(New!!!) Blue Wild Photo/Video Contest

[naich]

Originally Posted by macsub

I would love to watch all the contest videos too, just for entertainment and learning purposes.

I couldn’t attend the event so I have only watched those posted here.

If you have links to the other videos, please add them to the list so everyone can watch them.

First Place:

"Mediterranean Dreams" - Winner - BLUE WILD Spearfishing Video Contest 2013 - YouTube


2nd place:

Running of the Bulls - YouTube


3rd place:

Once in a Lifetime By Dan Silveira - YouTube


Keyskid:

Best of 2012 - Spearfishing in the Florida Keys - YouTube


Kraken:

The Blue Wild Spearfishing - YouTube


Macsub:

Hunting Mutton Snappers - Blue Wild 2013 - YouTube

Hunting Black Groupers - Blue Wild 2013 - YouTube

although second place stoned some nice cobia the editing/quality/variety didn't hold a light to Kraken, and first place was by no means "significantly better". the fact that he didn't place in the top 10 means someone clearly didn't want that video there, shame that there is shadiness going on.

[macsub]

Originally Posted by naich

although second place stoned some nice cobia the editing/quality/variety didn't hold a light to Kraken, and first place was by no means "significantly better". the fact that he didn't place in the top 10 means someone clearly didn't want that video there, shame that there is shadiness going on.

After watching those three videos again, Kraken's video is incredibly good and well done and the first place video is amazing too, I guess it would be a hard decision, but the 3 minute issue was just... not cool.


Anyway, no more links?

[kmoose]

It was very bold for Sheri to take on such an enhancement to an already awesome event only to have the subjective results scrutinized as if some horrible injustice was diabolically planned and executed. The reality of the situation is that publicly posted pettiness is being redundantly brought forth in an effort to produce what result? Mended ego? Vetted conspiracy theory?

I am glad Sheri is considering dropping the video contest and support her decision fully if she chooses to do so. Maybe some day people in this community can grow up and appreciate the selfless dedication people like Sheri are willing to expel to promote spearfishing rather than pander to their own egotistical needs and agendas.

Sheri, if you need material for next year's film festival I will work hard this coming year to see if we can put something together worth looking at. No contest, judging or prizes required.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by kmoose

It was very bold for Sheri to take on such an enhancement to an already awesome event only to have the subjective results scrutinized as if some horrible injustice was diabolically planned and executed. The reality of the situation is that publicly posted pettiness is being redundantly brought forth in an effort to produce what result? Mended ego? Vetted conspiracy theory?

I am glad Sheri is considering dropping the video contest and support her decision fully if she chooses to do so. Maybe some day people in this community can grow up and appreciate the selfless dedication people like Sheri are willing to expel to promote spearfishing rather than pander to their own egotistical needs and agendas.

Sheri, if you need material for next year's film festival I will work hard this coming year to see if we can put something together worth looking at. No contest, judging or prizes required.

Very well put!
More eloquent than my response.

[SpearoTastic]

Originally Posted by kmoose

It was very bold for Sheri to take on such an enhancement to an already awesome event only to have the subjective results scrutinized as if some horrible injustice was diabolically planned and executed. The reality of the situation is that publicly posted pettiness is being redundantly brought forth in an effort to produce what result? Mended ego? Vetted conspiracy theory?

I am glad Sheri is considering dropping the video contest and support her decision fully if she chooses to do so. Maybe some day people in this community can grow up and appreciate the selfless dedication people like Sheri are willing to expel to promote spearfishing rather than pander to their own egotistical needs and agendas.

Sheri, if you need material for next year's film festival I will work hard this coming year to see if we can put something together worth looking at. No contest, judging or prizes required.

Hear, hear!

[HeadHunter]

Originally Posted by kmoose

It was very bold for Sheri to take on such an enhancement to an already awesome event only to have the subjective results scrutinized as if some horrible injustice was diabolically planned and executed. The reality of the situation is that publicly posted pettiness is being redundantly brought forth in an effort to produce what result? Mended ego? Vetted conspiracy theory?

I am glad Sheri is considering dropping the video contest and support her decision fully if she chooses to do so. Maybe some day people in this community can grow up and appreciate the selfless dedication people like Sheri are willing to expel to promote spearfishing rather than pander to their own egotistical needs and agendas.

Sheri, if you need material for next year's film festival I will work hard this coming year to see if we can put something together worth looking at. No contest, judging or prizes required.

Well said Kenny. It's ridicilous that those caliber of Judges integrity can so easily be called into question, by a few on a public forumn .

