Best of Photojournalism 2008: Video News Photography: Winners
Clips from the Video News Photography and Editing winners in the Best of Photojournalism 2008 are viewable at Poynter Online.
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48-Hour Web Feature Finalists
- “777 Wedding Vegas Style”
- Rick Gershon, Getty Images
- “Baseball Brings Blacksburg Community Together”
- Christina Pino-Marina, washingtonpost.com
- “Cardstacker Destroys his Record Tower”
- Aaron Chimbel, WFAA.com
- “Tarryl Hill Funeral”
- Brian Kaufman, Detroit Free Press
- “Two Years, No Help”
- Rick Gershon, Getty Images
Winners
- 1st
- “Tarryl Hill Funeral”
- Brian Kaufman, Detroit Free Press
- 2nd
- “777 Wedding Vegas Style”
- Rick Gershon, Getty Images
- 3rd
- “Two Years, No Help”
- Rick Gershon, Getty Images
- HM
- “Baseball Brings Blacksburg Community Together”
- Christina Pino-Marina, washingtonpost.com
Judges’ Comments
- Tim Griffis
This category was a very different, yet very refreshing look at video storytelling. I would recommend everyone click on all the links of the finalists.
The winner was clear. “Tarryl Hill Funeral” had all emotion and all the elements. In “777 Wedding Vegas Style” we loved the mix of stills with video. Adding the layer of natural sound under the still pictures worked exceptionally well.
In “Two Years, No Help” we spent a day getting to know Katrina victims. Although the edges were sometimes rough, the story came though.
- Bob Gould
This was the first web category we judged and we realized that we had to open our minds to understand that the web entries would be a completely different style than what we are used to watching.
The winning entry was a moving tribute to a fallen soldier. This story was really nicely told with no reporter narration…I felt like I was there. This was produced differently than what I’ve seen before for the death of a soldier. Kudos to the photographer who produced this. What a wonderful gift to the family to have their son immortalized with this lasting tribute.
2nd place was a fun feature on weddings in Vegas on July 7, 2007. The mixture of still photographs with the video really showed true multimedia and added some freshness to the piece. It was a great slice of life showing these couples getting married in outrageous chapels with Elvis; a 50s diner chapel and riding in the pink Cadillac.
“2 years, no help” placed 3rd. I liked the pacing of this piece. The story had some great emotion showing the plight of these people in New Orleans still waiting for some help after Katrina. They are survivors, but don’t have much to their name. The natural moments with the guy playing guitar and the couple going about their daily life helped this piece along.
We awarded an HM to “Baseball Brings Blackburg community together” had some nice moments, and I felt like I was there. Good job taking us through the whole game.
- Jeff Roberts
A refreshing and new look at journalism that moves beyond television to the web.
The 48hr feature category showed us strong storytelling in an evolving way. Sometimes not through the steady shot with a flowing transition that we would expect but with something harder edged and raw. The winner "Tarryl Hill Funeral" was an example of what can be achieved with good storytelling skills.
- Preston Rudie
The winning entry in this category was a unanimous decision, “Tarryl Hill Funeral.” The photography was solid with some wonderful composition, the audio (clarity) was spotless and the editor lets the story breath when it needs to. I really felt this story offered the viewer a longer and more in-depth look at what this family was experiencing. One of the biggest compliments I can say about this entry is that while the story focused around Tarryl Hill’s funeral and the story included several different sound bites about Mr. Hill, I never felt like the story was going in circles. I really felt this story probably augmented the newspaper’s coverage of this subject. Nice job!
- Nellie Stinson
Once again after seeing a category, we the judges agreed at the beginning that this story stood out from the rest of the entries. It has the elements for any great story; moments that made you laugh and sigh. I thought the way that the storyteller weaved “file” video into the story worked very well. All of the finalist in this category had a unique style and all should be proud of the stories that they told.
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