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The Digital Moviola

As we saw in the Apple keynote on March 2, the software and hardware technology company is releasing a new version of iMovie for iPad. While we won’t truly know what the UI will be like until consumers get their hands on it, what was revealed during the demo by Randy Ubillos was nothing short of impressive. My first impression was that I had just witnessed the advent of the digital moviola.

The analog moviola of 1924, became the de facto tool for motion picture editors. The reason? Engineering and design simplicity. iMovie for iPad has taken that fundamental philosophy that drove the elder Serrurier and his son and transformed it into a potential digital marvel.

but it’s not a professional editing app

The market for iMovie for iPad is aimed at the consumer market. It is an app for mom, dad, the kids or the weekend warriors out there. The app follows the Apple philosophy of simplicity and ease of use and will appeal to those users. But what Apple has done with iMovie for iPad is taken the process of editing back to it’s analog roots. With the app, the experience is key. It’s you the editor, a viewing screen and the footage.

The moviola is a simple machine but was embraced by professionals. The experience is simple too, it’s you the editor, a viewing screen and the footage. There was a hand crank and controls to move the footage backward and forward. Professional editors were physically engaged with the machine to find the cut and then with their bare hands cut and tape the footage.

This is editing in a nutshell. It is the process of searching through clips then connecting two different clips and putting them together to create meaning. Both the iMovie for iPad and the analog moviola are similar in this regard. The editor controls and manipulates the footage by touch and feel.

touch matters

iMovie for iPad is NOT iMovie for Mac. The Mac version of iMovie, and for that matter Final Cut, creates a distance between the editor and the footage because of the inherent need for a keyboard and mouse. The UI of any standard computer is a two stage process. The user controls the mouse and keyboard. The mouse and keyboard control what happens on the screen.

The iPad version removes this staged process and bridges the gulf between user and content. You don’t touch the mouse or buttons that affect the content on the screen. You touch the content itself with your fingers. It’s you and the content or rather, it’s the editor and his footage. Because of the touch interface, the hardware appears to magically disappear.

Because the technology magically disappears, the editor is free to be the artist and craftsmen that they are. They are no longer using their mental faculties on purely technical concerns. They are freed to put their full mental capacities in finding where to cut and in turn developing visual vocabulary and defining visual meaning.

the indescribable

There is something intangible in the tangible handling of footage. “Handling” the footage inherently forces you to evaluate the decisions that are made because it connects the editor to the material in a way that a PC will never be capable of doing. I am thinking that it is not just because of pure nostalgia that Michael Kahn, ACE prefers to handle celluloid. My guess is that he understands the importance of a craftsman handling the material that they are shaping.

Maybe with editors having the potential of “touching” their footage again, we will experience new rhythmic techniques that have been lost because of the PC setup. I am reminded of the rhythmic editing techniques pioneered by Dede Allen in Bonnie and Clyde (take note of the scene when Bonnie and Clyde are gunned down). These were techniques she developed by handling the material and thinking through the process.

in summary

Bringing touch into the digital equation will remove a lot of the distance between the editor and his/her footage. An artist and craftsman not only wants, but needs to be hands on with their materials. That is how they are best able to interpret what the materials are “telling” them whether it is wood, stone, or celluloid.

While digital footage is merely a representation of what we had with celluloid, touch goes a long way toward making the digital illusion seem real. Regaining the impression of the tactile feel of working with the footage will allow the editors mind to work differently. They are no longer driving a mouse and keyboard. They are driving the footage itself and because of the direct interaction their minds WILL work differently.

the future digital flatbed

Since iMovie for iPad is marketed as a consumer app, one has to wonder what Apple and the other editing software companies could do with their “professional” apps by developing them for touch. Apple has the potential to take the lead here since they have taken the world by storm with the iPad, iOS, and the touch UI. Final Cut Studio, with pure touch control, could open up a world of creative opportunity. It will be interesting to see what the rumored next generation Final Cut will look like.

Let the artists and craftsmen concentrate on being just that. And let the technology people support them. Editors end up wasting a lot of creative brain power needing to be both. Apple stresses their philosophy of intersecting technology with the humanities. Here with the intimacy of touch they have the opportunity to give editors better creative freedom. It is no longer an editor and their computer, but the editor and their content. March 11 could be a peak into the future of professional digital editing.

If it was possible to actually handle ones and zeros, the touch UI could just be it.

dlb

David L. Briggs
Visual. Digital. Cinema.

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The Digital Moviola

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dlb

David L. BriggsVisual. Digital. Cinema.

BLOG powered by WordPress. Designed for modern browsers. Enjoy the blog and peruse the site for my pictures, videos, and experience. Thank you for visiting.

The Digital Moviola

962 Responses to The Digital Moviola

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

SOME INDUSTRY LINKS

SOME STUFF I READ

David L. Briggs
Visual. Digital. Cinema.

BLOG powered by WordPress. Designed for modern browsers.

Enjoy the blog and peruse the site for my pictures, videos, and experience. Thank you for visiting.