Young Filmmaker gets serious about FCPX

If you've kept up with the latest editing software you are well aware of the craziness Apple stirred up with Final Cut Pro X a year ago. Personally, I was taken back by FCPX at first. My initial reaction was... "iMovie pro?". It wasn't until FCPX ver 10.0.2 that I threw caution to the wind and jumped into the infamous NLE to see what it was all about.

It didn't take long for me to realize that this is without a doubt the future of editing. It helps break down complex edits to just a few clicks. Once you get the hang of the short cuts and UI you are literally cutting like a ninja, almost at the speed of thought. I suppose the same can be said about Final Cut Pro 7 veterans. But if those veterans were to transition to FCPX, I shutter to think how much faster they would go. I understand they're some set backs to FCPX but Apple has been very good at weeding these problems out with ever update so far. So for me, I've made FCPX my NLE of choice.

But now It looks like a young filmmaker by the name of Chris Gatewood has implemented FCPX into his production workflow for his current feature film, 'Seniors 2012 -Their Story'.

In an interview with FCP.co he said..

"I'm directing, editing, shooting as a senior in high school and cutting almost completely in Final Cut Pro X, without the easy FCPX workflow, this film would most likely not be possible. Since the introduction of FCPX, I've gotten very aggressive with tackling complicated projects; its faster, leaner, and the organization was really intuitive for long term projects. I've been an intern at a few production companies shooting and editing with FCP7 and Premiere. But as I've gotten more experience, I've ventured off into not only editing and shooting, but directing and producing music videos, corporate films, and narrative films professionally. I started a film with a classmate about my senior class as a memoir of our high school years that we could look back on after we've graduated. Soon after releasing this emotion driven trailer my producers at the production company backed the project. Because of my limited budget, I was unable to use the usual professional editors I've worked with in the past.

As a result, I embraced the ease of use of FCPX as an advantage for getting younger students who are used to iMovie to edit a few scenes without the hassle of teaching them FCP7 or Premiere. They learned quickly editing DSLR footage from over 4+ cameras with no transcoding or other setbacks. I was easily able to copy the projects they edited to my external drive to begin color correction and tweaking in minutes for some projects. I was blown away with how productive we became in less than a year working on this project. The film is due to premiere at the Tivoli Theater on May 24th here in St. Louis, MO and I'm very excited showcase it."

Chris filmed a parody of a commercial which led to Proctor & Gamble taking notice and flying him to the SuperBowl as a reward for his work. Soon after he began production on 'Seniors 2012 -Their Story'  which premieres on May 24th in St Louis

Good to see FCPX making ripples in low budget productions. I think it goes without saying that we will begin to hear FCPX being used more and more on indie films.

[source] fcp.co

-Eric Chacón