit and filmed with good clear sharp images. Well done for taking the time to name each critter. Good sound effects at the end. I know the area you filmed and I thought you covered it really well in such a short time.
Volcano Macro Pt II – Seadragon Photography (Dean Spraakman)
Watch Dean’s video here.
Good stuff. Excellent macro and good editing to the music. As I have mentioned before, macro is not that easy. The images have to be crispy sharp, very steady and well exposed. With a few few exceptions you have done all of this extremely well. Just a couple of images that were soft and could have been left out. Although a good film throughout it needed some sort of positive ending rather than a sudden fade out.
Hunt, run, hide, deceive, bluff, sting, poison: surviving in Lembeh Strait – Craig Beasley
Watch Craig’s video here.
So good to have the written intro. Really helps to know what we are looking at in terms of behaviour and location and gives the video a definite theme. Nice to have the wide reef establishing shot. This gets left out too often. The images were good and clear with very effective lighting. Loved the burying eel and crab with urchin. The ‘exploding’ ball of striped eel catfish was brilliantly cut to the music. Best ending I have see for ages.
Ship wrecks of Karamzin island – Aleksei Kondratuk
Watch Aleksei’s video here.
Huge wreck site! Excellent graphic start to the video with good dramatic music to set the scene. The written intro gave the sequence a good basis but it would have been nice to have known a little history as well. Loved the way you introduced the octopus with that dramatic zoom. Very eerie.
Barracudas of Koh Tao, Thailand – William Heintze
Watch William’s video here.
So nice to see such a quantity of healthy looking fish. It’s good to see a video that concentrates on one species giving us time to look at and appreciate their grace and power. You did really well with the close ups at the end.
And the Winner is….
This months winner is Hunt, run, hide, deceive, bluff, sting, poison: surviving in Lembeh Strait – Craig Beasley. It was a close run thing but there were a few wonderful shots in this film that in the end made it stand out from the others.
Have fun in the water and look forward to next month’s entries.
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Scubaverse.com’s July 2018 Underwater Video Contest is now open! Enter as many as three of your underwater videos 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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