It was the first time that the BW had put on a Video contest. How 'bout we all work together to make it better? Logical suggestions, pointing out where mistakes may have been made, etc. would be great and well received.

Suggesting dirty play, complaining how yours (or your buddys) vid ranked, and talking about not entering again is unhelpful at best.

I enjoyed watching all the vids. I thought it was a nice adition to the BW and the crowd seemed to agree. I'm glad I didn't have to judge it, quite a few were pretty close in my mind.

I would certaintly understand if the people who were judging this free to enter contest and who were not compensated for their time, might get a little put off by the comments of a few.

They probably won't though as they're outstanding individuals who have proven there standings in the dive community many times over.

Sheri, if you choose to have the Video contest again, great, if you choose not to and just let people send vids to run on monitiors at the 2014 BW, great also.
Whichever way you go with it, 99% of the people will be fine with it.

[OutdoorCatholic]

Some of you are arguing with strawmen so I will reemphasize that a)This is not an argument with Sheri and her continued hard work on this awesome event b)This is not an argument that the judges were dishonorable c)This is not an argument that Kraken should have won.

As a forward, I have no idea who Kraken is; maybe I wouldn't even like him if and when I met him, but a reasonably subjective call does not place his video outside of the top ten. I also recognize that I'm not going to make any friends sticking my neck out for some guy I don't know on the internet.

With that said, having his video not even place is not a matter of personal taste: his video was objectively well done in almost every measurable way. Even if you hate Dubstep, the video was still incredible on mute (that's how I first watched it at work). How his video was forgotten in the results is dumbfounding and blindly ignoring or pushing off any concerns about this is doing a disservice to both the community at large who contributed, but especially to Kraken who obviously busted his butt, putting many, many hours into this production, to create a work of passion that has been seemingly thrown to the wayside as just one of many.

I'm not sure what happened, but the only conclusions I can guess at would be that he was disqualified due to a rule I haven't heard, or was missed on accident when voting or submitting the original final videos; my best guess is probably the latter but I just wish we had an answer one way or the other.

Thanks,
Michael †

[jfjf]

Keep it up guys.... she is NEVER gonna get Steven to be judge for 2014 at this rate.

[OutdoorCatholic]

Perhaps coming will inspire him to include scenes of spearfishing for Indiana Jones 5.

[Kraken]

Originally Posted by HeadHunter

Well said Kenny. It's ridicilous that those caliber of Judges integrity can so easily be called into question, by a few on a public forumn .

It was the first time that the BW had put on a Video contest. How 'bout we all work together to make it better? Logical suggestions, pointing out where mistakes may have been made, etc. would be great and well received.

Suggesting dirty play, complaining how yours (or your buddys) vid ranked, and talking about not entering again is unhelpful at best.

I enjoyed watching all the vids. I thought it was a nice adition to the BW and the crowd seemed to agree. I'm glad I didn't have to judge it, quite a few were pretty close in my mind.

I would certaintly understand if the people who were judging this free to enter contest and who were not compensated for their time, might get a little put off by the comments of a few.

They probably won't though as they're outstanding individuals who have proven there standings in the dive community many times over.

Sheri, if you choose to have the Video contest again, great, if you choose not to and just let people send vids to run on monitiors at the 2014 BW, great also.
Whichever way you go with it, 99% of the people will be fine with it.

Very well said Dan. I have the utmost respect for Sheri and her decisions. Although I was disappointed to see my video didn't make the cut, I never once called Into question whether my video was better or worse than any of the other entries. In fact, I loved the 3rd place video and personally thought his followed the guidelines the best while keeping us entertained the whole 3 minutes. Unfortunately my issue was with the fact that rules were bent for some entries and not for others. I also did not appreciate Dimitri finding my personal Facebook account and coming on there and telling me I should keep my mouth shut. I have a 6 paragraph message from him stating his displeasure with me. I never wanted to cause this sort of drama but I just thought it was only right to bring up questions. I respect the judges decisions but I did not appreciate them bending the rules for some people when others followed the written guidelines. I also agree with the fact that this was supposed to just be for fun and that people shouldn't be so concerned with the judges decisions, however $1000 worth of dive gear is insanely important to some people and I dont think its right to deny those entries that put incredible amounts of time and effort into their projects just to bend the rules and give $1000 away to someone else. If there was nothing on the line then I would have kept my mouth shut, but because this wasnt just some trophy or sheet of paper saying congrats, but rather a substantial amount of money, I felt it was only right to bring up some important questions.

[jfjf]

I don't want to escalate the drama factor more, but...we all enjoy the videos of our sport.

