Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Midwestern Entry Title: Tu Voz: Episode One Entry Credit: Stephanie Robledo Judge Comment: Great introduction and explanation of the show. Solid use of music and interview clips. One tip for improvement: Give each bite a beat longer to breathe so the clips don't step on each other. It felt a little hurried in the pace but overall excellent work!
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Midwestern Entry Title: Qatar '22 - Episode 1 feat. Mere Escobar Entry Credit: Brandon Cerda Judge Comment: Loved the natural flow of the conversation and mastery of the topic. You could tell you were both very comfortable on the mic. Audio quality overall was good but your use of background tones could have been integrated better by fading in and out or choosing different music. I found it jarring and distracting, almost like an alert on my phone instead of a transitional element. Keep going!
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Del Mar College Entry Title: South Texas Stories, Corpus Christi - All American City Entry Credit: Matthew Garza Judge Comment: Good job finding lots of people to interview and include in your reporting. Watch the audio quality for consistency in volume levels. Also, try to edit clips for more concise answers to your questions to better keep the audience's attention.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Del Mar College Entry Title: South Texas Stories, Aurora Arts Theater Entry Credit: Robert Barerra Judge Comment: Great script and narration content. You chose a cold open without any lead in or background music. This can be effective if the subject is really intense, but it fell flat for me for a feature story intro. Also, watch your audio quality for consistency in volume levels and background noise. You can clean that up with audio editing software using a "reduce background noise" tool. Also, be mindful that some of your clips came through only on one audio channel, meaning it played only in one of my ear buds. You can also check that all the audio is on both A and B channels in an editing software.
Competition Comment: Great entries in this category across varied subject matter, from cultural issues to sports and entertainment. What separated the first place entry from the rest was a mastery of both storytelling and audio editing. You need both to keep your audience engaged.
