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Winners - Underwater Videography Contests

February 2021 Video Contest Winner and Review

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WINNER CHOSEN AND REVIEW BY SCUBAVERSE.COM’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND RESIDENT UNDERWATER VIDEOGRAPHY EXPERT JEFF GOODMAN

Winner: Anglerfish at night by Colin Garrett

Winning Video:

To save me typing this out for each video, thank you all for taking time to write an explanatory introduction to your films. It is always good to read background information on the making of each video.

Seventeen videos this month and every one of them deserves praise and recognition for being top quality. There were a few that stood out, but there was one that grabbed my attention from the very first few seconds and did not disappoint at all through to the end. The film was ‘Anglerfish at night’ by Colin Garrett. It was extremely well filmed and edited and the lighting was perfection. A stunning film all round.

As usual please do read comments made to other entrants as something there may well be of help to you in making future videos.


Diving the Salt Pier on Bonaire by Scubabeat

https://dai.ly/x7qdgn9

Nice feel right from the start with a good pace from the editing. Music works well and as always I do like the on screen species name graphics. You have really nice slow steady camera moves and the images are all sharp and well exposed. There does seem to be an issue with some of the shots being too red. If you are on auto white balance then there is little you can do while shooting but in the edit it is simple enough to lower the red cast. The pier uprights and the shoaling fish are lovely.

The Landslide by Scubabeat

https://dai.ly/x7z5uts

Excellent written introduction. Sets the whole film up. What a fabulous wild place. I do remember it well. Raw diving. All nicely filmed with good well framed sharp images. Music was an interesting choice. I think I can see what you were trying to do in injecting some drama and pace via the sound. It worked for a while but then became a bit out of place as nothing dramatic happened visually. Perhaps a piece of music with a little variety in its tempo would have worked better. But, Filming and editing is all very subjective and this is only my opinion.

Mischievous Sea Lions by Hank H

Diving with Sea Lions is one of the most exciting and fun types of dive to have. They simply love to play and are usually completely unafraid of us as divers. You captured this well with good camera moves and editing. The on-screen notes worked well. Brave little Puffer Fish.

Maldives Underwater Highlights by Daniel French

Hi Daniel, thanks for the additional camera information. Always good to know what people are using. Stunning quality. Crispy sharp, extremely well lit with good colour balance and exposure. I love your slow smooth tracking shots. The blue anemone and clownfish was stunning. As I watched your video I had assumed you had put the best up front. But no. Images just got better and better. Music was perfect.

Scuba Diving at KudaRah Thila by Daniel French

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YMetpozWa0&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Once again Daniel, fabulous quality. Great camera work and lighting. You have the balance of artificial light to ambient light working perfectly. Your framing and camera moves are also spot on. The shoals of snapper are stunning. My only comment would be that for an eleven minute film I would liked to have had some sort of story. I know the images tell their own about the wonderful biodiversity of the area but I felt it needed more information to pull all the stunning shots together. Perhaps a narration?

Scuba Diving with Nurse Sharks at Alimatha, Vaavu Atoll – Maldives by Daniel French

Beautiful opening drone shot. What amazing colours. The mix into the first shark was terrific. Once again great quality especially being available light only. The sharks themselves are quite magnificent. Nice to see one shark nosing the sand. Like the easy style of editing and the music fitted well.

Swimming with green sea turtles red sea Egypt by Ebrahim Hamdy

Lovely to see a free diving video. Everything is so majestic without the air tanks. The music and the diver flowed really well together with the turtle. A beautiful video. Well shot with good camera work and editing. Like to see more films like this.

Next to Me by Bryson Justus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TW0WkZ8b4g&feature=emb_imp_woyt

You created a great opening with the images and the music. The edit to underwater worked very well. You have many beautiful images in the video and all are perfectly cut to the music. Not always easy to do but you certainly made it work. Good lighting too. You also captured some good behavioural shots. The rays were super. I did like the way you were unafraid to experiment with camera moves as well as editing effects.

Three reefs and a wreck by Mark Ponte

Excellent variety of wildlife. Liked the yellow eel. I was wondering what camera and light you were  using.  A small tip if I may, try to film animals at their eye level if at all possible rather than shooting everything from above. (Taking care of the coral at the same time of course)

Anglerfish at night by Colin Garrett

Woahhhh. Stunning opening shot. I haven’t seen an Anglerfish that big for many years. Wonderful animal. Your camera work and lighting are absolutely spot on and the quality is superb. The swimming towards camera with mouth open is a shot to be seriously envied. Music was perfect. The shots with the John Dory were amazing. I did question whether or not you put the Dory into the shot but then thought better of my scepticism and just sat back and enjoyed the rest of the video.

Close Encounters by Colin Garrett

That was nice. What a treat dive. Difficult conditions I think. Good choice having natural sounds only.

Mantas Lake by Aleksandar Rakovski

Lovely shots of the Mantas. Must have been a wonderful dive. Very stirring music. The applause at the end made me smile.  Did you get bumped by one of the Mantas.?

Non au shark feeding by Aleksandar Rakovski

Good  message told in a few strong moments. Excellent. It was very dramatic and effective. The camera work was excellent and created a worrying and poignant scenario. Well done.

Norway in my mind by Aleksandar Rakovski

Very cool. Excellent stylish opening with great music. So nice to see the underwater world used as an art medium. The piano player was inspirational and the girls smile was enchanting as well as infectious. Lovely film.

Diving in Sudan – A Red Sea Odyssea by Noemie Stroh

The opening shot made me yearn for sun and sea. Lovely drone shots to follow and then perfect merge to underwater. The music was good and instrumental in creating the different moods of the film. Good camera work and lighting. Stunning image quality with a beautiful abundance of marine life. Lighting was perfect. Your editing to the music was spot on.

All is in Motion by Guido Schmitz

I loved this. We should see more of this kind of film. Exciting to watch and the music fitted well. The sound effects were very creative. A perfect glimpse into part of the marine world.

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish – Exploration by Niklas Jansson

Jellyfish are a very under rated subject for filming. I think they are stunning animals and well worth the time taken to video. You created a mystical feel to the film with the slow moving images and music. I enjoyed it.


The March competition is now open for entries. You can enter up to three videos by clicking here.

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.

Winners - Underwater Videography Contests

December 2022 Video Contest Winner and Review

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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.

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Winners - Underwater Videography Contests

November 2022 Video Contest Winner and Review

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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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