Avid® (Nasdaq:AVID) announced the upcoming availability of Avid Media Composer® | First, a free version of the industry-standard video editing system. Media Composer | First is a brand new, fully featured video editing solution that provides aspiring creative professionals, students, and those just starting their professional careers with free access to the same creative tools used by the most successful and acclaimed filmmakers and television program creators in the world. And because it’s powered by the Avid MediaCentral® Platform, “First” users can also easily connect and collaborate with other aspiring creative and media professionals through the Avid Artist Community. Avid will showcase Media Composer | First at the Avid booth during NAB 2017 (Booth #SU902).
“It can be really difficult for up-and-coming filmmakers, television program creators and digital media producers to get access to the right tools to tell their stories in a compelling way. Consumer applications are fun to play with but will only take you so far,” said Dana Ruzicka, chief product officer, Avid. “With Media Composer | First, we’re giving any aspiring creative pros access to the same tools used by top industry professionals—for free! And with access to the Avid Artist Community, First users can connect with other aspiring creatives and media professionals, collaborate and get their work out there for others to see.”
Media Composer | First provides users with a comprehensive yet simple-to-use editing toolset with many of the same features and functionality that award-winning Media Composer editors rely on, in a new powerful, streamlined interface. With four video tracks, eight audio tracks, and a host of built-in visual effects, transitions, color correction presets and titling templates, users can quickly cut together layers of video, dialog, music and sound effects to produce captivating, professional-quality video content. Media Composer | First also allows easy sharing, with easy publishing to popular social media channels including YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook.
“I’ve worked with other tools, but Avid’s model is the most efficient by far,” said Emmy® Award-winning editor, Stuart Bass, ACE (The Office, Arrested Development, Pushing Daisies). “Learning Avid’s industry-standard tools has been essential in making me the successful editor that I am today.”
Avid’s vibrant Artist Community, an online community designed to foster creative connections and professional opportunities, together with Media Composer | First and Pro Tools® | First, enables emerging creative and media talent to more easily connect, fostering creative and professional growth and opportunities.
Avid Media Composer | First will be available in June 2017 as a free software download through the Avid website.
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More