I shot my first proper video project in the summer of 2003. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, and the results were less than stellar. But it was enough to send me in a new trajectory.
The project was a fundraising video for a school. I spend ten days in India shooting with just a rough idea of what we were trying to accomplish. I shot some interviews and b-roll. But I had no idea how it was all going to fit together. I was learning as I went.
Once we got back to the States, I immediately purchased Final Cut Express. Final Cut Pro had just been used by Walter Murch to edit Cold Mountain, and Express was the stripped down version. At just $300 it had 80% of the features of Final Cut Pro. More than enough for what I was doing.
For six consecutive Mondays, I would drive from Denver down to Colorado Springs and spend the day editing on the non-profit’s Mac. I only understood two tools: the pointer and the blade. It was painful, but it worked. We wrapped up the project in time for the board of directors meeting, and they loved the video.
There’s no way I could have completed that project without Final Cut Express. It was affordable, accessible, powerful, and polished. Final Cut Pro X is not the same. I’m not sure there’s anything quite like Final Cut Express today (maybe Hit Film?). So, hats off to the original Final Cut development team. You created a gem.
