1st Place
John Kirtley WLOS, Asheville, NC "The Fire In His Eyes"
Judges Comments
DP - KGTV 8 7 8 7 You did a great job matching your reporters words and pace. Great shot variety. The singer shot stood out so did the old pay phone. The nats played nicely and didn't distract. Your interview with John is out of focus. Nice reveal that he's also an artist. Nice Job
TH KGTV 8 8 8 8 Nice Job! Your reporter knows how to write, be sure to let him know we as photojournalist's we value that. I liked how you teased them crafting some sort of something, and it paid off. Don't really have much to critique you hit a homerun. Nice Job!
JL - KGTV 8 8 8 8 Thank you. I've been waiting for a solid reveal in this category. Great set-up shots to take me into the story. Very cool video. Great NATS throughout. Some of your shots had a soft focus and your iris was a bit hot. Those heavy shadow/sunny days suck, don't they? I thought the reveal could have been executed better. Work with a reporter to allow the character to do the reveal. I think the bus bar was the most compelling example of trash turned functional art. Solid job.
AH-KGTV 9 8 8 8 I like your character, and his sighs and laments edited in. The sound is good, the shots are creative and varied. Some shots a little overexposed, but Ill let that go bc some of these shots are so beautiful. And well captured. Good for you for having such a passionate character. For not being real hard news, great cool story, taking me into often overlooked part of our material society. I dig it.
2nd Place
Andrea Hubbell WBBH, Fort Myers "I Didn't Die, I Lived"
Judges Comments
DP - KGTV 8 8 8 8 Great job. The opening with the heart beat and actual photos on the street. looks like the video from the wide gopro on bobbie doesn't match her mouth. Great little reveal that the cop saved his pastor. Good job shooting what could have been a boring standup. At 2:43 for the photo montage I already saw the same shot that was used in the background. It happens again on the second time. Overall you did a really nice job. loved all the nat breaks the audio was clean through out.
TH KGTV 8 8 8 8 Nice work. Loved your editing, it was tight and clean. Nice effort making this visual, the photo's worked. The shots of your reporter walking into the building were a little jumpy. Nice job shooting your interviews. Audio was clean. Nice Work.
JL - KGTV 8 8 8 8 Very good reveal. I loved the picture on the roadside. I don't think your entry needed the :37 second anchor and reporter intro. I don't think we needed the reporter butt walking shot either. The standup served a purpose but was that technique needed? Does the dry erase on the glass have anything to do with the story? I appreciate the creativity but make sure it matters.
AH-KGTV 8 8 8 7 Cut off the anchor and reporter intro: you didn’t shoot that so thats not yours. The story shoudlnt require it. The story: The audio and video are off in that one interview with the woman. Why use the go pro for that interview? You have a great camera: use the more nicer one. Nat and pacing were effective to show rapidity, time is of the essence-like theme. Technically all correct, but Some of the pacing was a little too quick and off. I feel like you wanted to pack the story with all that you gathered. And it got kinda of rushed at the end. Was the story longer and they cut out a lot of the elements you wanted in there? Good work.
3rd Place
Derek Bryant WLOS, Asheville, NC "Your Voice is Your Vote"
Judges Comments
DP - KGTV 6 5 5 6 I liked your opening. You showed me right away who your character was and what kind of a person he is. I didn't like the split screen. You should have flipped one of your interviews with them its strange having them look the same direction. Also the vote gfx isn't needed. No page flip edit. I liked the card edit gfx effect not a fan of the different colors. there is a shake in one of your gfx. lock that shot down. during the pay off of him getting citizenship there are a couple shaky shots. the audio gets a little choppy blend your audio.
TH KGTV 7 7 8 7 Love this story. Love your chacter. So many of these stories I have a hard time connecting with the characters but I feel like I was invited over to meet them, great build up. Full circle story. The gfx worked for me. A few shakey shots so becare ful when editing that youre covering them up. Would've liked to see his son's face. I had feeling for his son being able to be a citizen but I never met him, every shot was the back of his head. Dunno if they wanted to hide his identity or not but I felt left out. Overall nice work.
JL - KGTV 7 6 7 6 You did a lot while not having a lot. I appreciated the character set-up of your primary and secondary characters. In those situations, I would also ask the family, "What would you be doing if we were NOT here? Go do that." The video might become more active and more interesting. It got slow in the middle as we started introducing stats everywhere. Try to avoid the cheesy wipes. Thank you for taking this story full circle. That was a great payoff. I'm sure that citizenship ceremony was a pain in your butt to shoot. I saw the struggle in some of the shots. Just try to anticipate as much as possible and act quickly.
Honorable Mention
Lewis Karpel WSTM
Judges Comments
DP - KGTV 7 7 7 7 I really like how you shot the photos on the guitar. I don't need to see the reporter nodding to the interview it doesnt add anything to this women's story. For a very photo poor story you did a great job. It was nice to see no floating box photos added in post.
TH KGTV 7 7 7 7 Nice story. I like how you guys made this visual. Be sure to export the version of your story without the lower 3rd gfx for this competition, its suppost to remain anon. Way to be creative. nice work.
JL - KGTV 7 6 6 6 I loved the idea of placing the pictures in the guitar. Sadly, that's all we had. I wanted to see shots of her leafing through the pictures. I think this story would have been better served if you went to her home or his home. Put her in her environment where she can be more compelling. The studio shot was lit well but the interview shots were boring. I don't need to see sad face reporter. Ever. I think you really needed to get her out of the studio. Let her take the viewer to HER world. That would allow you to get shots of her maybe showing you his room or standing in a kitchen. It would have given you more video to work with. Like I said, I loved the guitar but you needed way more.
AH-KGTV 6 6 6 7 Ok, the music? Why? NOOOO. Take it out. Could you get the edit version to submit and not the air check version? Really tired of the CG. The studio setup of the guitar was fine to just get shots and Id have overlooked it, but the tracking crane shots are a little forced. The camera should mimic the eye and the eye can’t do those things so its weird. Avoid movements. Was it possible to get the sister in her own element, at her own home with the guitar in its own space. The piece feels a little superficial because its all so polished and not realistic, and the studio setup you have has no emotion. Its not real life. Its clean, edited well. Audio is good, and its cuts well. Good work.
Judges Comments
KGTV, San Diego, CA | | 1st The Fire In His Eyes - "I like your character, and his sighs and laments edited in. The sound is good, the shots are creative and varied" | 2nd I Didn't Die, I Lived - "Nice work. Loved your editing, it was tight and clean" | 3rd Your Voice is Your Vote - "Thank you for taking this story full circle. That was a great payoff." | HM Oswego Women’s Effort Save Lives, Opens Up About Brother’s Suicide - "Nice story. I like how you guys made this visual."
Judges: KGTV, San Diego, CA