Winners – Underwater Videography Contests

June 2016 Video Contest Winner And Review

Published 10 years agoon July 1, 2016

WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EDITOR JEFF GOODMAN

Winner: Tony Reed

Winning Video:

Two entries this month and both were very good videos, each with their own distinctive style.

One of the criteria of making videos is knowing who your main viewers are likely to be, so that you can pitch the feel of the video towards them. Films could be aimed at a scientific audience rather than a having a general family outlook. Or perhaps more of a short and catchy pop video style to attract passers by to a public viewing screen.

The first film on sharks had good powerful images and would for me, fall into the advertising camp where it would draw in divers seeking the shark feeding experience. In addition it did show clearly that under most circumstances there is nothing to fear from sharks and so in that respect was very successful.

The second video had a very different feel and outlook. A gentle and close look at some of the marine life around a wreck. Although not as dramatic as the shark video, it did have a quality to it that made me want to go diving.

Shark Feeding Arena – Henry Hall

Watch this video here.

Very polished production with dramatic shots of sharks. Good choice of music as well as nice graphic effects in the opening. The camera work is very good with clean crisp images, all well exposed and framed.

Although the video was exciting to watch, I did find it start to get a little repetitive and would liked to have had a little bit of narration explaining what was happening on screen with the gentle handling and feeding. Just a little about the biology and psychology behind the sharks’ behaviour.

Wreck to Reef – Tony Reed

Watch this video here.

Well done Tony. A well put together video with an interesting narrative telling a concise and complete story. The actual volume of the narration was a little low compared with the music and so could be increased to match. Love the use of the GoPro time lapse function for the opening shot. There was a good variety of shots to keep the audience interested and were all sharp and well exposed.

A difficult choice to pick a winner this month but I feel it has to go Tony Reed. I should say that this video was made by him on one of my video courses and I can only state that this had nothing to do with picking his film as the winner.

Congratulations Tony!

I’m sure there are lots more of you out there with some great underwater videos that you really should be sharing with the world, so please do make sure you enter July’s contest.

Jeff Goodman

Jeff is a multiple award winning, freelance TV cameraman/film maker and author. Having made both terrestrial and marine films, it is the world's oceans and their conservation that hold his passion with over 10.000 dives in his career. Having filmed for international television companies around the world and author of two books on underwater filming, Jeff is Author/Programme Specialist for the 'Underwater Action Camera' course for the RAID training agency. Jeff has experienced the rapid advances in technology for diving as well as camera equipment and has also experienced much of our planet’s marine life, witnessing, first hand, many of the changes that have occurred to the wildlife and environment during that time. Jeff runs bespoke underwater video and editing workshops for the complete beginner up to the budding professional.