1st Place :: Division A

Courage

Neuqua Valley

Documentary

Entry Description

A short documentary about a boy who has gone through a lot in a short period of time, but keeps a smile on his face and moves forward with courage

Judge 1

Positives: Perfect interview composition and lighting. The background is soft, colorful and not intrusive. Great setup. Awesome choice in b-roll footage and photos. I got to see Cole at his worst when he was young and how well he is doing now. Excellent contrast.

Improvements: I dont think the fathers emotional segment where he takes off the mic works. I would have cut away before he takes it off. As we fade away, we see him start to take his mic off and it makes us wonder where he is going, then later he is back. I also maybe would have tried to get an interview with a doctor or physician with knowledge on his condition. They can add a lot of weight to an argument when making a documentary.

Judge 2

Positives: This was a very well-constructed documentary that had a lot of heart. The opening does a great job of diving you right into Cole's story and allowing you to fall in love with him from the beginning. The interviews were set up very nicely with an interesting background. All of the b-roll footage was beautifully shot and well placed throughout the interviews. I absolutely loved the footage of him playing hockey with his brother - that was extra special. The b-roll footage was a good mix of home, school and activities which kept my interest the whole time.

Improvements: You can hear a layer of audio that sounds like room/ambient noise throughout some of the interviews. At around the 3:05 mark it goes to black for a long period of time that made me think the documentary was over. I think there could be a better transition to get to the topic of his brother and sister without the use of all that black. It takes you out of the documentary. I'd also eliminate the small section where you can here the interviewer ask a question to Cole. I don't think that question is truly needed and it will allow you to keep the smooth flow of the documentary.

Judge 3

Positives: Great job! Good camera movement and pacing / flow in the editing. Great broll to propel story in the scenes and connect the audience with Cole. Well made doc with a well told story.

Improvements: Only knit picky note I can give is on the insert shot of the article on Cole's 17 month heart ablation. Watch the framing, the page is cut off and then it goes to another shot with some of the article. It is essentially the same thing just showing the article. There is not enough time to read it so I would just use it once and reframe the shot so the audience can see the picture of Cole and be able to read the headline.