Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
December 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: The Farne Islands , Northumberland, UK by Graeme Parker
Winning Video:
So…another year almost over. Hope you had some good diving this year even if travelling was hard to do. One thing with not doing that much diving and filming is it gave many of you time to re-visit previous footage and do some editing. Hence there have been some great videos throughout the year. Stay safe from Covid and look forward to seeing your films next year.
Be sure to catch my zoom interview with Clayton Conn, Novembers competition winner which will be published early this coming January.
Every film this month was top quality and a pleasure to watch, hence making picking a winner quite difficult. In the end I just had to go with the film that stayed in my mind.
This months winner is The Farne Islands , Northumberland, UK by Graeme Parker. It had a very definite beginning, middle and end with an easy feel to the surface introduction, great underwater interactions with the seals and very nice surface closing shots to end with.
Dive Fantasy at Christmas Rock by Craig Beasley
Lovely written introduction. Thanks. Nice. Liked the narration and script accompanied with some great music. That was a perfect film transition from the snowy surface to the snowy underwater scene. Very clever and very well edited. The images throughout are excellent, well filmed and lit. Loved the Christmas hat.
Dive the Valentines by David Gywer
Nice opening with really good sound effects. Great narration and a well told story. Good music which fitted well. You packed a lot into the one and half minutes which kept up the pace throughout and hence viewer interest. Excellent. Even though the film was short, I felt I know know the dive site really well now.
Diving Hamsa aka Stone Beach near Hurghada, Egypt by Scubabeat
Perfect written introduction as well as the identification graphics throughout the film. Lovely camera work with very good lighting. You cut the images to the music well. So many stunning species.
The Tenant by Kiril
That was nice. I dived Lake Baikal many years ago for the BBC to film the sponges as well as the Baikal Seals. Great experience. The lighting on the sponges and Sculpin was very good. Perfect sharp and well exposed images, all well framed and the music fitted well. Short but really good glimpse at a little known species.
Journey of the Little Sand Shrimp by En-Min Chua
That was so good. Really well filmed. Camerawork was sharp and steady and everything was well lit. The on screen graphics worked well. I loved getting a glimpse of the world of the shrimp.
The Dolphin Men by Adam Shepherd
Different!! Wow! So graceful underwater. Must have taken years of training to do that. Music was very dramatic.
Riding a Cucumber by Evgeny Kovban
Well done. Splendid film. Excellent camerawork and lighting. The sharp and steady close ups were perfect. I’ve never seen anything like it.
December diving fun at Florida by ondrejv
That was quite some opening shot. Must have been crowded down there. The two Angelfish were really nice. The shoal of snappers and the turtle were of such good quality with stunning colours. Lovely lighting. Music worked very well.
Scuba Diving Lipah Bay, Amed. by Jan Venter
Good written intro. Thanks. And… good to see someone introducing their own film. Definitely makes it more personal and interesting. A perfect introduction for those divers who are new to the area. Perhaps as a little extra, it would have been nice to briefly show some video or still images of the areas you were talking about before getting into the underwater sequences. The underwater images were lovely, with good camerawork and lighting. The music and the images were well edited. Great quality.
Dann Fenoir by David
Excellent close ups with good steady camerawork and lighting. Nice series of animals with amazing colours and designs. You caught some very interesting behaviour as well. Would loved a little narration to say what they were and what they were doing.
Nudi Harbor by Fra-and Timothy Quimpo
Excellent written introduction to your video. Thanks. Nice on scree typed message which is all to true. Perfect opening drone shots of the pier to set the scene. Fantastic animals, all beautifully filmed and edited. The on-screen information graphics worked really well. Your macro work is so steady and sharp. Lovely to watch.
The Farne Islands , Northumberland, UK by Graeme Parker
I did like your surface shots to introduce the film. Very simple but very effective and relaxing to watch. The transition to the seal underwater was perfect. Stunning animal. The interaction with the diver was what dreams are made of. Good music and nice camera work. Do have a look at colour balance if you can. There were just a few shots near the surface that were quite red. Easily fixed in the editing. Lovely ending with the dolphins. I love UK diving.
Diving The SS Thistlegorm by Graeme Parker
Good opening photo of the ship. Always good to see things like this. A great wreck to dive and film although as there is so much to see down there, sometimes it is difficult to decide what to capture to show the true essence of the wreck. But you did it well. Perfect music, Loved the turtle shot.
You&Mantas by Romain Francois
Beautiful animals and really well filmed. I liked the way you intercut images of the reef although I personally would have started with the Mantas rather than the turtle and coral. Great music which fitted the imaged really well.
Scuba Diving in Bali by Jan Venter
Thanks for the written intro. Stunning images with perfect lighting and beautiful smooth tracking shots. In fact some of the best reef shots I have see for quite a while. It was a joy to watch and very relaxing. My only negative comment is that 25 minutes is a very long film relying on just images. There is no story to engage with and so even though what you have shot is excellent, after awhile it does become very reparative. It would be a great video to put up on display where people are passing such as dive shows or dive exhibitions.
Bulls by Romain Francois
Nice opening surface shots to set the scene. Stunning sharks. An exciting dive. Good camerawork with sharp steady shots. Have a go at trying to increase contrast and colour balance in editing. Just a few minor tweaks will make all the difference.
Crayfish – The Salvation by Mitja Harvilahti
Very concise and interesting written introduction. Thanks. I did like backward reveal shot. Most effective. The on-screen graphics worked well. Your video certainly portrayed an eerie location with perfect music and well planned images. Assuming the crayfish are native to the waters, well done for letting them go from the lost or discarded trap.
The January competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.
Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
December 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:
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.
Winners - Underwater Videography Contests
November 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: 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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