Film Your Life

As I've often told people, if software such as iMovie or Final Cut Pro had existed back when I was in school, I would have become a (hopefully successful) movie or video editor for a living rather than a writer/editor/graphic guy/Mac god. I love reshaping the work of others (insert buzz saw sound here) or my own work into a presentation fit for the public. That's why I love (and do occasionally work in) print editing, but video/film is of course a much more immediate medium. I guess you could call it my second love (my first was acting/theatre, my third is writing/editing) as far as career choices go.

Back when I was in school, the idea of using a computer in any capacity of film or video editing was unheard of. Even just practising editing meant signing up for an impossibly-long list of standby spots so you could get an hour on the flatbed editor (a Moviola!). By comparison, the electronic videotape cutters looked positively futuristic.

PC video editing has always been, at best, clunky. A few years back, however, processors finally reached the stage where it was possible (using special Avid software setups that cost merely a few tens of thousands dollars, or Adobe Premiere and a special hardware setup for under $10K) to do actual broadcast-quality video editing. Exciting stuff.

Naturally, a few years later Apple completely reinvents the field with iMovie, bringing the price down to free so normal people could do the basics, and even amateurs on a student budget could manage to spring for FCP ($999) so as to quickly become professionals. If you're looking to do any filming and want to handle the editing yourself or have someone do it cheaply, a powerful Mac and FCP is all you need, and Apple can prove it to you right in your town.

Now that Mac OS X has entered the mix, I was wondering if video professionals were at a point where they could make the switch and/or upgrade. Print and publishing pros have been held back both by some shortcomings in the new OS (not every bell & whistle, and a few print-oriented necessities, are yet there compared to OS 9), and by some software publishers (Quark, I'm looking at you, ya bastards), but what about Apple's new darling, desktop video?

This article from Entertainment Today seems to put those concerns to rest. In a revisit of their famous (and years-old now) article "The One Man Studio," they come to the conclusion that almost anybody with the drive to become a filmmaker -- and a Mac with FCP -- has a good shot at making their dream come true. It's excellent reading, and I recommend it to everyone who might someday like to make a film. Or edit one. Or just wish they had had these toys back in the day, like me. :)