Please remember that there are probably several other sponsors or entities (other than the BW Expo) that are seeing this thread and I very much doubt that it is serving to provide motivation for them to participate in (or fund) future "contests".



Possibly the message you all are sending is that the prizes should be smaller?

[ny_er]

oh there is money involved, no wonder there is all this drama

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by Kraken

Very well said Dan. I have the utmost respect for Sheri and her decisions. Although I was disappointed to see my video didn't make the cut, I never once called Into question whether my video was better or worse than any of the other entries. In fact, I loved the 3rd place video and personally thought his followed the guidelines the best while keeping us entertained the whole 3 minutes. Unfortunately my issue was with the fact that rules were bent for some entries and not for others. I also did not appreciate Dimitri finding my personal Facebook account and coming on there and telling me I should keep my mouth shut. I have a 6 paragraph message from him stating his displeasure with me. I never wanted to cause this sort of drama but I just thought it was only right to bring up questions. I respect the judges decisions but I did not appreciate them bending the rules for some people when others followed the written guidelines. I also agree with the fact that this was supposed to just be for fun and that people shouldn't be so concerned with the judges decisions, however $1000 worth of dive gear is insanely important to some people and I dont think its right to deny those entries that put incredible amounts of time and effort into their projects just to bend the rules and give $1000 away to someone else. If there was nothing on the line then I would have kept my mouth shut, but because this wasnt just some trophy or sheet of paper saying congrats, but rather a substantial amount of money, I felt it was only right to bring up some important questions.

Maybe a friendly worded PM next time!

[Sheri]

Originally Posted by Kraken

...my issue was with the fact that rules were bent for some entries and not for others.

Kraken, that is a very serious accusation there. By saying that on a public forum, you are discrediting the contest -- which also discredits the judges, the sponsors, etc.

If there really was some ruling that was not fairly applied, I'd like to hear about it.

As far as I know, the only decisions that had to be made along the way were these:
1. A decision had to be made about the strictness of the 3 minutes. The judges allowed up to 5 seconds leeway for everyone. I did not personally make this decision, but I stand behind it. This isn't the Olympics.
2. One contestant had his equipment stolen on the last day of the contest, and he respectfully asked for an additional day to retrieve his files. I made the decision to allow it, and I stand behind it.
3. Your first link did not work, and you turned your final working link in past midnight Greece time on the last day of the contest. Dimitris decided to accept it. It seems reasonable, because the time zone was not specified in the rules.

Examining the decisions that Dimitris and I made, I would still make all the same decisions. I thought the contest ran very smoothly for a first time contest and that all rules were fairly applied. If there's something more that I don't know about, I'd like to hear about it.

By the way, if you want to have some constructive criticism of your video, the judges offered the following comments. This is intended to help you, not hurt you, should you choose to enter more contests (no more at Blue Wild). I know it's not easy to do underwater video, editing, etc, so I hope you do not get discouraged and that you continue with your efforts.
-- There is not any scenario or story
-- The intro (a baby?) is irrelevant and the romantic violin music have nothing to do with spearfishing
-- I found it too scrambled
-- Several scenes were too dark and should have been omitted in the editing
-- I liked the most interesting takes with the cameras on the guns, documenting the accuracy of the shooting (though much of that was redundant in the other films)
-- The close-up of the young man’s face at the end was extraneous and self-serving

Personally, I think your video is fantastic. I commend your effort. I love your enthusiasm for the sport. But I sure don't appreciate you discrediting this contest.

[Kraken]

The winning video was 3:46 long. And even when edited down ( after the contest was final) it was still too long (by nearly 13 second). If that's the case then I think all of the top 10 videos should be allowed a grace period to re edit their videos and fix the issues just like the winner did. Honestly, I really do appreciate the critiques on my video. It gives me areas to work on and that's what I appreciate most. But I personally don't mind that my video was not chosen in the top. I never had an issue with that because I respect the decision. I just wanted to know how the judging was broken down and what sort of leeway was allowed for the winner. No accusations against anyone, just curious. I could also understand if no one had brought up the question on how strict you would be ruling on time limits but I had specifically asked you and you stated that not even a 3:30 long video would be accepted and it should be 3:00 Max.

Originally Posted by Sheri

Johnoly, that is a pretty eye-catching picture alright! Wow!

I agree with the points you are making and we will definitely "tweak"" the rules next year, including the fact that you must be present to win. I don't think Todd Essick is entering the contest...is he? We don't have very many entries, so the odds are with you!

Yes, Kraken, the video is limited to 3:00 minutes max. Maybe you can edit it down to 3:00 without losing too much? Good luck!!!