1st Place
Jesse WolfeRIT
Judges Comments
1 - Cool story about a community most of us do not see. The shooting was good, with some surprising and fun real moments that help us get to know the kid and the father. Beginning with hockey, then the reveal of the spina bifida is a nice way to get us deep into the story. But the story strays to the guy who tries to make the national team, but doesn't, leaving us wondering a bit about the kid. If you could weave those stories together from the beginning it would be more effective, especially if we got to know someone in the family of the guy working towards the national team.
2 - Good story. Appreciate that we start watching hockey, then reveal that they play sled hockey? B-roll struggles a bit with the action sequences. It starts to be a random collection of medium shots. (Similar problem with the speaking event) Continue to look for opportunities to cut together sequence of shots to tell mini-stories.. (e.g.: struggling to score, finally scores, reaction). Overall look for more action/reaction.
Story structure: a little awkward to add third character so far into the story. Is there a way to get him sooner?
2nd Place
Lauren FrohneThe Seattle Times
Judges Comments
1 - A lovely portrait of an athlete who doesn't, as she says, look like the stereotypical athlete. The body image is the deeper story, although celebrating her as an athlete is certainly a good reason for the story, as well. The most storytelling part of the footage was the process of her getting in, then out, then in the cold water, with the deftly mixed interview audio and b-roll audio. Were there other opportunities to push on the storytelling in that way? What's the real obstacle that this amazing athlete overcomes?
2 - Good subject, themes exploring body positivity, etc. Wonder if there was a was to put the b-roll together in a way that creates more of visual story? A way to make the shooting more immersive? Perhaps a more dynamic opening sequence to draw us in?
3rd Place
Cheantay JensenLong Beach Post
Judges Comments
1 - Slick opener. Nice cuts. Lighting/composition/details working well in the shooting style. Good character & interview. Structurally, this is straight interview covered by b-roll. Seems like there were opportunities to create more distinct verité scenes (not over interview) and more of an overall sense of visual story arc.
2 - Most effective when we see the makeup being applied, then we see what the camera sees -- horror footage. It feels like the audio is about the personal journey the makeup artist has made, while the footage is about the creepy characters he helps create. Make the connection more clear to us and this would be more effective. Long interviews that need b-roll are always a challenge. The good camera work made this one stand out.
Judges: Torsten Kjellstrand/University of Oregon, Wes Pope/University of Oregon