1st Place
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Judges Comments
Smiled throughout the whole piece. I love how you started out with establishing the place where this story takes place, introduced the viewer to the characters quickly, and then established immediately after the introduction that these to main characters met at the market and fell in love - it made me immediately care about them as people and I felt like I was hearing a story that’s probably been told a thousand times before to their close friends. The historical background of the market and their early lives was placed well within the narrative and I thought the whole thing flowed well from beginning to end. As an aside, the title sequence (where the drone lifts off from the market and then reveals downtown Philadelphia) was perfect. I knew once I watched that part that this was a story I was going to sit back and enjoy. Well done. One of the best pieces in the contest.
2nd Place
Los Angeles Times
Judges Comments
Some beautiful cinematography in this piece and I thought the use of the sequences moving through the school’s halls were effective. (There was one that appeared crooked, though.) I liked the diversity of voices in the piece and how it established quickly where this story was taking place. The use of graphics was a little jarring; I didn’t feel like I had enough time to digest the information in it. Loved the final act of the piece where we see Trinity head off to college, but I really wish she was the main character that tied the whole piece together, and I think it would’ve been more effective as a whole if there was one clear central character that moved us through the piece.
3rd Place
Advance Media New York
Judges Comments
Cool subject, but I wish a little more perspective had been given as to why this game is still so iconic 10 years later. I liked the use of archival footage and thought you did a great job of interviewing a lot of different characters from the team and the community, but I needed a common thread or character to move me through this piece. Devendorf would’ve been the ideal character to establish as the one who was going to take me through this story, but I didn’t feel like we heard enough from him and his experience during that game. Overall a nicely done story, but needed a clearer character to move me through the narrative.
Judges: Josh Bickel, Brooke LaValley, Courtney Hergesheimer/The Columbus Dispatch