Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
January 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: Squid in Love by Paul G. Day
Winning Video:
A brilliant month’s competition. The seven films entered were new and refreshing. Some new concepts were tried and worked really well. Please do watch them all and have a look at the comments on each to perhaps help you develop your future production planning.
Here are January’s entries:
The River – Lutfu Tanriover
Watch Lutfu’s video here.
How nice to see something new. Beautiful images and music opened the film and created a very powerful feeling of anticipation for what was to come. The undulating sand was captivating. I assume it is fresh water springs rising to the surface. All very well shot with clear, crisp images and very precise camera moves.
Shaping a Dream – Puccio Distefano
Watch Puccio’s video here.
Here is a quick translation of the written intro for those who (like me) don’t speak Italian:
“The sculptor, fascinated by the myth of the sirens, while he is shaping his clay he imagines that as it takes shape it drags him into his submarine world, but it is only a dream …”
The potter got my attention and I couldn’t possibly imagine where this was going. Then the mermaids turned up. Excellent. I know quite a few divers who would have liked to have been in the potter’s shoes. Nice sequences of the mermaids swimming and all in all a great concert. It was a very unusual film and a pleasure to watch. So much hard and dedicated work to put this together with the costumes and the choreography.
To the thief…to the thief – Puccio Distefano
Watch Puccio’s video here.
That was really cool. Good to see a GoPro being used to its full potential. Love octopuses. One of my favourite marine animals. The editing with the music was perfect, especially with the release of the camera. That was fun.
The Law of Nature – Puccio Distefano
Watch Puccio’s video here.
You certainly like your dramatic and powerful music, and with each film you have entered it has worked well. Good editing and loved the short head-on portrait of the fish. Very cinematic. Camera work excellent in all aspects, framing, exposure and colour balance.
30 Port Jackson Sharks – Paul G. Day
Watch Paul’s video here.
What a sight! You did well in very difficult filming conditions. Wonderful to see so many of the sharks together. Other than protection from strong currents do you know why they were all together like that? After two minutes of extraordinary video I would liked to have had some explanatory narration either written or verbal. The images were great to see, but did become a bit too repetitive. For me the music was just a little to powerful for the action of the shots in that it created a feeling of pending excitement or even danger which never materialised.
Under the Ocean Sky – Paul G. Day
Watch Paul’s video here.
Nice easy going feel to the very relaxing images. Piers and boat pontoons can be magical places in giving shelter and refuge to all manner of marine life. Not always easy filming up into the sun so you did very well to make the images work.
Squid in Love – Paul G. Day
Watch Paul’s video here.
Your opening shots got me spellbound straight away. Music too. Technically the images are excellent as well as being aesthetically captivating. The shots of the squid right above the camera were wonderful. I’m starting to run out of adjectives. At around three and a half minutes into the film I felt that it had reached a plateau and was getting repetitive but then you captured my attention again with more stunning images and brought the film back to life. I had a big smile on my face as the last image of the video faded to black.
And the Winner is….
The winner this month is Squid in Love by Paul G. Day. A wonderful film with enchanting images of a most magical animal. Congratulations Paul.
I look forward to seeing your entries in February – good luck to you all.
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Scubaverse.com’s February 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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