Best of Photojournalism 2009: Video News Photography: Winners

Clips from the Video News Photography and Editing winners in the Best of Photojournalism 2009 are now viewable at Poynter Online.

Chat with Al Tompkins and the BOP TV judges — live each day at 12:00 EST. Ask the judges questions and hear what they love and have learned from the entries they have seen each day.

In-Depth/Series Finalists

(In Alphabetical Order)

“Colfax”
Corky Scholl, KUSA/Denver
“Defining Dillinger”
Steve Rhodes, WTHR/Indianapolis
“Grace and Hope”
Stan Heist, WBFF/Baltimore
“Inside the Shaolin Temple”
Steve Rhodes, WTHR/Indianapolis
“No Regrets”
Brett Akagi, KARE/Minneapolis
“Poor Little Town”
Jonathan Malat, KARE/Minneapolis
“Shawn’s Long Wait”
Scott Jensen, KTUU/Anchorage
“Tragic Teens”
Brad Swagger, KMSP/Minneapolis
“War Widows”
David Delozier, KUSA/Denver

Chair Note: One of the finalists was BOP judge Scott Jensen. His story was played in the other room when it was chosen as a finalist. He wasn't in the room when the finalists where viewed. And he had no part in picking the winners.

In-Depth/Series Winners

1st
“Shawn’s Long Wait”
Scott Jensen, KTUU/Anchorage
“Shawn’s Long Wait” also won 1st Place for In-Depth entries in the Q1 2008 National Quarterly Clip Contest.
2nd
“Poor Little Town”
Jonathan Malat, KARE/Minneapolis
3rd
“No Regrets”
Brett Akagi, KARE/Minneapolis
HM
“War Widows”
David Delozier, KUSA/Denver
HM
“Inside the Shaolin Temple”
Steve Rhodes, WTHR/Indianapolis

Judges’ Comments

Terry Bulger

“Shawn’s Long Wait”- Incredible emotion that was completely real and not over dramatized or over sold in any way. Terrific sound with kid all the way through and those words carried the piece from beginning to end. A real fly on the wall way of telling a story.

“Poor Little Town”- This was the best story I’ve seen all week, incredibly well done from beginning to end. Reporter and photographer in perfect harmony. Simple static shots set up new people and advance the story to a next step. Great stand-up, well thought and executed, and a lump in the throat ending.

“No Regrets”- You knew this one would be emotional from the get-go, and it was.…excellent use of sound letting the audience feel connected to the child, obviously this kid was special and that feeling came across throughout the story.

“Inside the Shaolin Temple”- Beautifully shot and edited…early pics carry it, then the Kung Fu School comes in at the right time to take it to a new level, Well done.

I think it’s fair to say that this was the most enjoyable category to judge, with a whole bunch of entries that were of the highest quality. We had at least ten that were at one time in the discussion for Final Awards. Great job to all who entered the In-Depth Category.

Jon Knorr

This category was style vs substance. Emotion vs production. This had the best of all worlds. We decided to award pure emotion over small town. Emotion played a part in all the finalists. It was a pleasure watching this category. The story of Shawn brings a tear to your eye. Watching this story you feel your inside the life of this kid who is awaiting a heart transplant.

There seems to be a minimalist feel to “Poor Little Town”, as life seems be slipping away.

With “No Regrets” the photographer captures the moment in a kids life that has just had his leg amputated. It is a very emotional piece as you watch him as he overcomes many hurdles. There were no losers among the finalists; if we could we would have awarded them all.

Shane McEachern

WOW!!! This category was a blast to judge and there were many, many, many good choices in this one. For the top four it came down to storytelling, moments, and raw emotion, and there was a lot of raw emotion in three of them. The fourth, “POOR LITTLE TOWN” was just masterful storytelling and photojournalism all around. This category was a true honor to judge and with all of the changes and craziness in our industry these days it gives me great hope for the industry on so many levels. Good storytelling and photojournalism will always be more compelling to me than anything else.

1st “SHAWN’S LONG WAIT” a fantastic story, told very well, it made you feel like you were with the family, waiting, waiting, waiting. The emotion in this piece and the moment where this hardened little boy finally starting cracking in the end, (along with the sheer agony of the mother) really set this one apart. Using sound from classmates and the innocence of their videotaped messages for the main character was a unique way to help this story become even more powerful. It had a lot of simple touches that took the story to another level, and the ending was a subtle touch which brought it home. The judges thought overall this piece had the best emotion of the top four and this is what made this story win.

2nd “POOR LITTLE TOWN” was neck and neck with “SHAWN’S LONG WAIT” down to the wire. This is probably my favorite “the-times-they-are-a-changin’” type of stories I’ve seen this year. Most of the time when these types of stories are done, they are disasters, but they really captured something here... the desperation of a dying town and county. Long shots, minimal edits, greys and whites, juxtaposed throughout the piece, we jumped from town to town, classroom to classroom within Kittson County, and it all fit together perfectly. This didn’t have the raw emotion of the winning piece but it was close right down to the wire. Deciding between these two stories (1st and 2nd) was the last thing we did when judging this category. Wow.

3rd “WAR WIDOWS” is also a phenomenal piece with solid as rock writing and attention to detail. The photography was beautiful and the pacing was flawless.... absolutely flawless... There isn’t anything to say about this story on the negative and it should show you how good the entries were in this category that it would place as a third. This story should be a great teaching tool for students of the NPPA craft. The emotion levels on this one were high as well.... and it is nice to see military stories done with human emotion as its foundation instead of numbers and figures for a change.

HM "INSIDE THE SHAOLIN TEMPLE" was one of the best produced pieces we've seen this week. A tour-de-force of rapid fire editing and razor sharp techniques which suited the subject matter. Informative, tough, and well told… this one took us inside the kung fu camps and really made us feel like we were there. Great job, would have placed higher if the subject matter was as powerful as the other four. What a treat to see this kind of dedication, along with "DEFINING DILLINGER".... these stories would make my ND drool on his day planner.

Tom Sharkey

First I want to say that all the finalists in this category were all worthy of being winners. I would encourage everyone to watch them at some point. But our job was to award the top four or five stories and that was very hard to do, in the end I think no one was totally happy with the line-up but for this category it came down to a question of style over substance. awe went mostly with substance. After all how do we reach out of those square and rectangular boxes and touch people in a way that rewards them for watching us every night. I know we will take some flack for this but I truly believe “Shawn’s Long Wait” did that job a little bit better than the others. The camera at times almost melted into the wall and let us experience the pain the Mother and Son were feeling being away from home for so long. I think that’s an emotion we can all identify with but the circumstances here were much more desperate than most have had to endure.

‘Poor Little Town” was a slice out of the pie of middle America, a slice that unfortunately most of America is now seems to be dealing with. More understated than some of the others but it’s the kind of story that sneaks up on you and grabs you with it’s characters. “No Regrets” was another tug at your heart story that enormous emotional appeal and the camera again appeared to fade into the wall so the story would present itself. “War Widows” was a page turner that kept getting better as it went along. Finally “Inside the Shaolin Temple” was one of those stories where the style had as much to do with the success of that story than anything. It is one of those stories that just wows with it’s production values.

I am sure other photographers will disagree with our choices but I am equally sure there will be those that will agree with picks, and the one sure bet is that all the finalists deserve a pat on the back because this is the best work we have seen yet.

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