June 2022 Video Contest Winner and Review

Exciting entries this month which once again make me wish the impossible of being everywhere at once to witness the amazing marine life we have on this planet. But, just seeing your entries makes me glad to know it is out there. Keep it safe, look after it. Spread the word.

This month’s winner is French Polynesia by Olivier Bourgeois. Not only stunning images but a lot of thought has gone into the production with clever editing and great music choice to set the mood.

Love the end question from the turtle.

Just some Hammer Heads living the life by Megan Ratnam

Great experience and what a perfect way to spend a dive.

Meet the reef Egypt by Domenico Pertschi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-d5YyiTkEs

Lovely images. Clear and crisp with excellent colour. Very steady camerawork especially on the close ups. Good music choice.

French Polynesia by Olivier Bourgeois

Stunning opening with the blue aerial and then the magnificent underwater shoaling fish. The music and the speed of the action throughout was perfect and produced a wonderful dream like quality that kept my full attention right to the end. Beautiful film, well filmed and edited.

Falmouth Bay, Cornwall, May 2022 by Graeme Parker

Liked the opening. Good to see so many happy divers. The transition from the surface was well thought out but I have to say that I was glad you changed the music at that point as I felt the opening score was a bit too manic for the pace of the shots. However, once underwater it all worked perfectly. Lovely wildlife shots with good camerawork and nice lighting. I think a gentle and informative script/narration would well be worth thinking about.

Gyllyngvase Beach, Falmouth, Cornwall, May 2022 by Graeme Parker

Lovely opening with stunning scenery and perfect music choice. The colours are wonderful. You did well with the dogfish, keeping it perfectly in frame as well as very steady. The spider crabs are excellent. Good idea to put in a short shot of yourself.

Philippines Reef Fish by Dave Weeks

Great title shot and very nice transition to the underwater sequences. Good steady, well lit shots of a lovely variety of marine life. The music was a good choice but did become a little soporific after awhile. Perhaps you could think of some narration to explain what we are looking at which would add another dimension to the film. Maybe try a few extended shots of just one animal and shoot it in a variety of ways, wide angle, mid shot and close up. Love the Turtle shot, Excellent quality.

A story about human… by Maria Bereozka

Thank you for the full and emotive written intro. It’s an important story to tell. I was greatly saddened to see that boats still tie up to coral. They are mad, stupid, short sighted and must be stopped.

In search of the best shots with GoPro by Maria Bereozka

Good message in your written introduction. Beautiful long developing shot. You get great stuff freediving. Nice commentary and very good music. Is that you in shot?

Scuba diving in Tiran island with Go Pro by Maria Bereozka

Whole new ball game, filming wildlife with scuba tanks and not free diving. New disciplines to master in camerawork, lighting and editing. This was a nice film that showed the delight of just being underwater.

The July competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.