Mike Humphries-The 1st Place entry, "Big Brother, Big Business," tells about the increasing lack of privacy in America. The editors used a full palette of techniques to expertly craft the story. Great graphics, interesting color effects and varying video-playback speeds all worked to make the story visually interesting and compelling to watch. Unlike the effects used on many of the stories in other categories, the ones in this piece all worked to further the story and did not diminish its focus. It is tight, elegantly edited
work.

"A Day at Pedernales" is the other extreme in editing, using only cuts to efficiently tell about a group of volunteers at a state park who assist the full-time employees.  Through great use of good natural sound and beautiful shot selection, the editor was able to maintain a good pace throughout the piece.  Book-ending the story with the volunteers relaxing and visiting with each other was a very nice touch.

"I Thought Everybody Had a Tiger," a story about a big cat sanctuary in Colorado, is also a well-edited story. Great shot variety and good, unobtrusive natural sound helped carry the piece and made it a fun story to watch. The editor made good storytelling decisions throughout, and the results show. A solid story.

Stephanie Ottjepka--"Big Brother, Big Business" had a flashy style with an enormous amount of effects, and it worked. There were many entries in all the categories that we judged that tried this style, and this was the only one that I really liked.

The eye-candy approach and excitement-building techniques were appropriate for this story. When it was time for the viewer to really pay attention to what's being said, the edits slowed down, and the effects were sparse. When there were transitions or places where excitement needed to be built, the quick, highly effected edits would occur. I didn't find it distracting. The editors put a lot of work into this show.

"A Day at Pedernales" had good sequencing. It told the story well, kept my interest, had a clean presentation, and had good shot selection.