A Simple Equation. Light Peak + Final Cut (Or Avid)= better Film and Television.
Orson Welles would travel the world with a film camera and a “portable” editing station. Orson, unfortunately, lived in a time when film had to be developed, and editing meant he physically had to cut strips of film.
fast forward to today and we move at a much faster pace thanks to digital technology, BUT, there’s a time between what’s shot on a set or location, and when an editor gets time to try out cuts that is still too long, so long that at times there are no chances to re-shoot and fix a scene, or a take. In turn, you wind up with scenes that don’t work or re-shoots do happen but by now actors, and crew might not all be available and what you get are almost detrimental scenarios to the film (see above entry about ‘Out of Africa’).
Light Peak, a piece of Intel technology the company’s been working on for some time, is now being integrated into every electronic that will carry it. It will allow data transfers of 10g/s at its lowest capacity. At it’s highest capacity, 100g/s. This means the capacity to have editors, on set, getting direct high definition raw takes, and cutting a near final cut, of a film, or television show, on the spot. So many people have tried this, and studios sure burn money attempting this, but this gives every filmmaker the opportunity, the chance, to make the editor even more crucial to a film and the ability to maximize all aspects of storytelling. Every take will have direct feedback, from an editor, on the spot.
The studios will keep being the studios, but the indie world is going to give all of us cleaner, better stories. And that’s something to be happy about.
