Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: New Trier High School Entry Title: Nation’s No. 1 punter looks to find success in his next chapter at NU Entry Credit: Lauren Sullivan Judge Comment: Good video as is, but this had the potential to be much better. First and foremost, we’re missing essential numbers and info about this athlete. What’s his punting average? His height, weight? What makes him stand out from other punters? Why is he considered the No. 1 punter in the nation? What’s his technique? Some comments from one of the Northwestern coaches would have been nice. We also needed more b-roll footage of the punter in action, including in the All-American game mentioned late in the video. The walk-and-talk segment was nicely done, but the static interview in the cafeteria went on too long and should have been broken up by b-roll instead of stills. This video is solid, but it would have been stronger if it had been trimmed to under three minutes.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Downers Grove South High School Entry Title: DGS shows school spirit at winter pep assembly Entry Credit: Eleanor Loznicka, Adrian Herres, Nia Ayala Judge Comment: Great length and nice pace! Lots of good b-roll. Strong narration. Audio quality is a bit inconsistent, especially in the second half of the video. But overall, well done!
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: New Trier High School Entry Title: Bear-apy, Ep. 2 Entry Credit: Michael Batson Judge Comment: This was really funny. Definitely out of the ordinary compared to the other entries in this category. The host does a great job of selling the therapy conceit. Very clever, lots of fun.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Downers Grove South High School Entry Title: DGS starts speech season Entry Credit: Adele Kelly Judge Comment: The poor audio quality in the intro and outro keeps this from placing higher. The audio really should have been fixed before publishing this video. Re-recording the intro and outro would have been the right move. The rest of the video is solid, with interesting b-roll and informative soundbites. A few details about the speech team’s past performance would have been helpful. Does DGS routinely challenge for the state title in speech? We aren’t told. Some info about the team’s 2024-25 schedule would also have helped.
