Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
September 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: Technical Dive on the USS Rankin – Florida by Alejandro Dutto
Winning Video:
Four wonderful films this month, each with it’s own merits. The standard of entries just keeps getting better and better, but as I have said on many occasions, if you are a novice film maker don’t be put off from entering by thinking your videos are not good enough as it’s only by getting your films out there and listening to comments that help you to improve and learn.
Please do have a look at all the film comments as well as those on your own entry.
Let’s take a look at this month’s entries:
Once it casts its spell – Dean Spraakman
Watch Dean’s video here.
Hi Dean. Fantastic images from beginning to end, accompanied by a good choice of music. Everything is well shot with steady camera work, good lighting and composition. Any one would be proud of these images. I would like to make one suggestion to you though. I am sure that you are skilled enough to progress beyond simple compilation videos where one animal portrait follows another with little or no story, or conclusion. This video would jump right up to another category if it had some narration with it. Be-it a personal narrative of your dives and encounters or a more anatomical script telling your audiences what they are looking at and why the creatures seen are so unique and special. I urge you to try this.
On the Sand – Puerto galera, Philippines – Kristian Mears
Watch Kristian’s video here.
Hi Kristian. I could pretty well repeat the exact same comments as I put for Deans film, ‘Once it casts its spell’. You did go one step further than Dean by giving the video a purpose by defining a sandy ecosystem. As with Deans film I was captivated by the superb camera work, but while watching, my mind was crying out for more information or for you to stay with a few of the animals for longer that one shot, just to give me a chance to really appreciate the wonders of our underwater world. A few wide establishing shots of the terrain would have really made a great difference.
Technical Dive on the USS Rankin – Florida – Alejandro Dutto
Watch Alejandro’s video here.
Well done for the written introduction. Knowing the history of the ship brings it alive and it becomes a real entity rather than just scrap metal on the sea bed. To keep your audience interested you then go further and bring in very timely ‘on screen’ information graphics, in two languages! Loved the opening music to the wreck. Very ‘newsy’ and it worked well. The shoaling fish over and through the wreck were stunning and the music was made for them. You caught the edit points of musical crescendos with the dramatic fish movements perfectly. The changes of pace throughout were also good. All in all a well balanced and powerful video which I enjoyed very much.
Africa’s underwater forests – Jason Boswell
Watch Jason’s video here.
Beautiful moody opening with both music and images. I love the following of the shark. It was so peaceful and unobtrusive. Prefer it to the usual images of shark in your face. It’s more observational rather than confrontational. The ‘secretive’ shot of the cuttlefish was terrific, as were the octopus close-ups. A real ‘feel good’ film that put me in a quite a relaxed mood. All extremely well shot with good lighting and framing, steady camera and spot on exposure.
And the Winner is….
This month my winner is Technical Dive on the USS Rankin – Florida by Alejandro Dutto
Looking forward to seeing all your entries next month!
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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