Apple just released a reboot of their Final Cut Pro video editing application: FPC X. From what I can tell, the X stands for ‘Strike One.’

No?  How’s this…  “They call it FPC-X, I’m thinking FPC-Why?”

Okay Apple, enough joking around. Where's the real FCP upgrade?

People have been asking me about FPCX since it was announced. Am I excited about it? Will I be upgrading soon? Did Apple just throw all of their professional editors under the bus? The answer to all three of these questions is, “Absolutely!” (continue reading…)

Long-distance editing...it's the next-best thing to being there.

I’m working on two big editing projects at the moment and for me they’re a great reminder of how far the technology of editing has advanced in recent years, but also what may have been lost along the way. Editor Travis Bleen, writer-producer Andrew Stoneham, and I have just locked the cut on our new short film Coffee & Pie just in time to do the sound and color correction for our premiere in about two weeks at the Bermuda International Film Festival.  And of course, post-production continues on Divergence with editor Tony Randel, assistant editor Mike Canon, and my co-creator Dan Southworth.

The way I work on most editing projects has changed drastically in the past few years.  Once upon a time, editors literally cut and spliced strips of film, so they had to be in a room where the film was.  There was no duplicate set somewhere else for another editor or the director to muck around with.  The editing happened in the room and it was generally a two-person job because while one was cutting and splicing, the other was going and looking for the right piece of film.

Thank goodness those days are over. (continue reading…)

Hey look a bunch of LEDs on a computer chip. Let's call that Open Source!

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of Open Source Entertainment and just what that mash-up of different worlds could be.  …if anything.

Open Source, of course, comes from the open source software movement where a bunch of people from all over the world to work together in a sort of human cloud computer of developing new software.  Linux is the granddaddy of open source software but there are now numerous applications.  OpenOffice is an open-source Microsoft Office clone.  Blender is an impressive open-source 3D modeling application.

What’s interesting to me is the thought of applying open-source principals to creating filmed entertainment.  Part of the reason I’m considering this is my upcoming action/sci-fi series Divergence.  The first season of Divergence is being produced in a manner that has a lot of similarities to open source—that is, a lot of people working together  with the goal of creating something great, rather than immediately profiting.  In that way, low-budget filmmaking and open source software development have always shared a core key idea. (continue reading…)

You hear the phrase on film sets all the time, “Fix it in post.”  Maybe a C-stand or the mic boom crept into a shot.  With the current level of post-production technology, it’s possible to solve almost any problem in the edit bay—if you have enough time and money.

“Fix it in post,” is the unofficial motto of independent film production.  But look around and ask yourself–how many of the people saying, “Fix it in post,” are actually going to be there in post-production with you?  Probably none of them. (continue reading…)

Can you find the BGP on this film set?

Location, location, location.

A gaffer once told me he’d rather have one bare bulb to light a gorgeous location than a whole truck full of fixtures to try to make an ugly location look good.  Since we’re talking about a guy who’s profession is to use a bunch of cool lights to make things look beautiful, that’s a powerful statement.

For a director, a location can make all the difference in your shoot.  After all, if you and the actors don’t bring the magic, at least the audience can enjoy the pretty backdrop!  Beyond that, a great location can create the opportunity for shots you might not have otherwise had, through framing objects, creating zones of color, tone, or texture, or giving new context to a scene.

It’s a shame, then, that independent productions often come up lacking in the locations department.  I run into this problem often.  Great locations usually cost money, and on independent films where too few people are doing too much without enough, locations have a habit of getting the short shrift—until a day or two before it’s time to start shooting.  It’s not uncommon to find yourself walking onto a location you didn’t even know about the day before, let alone get to scout.

So if you find yourself shooting in a location you’ve never seen before, here are five ways to look like a pro and remind the producers why they hired you in the first place. (continue reading…)