Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
May 2022 Video Contest Winner and Review
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN
Winner: Baja California – Socorro : Diving in size XXL by Noemie Stroh
Winning Video:
Hi all. So many good places in the world to dive and so good to see them being filmed and appreciated. However we are too close to loosing it all with overfishing, pollution and climate change so lets not be complacent and make sure we all do our best to protect and conserve.
Five entries this month and the winner is Baja California – Socorro : Diving in size XXL by Noemie Stroh. I do realise that not everyone has access to such amazing marine life and so I always look at filming skills as well as the actual species. But in this case Noenie has capture incredible images of incredible wildlife and edited them together in a thoughtful and exiting way.
Underwater birds by Maria Bereozka
The video shots you get by free diving are so good. No bubbles to worry wildlife. Beautiful ray and good music choice. I think I have said it all before on your previous films. Great and really nice to watch.
Scuba diving changed my life! by Maria Bereozka
Love the written intro. It was Cousteau who inspired me to explore the undersea world although perhaps a few generations before. Nice to see a different style of film from you. Lovely sentiment and very well shot with a perfectly slow pace. A simple film but with good impact. Have a look again at your opening narration as your words were a bit quite and lost behind the music. Love the long shots.
Meet the reef Egypt by Domenico Pertschi
Hi Domenico. Lovely images of some fabulous marine life. All sharp, steady, well framed and well lit. Good music choice too which kept a nice pace to the video. Red Sea – fabulous place to dive.
Tiran Island: scuba diving with Go pro 9 by Maria Bereozka
We are going to need to change this monthly competition name to the ‘Maria Bereozka show’. You have more entries than anyone else I know. Excellent. Keep sending them in. Nice pre-dive sequence which really captured the feel of Red Sea boat diving. Good underwater images and the music fitted well. As you are now getting into the scuba aspect of underwater filming and finding much more to film, have a think about some sort of narration or story line.
Baja California – Socorro : Diving in size XXL by Noemie Stroh
Fabulous drone shots to open the film. It’s a wonderful location. The link from the surface shot of the Sea lion to the underwater was great and the following images were stunning. I loved the shot of the diver under the massive shoal of fish. Your camera work is very good as is your lighting. The dolphin squeaks under the music was a simple touch but very effective. Well done. So many good images. The puffer fish and the ray made me smile. My only negative thought was the music, while starting well it eventually became a bit monotonous.
The June 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:
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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