1st Place
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Jason Hanson KSTP, Minneapolis "Random Shots Fired"
Judges Comments
Nice shot and nats variety. The zoom shot near middle was unnecessary. The stand-up was two nearly identical shots broken-up by a dog nat. It seemed like a pointless use of a stand-up. I liked the dog interaction with the owner while he was still mic'd up. There were some nice wide angle shots here too, but they didn't have to be wide angle. I really liked that you had a cut away shot as a sot, it added to the variety. The story paced really well but the beginning falls flat and is begging for a water nat or two somewhere in there. The gopro on the dog was a really nice idea.
Splashes of gold, great line and I expected to see or hear the dogs splashing through the water. The stand up was a little weird the the shot in the middle. Sequence the standup instead. There was a rack focus at 1:07 but I don't know what it was racking from and to.
Nice shot and nats variety. The zoom shot near middle was unnecessary. The stand-up was two nearly identical shots broken-up by a dog nat. It seemed like a pointless use of a stand-up. I liked the dog interaction with the owner while he was still mic'd up. There were some nice wide angle shots here too, but they didn't have to be wide angle. I really liked that you had a cut away shot as a sot, it added to the variety. The story paced really well but the beginning falls flat and is begging for a water nat or two somewhere in there. The gopro on the dog was a really nice idea.
2nd Place
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Dave Peterson KSTP, Minneapolis "Might be an Artifact"
Judges Comments
Nice story! Loved the concept of using the kid and his dad to tie into the search next door. Kid was a great character who helped advance the story. Really nice!
Great story! Loved how you used the kid to tell it. Check your audio cause it was a little hot in some spots. I didn't like the standup but i'm guessing your station forced you to have one. Only thing i would have changed was the closing shot. I would have just stayed with the second to last shot and closed with that, but that's just me. Great job
A really well told story about a city doing their job. I loved the father son angle. You really elevated something ordinary. The stand up was the only flaw in the package...it was very plain compared to the rest of the cool stuff you did here.
3rd Place
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Dylan Jacobson KSTP, Minneapolis "Caucus Calls"
Judges Comments
I liked this one, alot! Nice job taking a BOPSA(Bunch Of People Sitting Around) and making it interesting! Good nats, really nice shooting. Great job working the small room with wide, medium and tight!
Good job with this one. I liked the quick edits, but becareful because I thought some of them were a little too quick. Liked the nats and sequencing, but again becarerful, because there were some borderline jumpcuts. I can tell the story was winding down, but then all of a sudden it's over. It ended abruptly. Overall though, good job.
Everything flowed nicely. Plenty of well-paced nat pops. There were some creative ideas here that added to shot variety, like the out-of-focus interview shot. The transtition to the street was flawless with the splash. Some of the nats were hollow...get the mic closer next time. The beginning was nice, but I felt like the following sequences are faster. I would have made her pop shorter on the phone and added another shorter nat.
Really nice day turn. You took what could have been a boring subject and found a way to make it interesting. I liked the nats and quick cuts, but I feel like you got caught up in that fast flow and should have slowed down at times and let some of those moments breathe. It's ok to slow it down and let the viewer have time to absorb what is going on.
Honorable Mention
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Joel Girdner KCRG, Cedar Rapids "Spanish Buddies"
Judges Comments
Love this story! Great find. Nice shooting, good nats and moments. Shooting wise only a few things I saw that would make this story pop. Wide, wides and tight, tights. You had a lot o f shots that were just solid medium shots, they were good until you butt them up to a another medium shot. For instance, the shot with the little girl on the girls back. You went from a wide medium to a medium shot. You needed a tight shot of the little girls face or a tight shot of the teachers face to make that not be a jump cut. Also you reused a shot, your closing shot was used twice. On a side note, the reporter in the story has a lot of potential! Her writing is good, she just needs some track work. It was a little slow and needed some energy.
great story! loved the characters and the content! Shot really well and good job mixing up your shot variety. Just becareful when shooting interviews. Only move your camera if your subject moves out of frame, otherwise, adjust it when they stop speaking. Great job!
This is a great example of making a general news story feel bigger. Nice pacing and nats throughout. The mic's wire showed a couple times. Don't be afraid to stop and fix that. A lot of the shots were in the medium-to-wide range. Show me a couple super tight shots, like a kid looking in a spanish book, to add to shot variety and pacing. I also could have use a couple super wide shots to give a better sense of space. You could have even shot from outside the door.
Judges: KDVR