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Winners - Underwater Videography Contests

January 2016 Video Contest Winner And Review

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

Winner: Richard Stevens

Winning Video:

Great to see so many entries this month and the standard simply gets better and better. All good films, each with its own quality. Well done to everyone for producing such good material and I hope to see more in the following competitions.

Let’s take a look at this month’s entrants:

Moray has a Mishap – Phil Medcalf

Watch Phil’s video here.

How neat was that. Well done for sticking with it. Nicely shot with good steady camerawork. Liked the descriptive text as well just in case viewers missed what was happening.

Manta Magic  – Richard Stevens

Watch Richard’s video here.

Lovely stuff. It’s why I love diving. Great music choice and I liked the way you took the music out early just to leave us with the Manta.

The Sharks of Brothers Islands & Daedalus – Richard Stevens

Watch Richard’s video here.

Well done Richard for having a go at narration and actually it worked pretty well. Very interesting facts over some lovely images. All nicely shot with good steady camera work. Well exposed, sharp and good colour balance.

Philippine Diving Favourites – Robert Suntay

Watch Robert’s video here.

Stunning images with such vibrant colour. The macro material was superb, clear, sharp and very steady with excellent animal behaviour. At first I was a little wary of the music choice but it made perfect sense after a very short while. All put together well with some very impressive mixes in the editing.

Wreck of the Carnatic – Chris Court

Watch Chris’ video here.

Nice ‘feel good’ film. The music choice certainly worked with the images. Good tracking shots with natural lighting inside the wreck. On your next video have a think about some static and closer shots of the marine life which would give a far more ‘alive’ feeling to the wreck.

Bonneville SeaBase: Utah’s Ocean – Dallas Staheli

Watch Dallas’ video here.

Interesting video. Had no idea where the location was and couldn’t make sense of the warm water with the snowy mountain background. Had to check out the web site. Then it all fitted together. Just shows what you can do in poor viz as well. I would be interested to know where the fish come from and if there are any conservation aspects to the centre.

Well put together film with a good pace and music. Liked the personal touches as well.

Lake Mohave Underwater Haunting – Dallas Staheli

Watch Dallas’ video here.

Well that was different. Probably won’t show it to my grand kids as they won’t sleep for weeks. All well thought out and planned and nicely shot. I assume it was all with a GoPro. Towards the end I was hoping the video would finish well rather than just fade out. And it did. Finish well that is.

Dive Addicts at Catalina Island – Dallas Staheli

Watch Dallas’ video here.

Hi again Dallas. Powerful opening with pacey music and snappy editing. The question was  would the video disappoint when it took us underwater underwater. The answer was no it didn’t. The pace kept going and the shots were high class. For me though the whole thing was ruined by the grabbing and taking of the crayfish.

A300 Plane Wreck – Tony Reed

Watch Tony’s video here.

Hi Tony, Openings are getting more and more Hollywood. Fun though. Liked the descriptive text to set up the video as well as the following graphics. Once again your topside shots were good but on this occasion the video fell down once it got underwater. You were obviously trying to deal with milky water conditions which are not helpful to good film making at the best of times. But on top of that I did find the music choice too fast and loud for the type of shots you managed to get. The music and the images were fighting each other.

50 shades of sharks – a painful looking shark bite – Sharkbuff

Watch Sharkbuff’s video here.

Great clip. Short, but good.

GoPro gets inked by an octopus & clawed by a crabsharkbuff

Watch Sharkbuff’s video here.

Hi Sharkbuff. Another short but good clip. Lots going on which made it interesting. As you progress into more clips, have a think about trying to keep the images sharp. As you are filming with a GoPro I know you are limited in how close you can get before the image goes soft. But there are quite good close up attachments for GoPro cameras that work really well.

Mantas on Acid – Stuart Green

I did sign into google and YouTube as asked but still couldn’t play the video. Perhaps enter the video again in February without the restrictions.

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In the end I chose ‘The Sharks of Brothers Islands & Daedalus’ by Richard Stevens as January’s winner. Although well shot and edited, it was the informative and detailed narration that won me over. Congratulations Richard on being our first winner of 2016!

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Scubaverse.com’s February 2016 Underwater Video Contest is now open. Enter 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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