1st Place
Eric Heisler WHTM
Judges Comments
8 8 8 8 I actually understood it and I'm awful with budgets and numbers. Great work. Story flowed and had a beginning middle and end. There was even a human feeling moment when the one rep. was explaining why his was so high living 200 miles away. I felt that. Very creative with your approach, it worked. Be proud of this story.
10 9 9 9 Really enjoyed watching this story! You do great investigative work. I thought you chose great sots "I think it's arrogant" "this is welfare on steroids." Great process writing. I thought the story flowed really well. Very creative editing with those up/down arrows, post it note, etc. Nice work!
10 9 9 10 GREAT investigating! I was outraged by this story! You explained your process really well and weren't accusatory. Loved the sticky note affect to help explain numbers instead of just popping up a boring full screen. I am not a numbers person, but I understood the story.
2nd Place
Dwayne Myers WJLA
Judges Comments
8 8 9 8 Hi its me again, the one who isnt a fan of music, I lied, you knew when and when not to use for this segment of the story and I applaud you. Leaving it silent for the reveal of how and where she died was highly effective. The pacing was just right for this part of the story. Great work, can't wait to see more.
9 8 8 8 Heartbreaking story, very well told. I teared up. Music in the background matched well with the mood. The only shot that threw me was around the 1:10 mark, the close up disolve between the dad and the mom, just because I hadn't seen her until then and I never saw her after.
10 9 8 8 Great story, very emotional. I think your writing is powerful. Also creatively shot. I like how you and your photog let the story breathe a little after dad said his daughter died. There was silence for a quick second. More dramatic. And, the music really added to the story in other parts. Nice work.
3rd Place
Brad Wilson WTVR
Judges Comments
7 7 8 8 Great story, your photography is beautiful, every shot had a purpose. Your editing was smooth and never felt jumpy. One thing that caught my attention was the police officer flipping through the photo's, it felt a little stagey, there were about 5 different angles and not enough photo's to sift through. You and your reporter communicated well on what each other needed and wanted. I like how you both took me along the victims nightly routine and path home. Overall nice job, a lot of hard work went into it and it shows.
9 9 9 9 Loved how you put the actual photographs on the ground and panned. It spiced up what could have been boring shot selection and made it feel super dramatic and sad. Loved that you went beyond just getting his sister, but also talked to two of his friends who are also strugging with his murder. Loved how you set up the story with the pictures of her family members.
8 8 8 7 I like how you drew me into the story, talking about other deceased relatives. Loved the nats of the sister/active interview setting. You had great characters but I felt you used too many.. the story was a bit long. The first official you used wasn't necessary. However, I did like nats of Detective Young going through the pictures. He was more human than the other guy.
Honorable Mention
Jon Samuels WXIA
Judges Comments
8 9 9 7 Love the hop scotch use. Great way to convey a graphic dependant story. Opening line was very strong and set the standard for the rest of the story. One shot with the reporter holding the mic at the board-type meeting was a bit distracting. Place your lav down on the table in the center of the action if need be. Felt the story was so heavily driven by graphics that the lighting some times fell short. Overall think you did a great job telling a story with very little visuals to begin with. Well done.
10 9 9 9 Great job getting creative! LOVED when you wrote the numbers in chalk on the hopscotch squares -- super interesting! I would have liked to hear what parents thought about this. However, I liked how you explained your process in getting the information and investigating. Made it very easy to understand.
7 7 8 7 Good investigative reporting. Too much official sound. I felt it was lacking emotion/parents/real people. Great job with the standup. I thought it was creative and got the point across.
Judges: KGTV