Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
September 2021 Video Contest Winner and Review
WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN
Winner: Maldives Scuba Diving on Emperor Explorer Liveaboard in 4k HDR by Daniel French
Winning Video:
Not so in hotter climates, but here in the UK autumn is starting to show now and that means less diving due to weather (and cold). But all you lucky divers living in warmer places, or on holiday, get to keeping your fins wet. Where ever you are, it’s always good to see your videos from the place you live or are visiting. Keep filming and keep showing people what a wonderful place the marine world is.
Four films this month and after a lot of deliberation I felt the winner should be Maldives Scuba Diving on Emperor Explorer Liveaboard by Daniel French who produced quite superb images and edited them to a good choice of music.
Maldives Scuba Diving on Emperor Explorer Liveaboard in 4k HDR by Daniel French
Stunning opening aerials. What a fabulous place. I liked your choice of music and editing. Very effective. Then we get underwater. Great opening shot with the diver. The quality and style of the images are superb and all edited at a relaxing pace. The ident graphics are a nice touch. Loved the nurse shark sequence. Good change of pace with the anemone fish. Mantas…..excellent, as was the whale shark. A third change of pace. This worked well as it kept the whole film interesting and vibrant. The lighting on the yellow snappers was perfect. The turtle was a great finish. I always panic slightly when I see a film over 3-4 minutes as they seldom hold my full attention for the entire period, No such issue here. Great film.
Heal the Ocean by Milena Margaritova
Love the sentiment. The song works extremely well with the images which are all well shot and edited. Some nice behaviour shots and well as good portraits. AS I mentioned last month, the baby fish in front of the divers mask was just charming and made me smile then and again now.
Scuba Diving Memoirs – A Musical Journey by Milena Margaritova
Hi Milena, thanks for sharing this lovely film again. Good uplifting music with beautiful images. Your love for the oceans is clear and I hope this film will inspire others to help take care of it. There is a fabulous variety of habitats and species. Makes me want to get into the water.
Sturzkampfbomber (STUKA) Junkers Ju87 in Kroatien by Gabriel Schmidt
Hi Gabriel. Good film and nice to see the images of the complete working plane. Always exciting as well as sad to see a plane wreck underwater. Excellent shots of the plane with good wide angles and close ups. It was very well edited and the music was a good choice. If ever you get chance, it would be nice to add a bit of history as either a narration or written graphics. There must be so much drama in the story of how she got to the bottom of the sea.
The October 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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