Welcome back to a new season of Fast Track. We’ve been working behind the scenes to get more features installed on the web site, share more episodes and behind the scenes, and commentary from the students. Feel free to post here and share any ideas or thoughts you may have for this season!

Robby Donoho is a junior here at Fast Track whose major is Mass Communication. His talents are many, but nothing can compare to his eloquence behind the camera. Robby exhibits an amazing skill of anchoring for both behind-the-desk news stories and sports commentaries. As he has developed his talent in this course, he has extended it to be able to give accurate, energetic and informative play-by-play accounts of basketball, football and many other games and has also developed a very unique yet comfortable sense of improvising behind-the-camera conversation. Robby’s personable yet no-nonsense demeanor has been an excellent balance to many of the more playful personalities that have graced this semester’s Fast Track, and he is sure to command attention during the tapings to keep things running effectively.

Robby, you have certainly earned this recognition! We hope that you continue to excel in all that you do and we will be looking for you as one of the next big sports personalities! Congratulations!

Tony Manzo is quite popular around Fast Track. His laid-back personality makes him quite approachable and he never fails to use that to the show’s advantage. Everyone knows his name-as well as his face-and on any day you could walk into our studio and see him answering someone’s question or helping someone out. In addition to his generosity, he is also very diligent about whatever job he is performing at the time, and tries his best to ensure that everything he does reflects his desire for the show to be its best. His stories are always the cream of the crop, as the exemplify an extensive familiarity with camera work as well as concise, straightforward yet exciting written components that are sure to captivate a viewer’s attention. In the studio, he is well-versed in every area with specific mention to his efficient editing skills. As an anchor, he has developed a great vocal variety that he can tailor to supplement any story, and is also very comfortable behind the anchor’s desk.

Tony, you are an awesome member of our Fast Track team and we hope that your popularity follows you from here into your career! Your genuine love for what you do never ceases to shine through all of the work you put into this show. Congrats!

Nick Fleck is a Senior majoring in Mass Communications. He typically works on the Fast Track teleprompter, but made his anchoring debut last week on Fast Track News. He has a delightful personality and a smile that is sure to light up any room. His hard work consistently pays off as he works the teleprompter, submits news stories and also anchors for the show. Prior to Fast Track, Nick was new to media production and has picked up camera and editing skills very quickly in the weeks he has been a part of the Fast Track family. Nick, you are an awesome member of our team and we are proud to have you! You always do your best to ensure that we are at ours, and we honor and thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. Here’s to you!

For all of those regulars out there who have been wondering just how we manage to put together such an AWESOME show each week, the answer may be found in three words:

Final…Cut…Pro!

Editing often involves a love-hate relationship that can change with the moment, just ask Fast Track editor Patrick Foster or Fast Track Te Informa editor Jessie Rojas. Much of this relationship can be quickly determined by which program the editor of any video project is using. Programs like Windows Movie Maker and Apple’s iMovie give everyone a chance to become an editor, and share many of the same features as ones that we use to edit Fast Track. Some would say that programs like the two mentioned above are more user-friendly and easier to grasp, and while that may or may not be the case, they are less expensive in price but may also pose limitations to the serious movie creator.

Final Cut Pro, a part of the Final Cut Studio, gives all of the Fast Track students a first-hand look at what editing can become with its top caliber interface and features. This program is currently in use in many professional production studios as well, so it is completely on ‘track’ (pun intended) with what real-world producers are using.

The secret to what we do in Fast Track can mostly be found in Log and Capture and making cuts. Log and Capture is a process that allows us to digitally record audio and video from miniDV videocassettes, which automatically translates it into a format in which we can separate the audio and video, speed and slow them, simply watch them in Final Cut Pro, or convert them to other formats such as QuickTime movies, among other capabilities. Cuts are just what they sound like-pieces of video that have been selected from lots of video taken at a time to be used in one final story. Because we are able to cut out the parts that may not be the best and put together the better parts, our individual news stories and our show end up being of the highest quality. We take much time and care to ensure that our viewers see our best work, and Final Cut Pro is what we use to do it. Like any computer program, it sometimes has glitches, or does not do what we would like for it to at first. However, we are all slowly but surely learning that delivering the best product possible has to be the main goal, and learning more about the program helps to solidify the process.

Be on the lookout for more ‘Behind Fast Track Magic’ posts, and feel free to leave your comments and questions below!