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Off the Tracks is apparently done.
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Between the rough cut at the FCP X Creative Summit and yesterday’s release I’ve now seen the film three times. At no point does it feel like marketing. It’s storytelling. All of the things the above commenters talk about are addressed in the film, because all of those things are part of the story, the history of FCP X.
The film was not paid for or sponsored by Apple and the filmmaker does not work for Apple. I continue to find it interesting (and baffling) that anyone who shines a positive light on FCP X is seen as suspicious —even when they make an effort to point out the speed bumps along the way. The filmmaker saw a much bigger picture that extends beyond the boundaries of the software that inspired it, and it is relevant to our entire industry.
Most people on this planet refuse to alter their views no matter what new evidence presents itself, so I wouldn’t expect this film alone to change anyone’s unwavering opinion of FCP X. But it does show what a large portion of this community is thinking and feeling, and it paints a picture of where (I am more or less convinced) the industry is heading.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
OK…then it needed a better trailer. This one made the movie appear to be marketing.
Thx
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Gabriel Spaulding] “At no point does it feel like marketing. It’s storytelling… The film was not paid for or sponsored by Apple and the filmmaker does not work for Apple. I continue to find it interesting (and baffling) that anyone who shines a positive light on FCP X is seen as suspicious…”
I saw it and the extended interviews. I was worried it would feel like a blatant commercial for the product, but it’s really not. Some will interpret it that way. Oftentimes a detailed look at the development of a product can feel a bit like an advocacy piece. This was true for the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Soul of a New Machine, about the missteps and development of a new computer by Data General: https://a.co/a9EWol2
Off the Tracks definitely presents things in a positive way and is not acerbic-toned investigative journalism. But so what — that is not a requirement for storytelling.
It’s interesting that Off the Tracks speaks several times about the democratization of video, yet this documentary itself is a product of that. It doesn’t require “a purpose” to justify its existence. It wasn’t made by a huge team. It was largely a story that a few people wanted to tell, and it was directed, produced and shot by one person.
Before the current era, such narrow topics could not be covered at this level of quality and detail. E.g, decades ago there was talk of making a movie about Soul of a New Machine. It never happened, partially because in that era such a narrow topic was too expensive and risky to tackle. Today that could be done. In fact anyone motivated could go interview the surviving members from that book and make a documentary right now. That is what democratization of video enables. It’s true that FCPX didn’t create this trend but it embraced it.
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[Shane Ross] “This one made the movie appear to be marketing.”
I agree that the trailer felt like something we’d see at an Apple keynote celebrating the 10yr anniversary of FCP X. The overall tone was too melodramatic for my tastes (it’s a piece of editing software, not the cure for polio).
I’d probably check it out for a $1.50 rental, but not really interested in paying $10 for it. Either though social media, blogs, industry publications, and/or real life I know/follow everyone shown in the trailer and I didn’t get the feeling that the doc will tell me anything I don’t already know about the tumultuous, if predictable, path that X had being a nascent piece of software trying to break into a long established market place.
Take me inside the halls of Apple from 2009-ish to 2015 and tell the story starting with the decision kill Legend and the early development of X up through it being used on Focus and I’ll pay $25 for the fancy, extended edition version. 😉
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[Shane Ross] “What purpose does this documentary serve?
What is this documentary trying to say?
Who is the intended audience?”I seen it, its not bad it gives allot insight into the Development, Politics and misunderstanding the concept of technology.
For who is it intended, I would say for them the judge the book by the cover and believe everything they read on the net before having there experience and opinion. 😉
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I bought and watched it.
It was good, but not special or great. It had some nice quotes. The part I thought was the most interesting was a piece of the interview with a User Interface Designer that worked for Apple from 2009-2011, where he talked about the visual feedback they designed so you could SEE (and ‘feel’) how the magnetic timeline worked when you changed a clip.
I think the documentary could be a bit longer and maybe spend less time to the reactions and more interviews with people working on it and hear about their difficulties in re-thinking the editing paradigm and the discussions they must have had. There is some stuff like that in it (like mentioned), but not enough in my opinion. I understand it’s difficult to get a hold of those people because Apple doesn’t want people talking too much about the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Anyhow. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t super deep either.
https://mathieughekiere.wordpress.com
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[Andrew Kimery] “I’d probably check it out for a $1.50 rental, but not really interested in paying $10 for it.”
Interesting. I will say that in it’s current state, it “watches” pretty much like any other documentary style movie.
It looks really good.
Which considering all the various cameras is was shot on, is a pretty remarkably thing. On my retina iPhone X, I honestly couldn’t tell which shots were captured on the $5000 Black Magic camera Brad started with – verses the Red Raven stuff he shot in Europe at IBC last year.
$10 is pretty much price the market places on “movies” as a general category today, documentaries included.
So, really, deciding to go for the equivalent of a “Big Mac Meal” savings today – just means that you chose to stay apart from any really meaningful discussions about the issues it raises, until some future time frame.
And so it goes.
Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery. -
[Bill Davis] “On my retina iPhone X, I honestly couldn’t tell which shots were captured on the $5000 Black Magic camera Brad started with – verses the Red Raven stuff he shot in Europe at IBC last year.”
I’m sorry Bill, but that’s a mutually-exclusive statement. Any decent editor who can do color correction or a full-time colorist can achieve the same result with FCPX, Resolve, Symphony, or Premiere Pro. Plus, making a comparative judgement on a phone screen, no matter how good the iPhone X is, covers a multitude of technical sins.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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[Bill Davis] “$10 is pretty much price the market places on “movies” as a general category today, documentaries included.”
Rental prices aren’t $10.
[Bill Davis] “just means that you chose to stay apart from any really meaningful discussions about the issues it raises, until some future time frame.”
Um… I personally experienced the issues it raises and, as a long time FCP user, have been taking part in meaningful discussions about them since before X was launched (including exchanges with people featured in the trailer).
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[Andrew Kimery] “Rental prices aren’t $10.”
But it isn’t available for rental – exactly like virtually all movies in the period directly adjacent to their initial release.
So why is that relevant?Oh, so then you saw it after all? Else how can you know what issues it actually ended up raising?
This concept of so many people feeling free to opine on creative, artistic, scientific, political or even pop culture creations with barely more than a passing second or third hand exposure to them – is, to me, the weirdest thing about the modern era.
Like TRULY odd.
But that’s just me.
Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.
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