Analog videoDigital Video with iMovie

Once upon a time--five years ago--video editing took hours of time to produce mere minutes worth of footage. Required to edit video were multiple tape players, oodles of sound equipment, several television monitors, and most importantly a great deal of human patience. How many of you paid hundreds, or maybe thousands, of dollars to have a wedding video produced?

Fortunately, the dark ages of video editing are over.

 

Digital video has changed everything. What used to take hours can now be completed in minutes. Now all that is needed is a digital video camera (selling for $400 and above), a computer, and some good ideas.

We'll explore the use of digital video in education by producing videos in groups of 4 or 5. Before we get started, spend a minute exploring Apple's iMovie web site.

Also take some time looking at what high school students at San Fernando High School are creating using digital video. Amazing stuff isn't it.

Watch as your instructor walks you through the process of importing video with iMovie 6.0. Notice that iMovie was opened from the hard drive and a new project folder was created on the desktop to store your footage. You'll also be shown these details of how to use iMovie 3:

  • importing clips on the Shelf
  • viewing the clips using the buttons below the monitor window
  • positioning clips in the Movie Track: Clip Viewer (eyeball icon) or Timeline (clock icon) views
  • editing clips using "Split Video Clip at Playhead" command
  • the Scrubber Bar and Playhead (down pointing arrow)
  • extracting audio from a clip
  • adding titles and trasistions
  • adding audio from a CD-Rom
  • Exporting to a camera tape for storage

Today, you'll work in small groups to tape a video segment, import it to the computer and edit the footage. With your group members, make these two decisions quickly. The type of production and the content. Types of production to simulate might be:

  • interview
  • newscast
  • field trip reporting
  • procedure
  • recitation of a speech

Determine which 3 or 4 teammates would like to be the actors for your team. Start taping in segments and don't worry about mistakes made by the actors, it will be easy to fix those in the editing process. As you are taping, use the pause/record button on the camera to divide the takes. Be aware of camera movement, head room, the rule of thirds and tape roll back. When you have taped 8 to 10 "takes", let the instructor know you have completed taping.

Your instructor will assist each group as you import your footage. While you're waiting for your footage to be uploaded, spend some time exploring these sites with movies made by educators and people worldwide who utilize the iMovie software.

Digital Video Resources

Some Rights Reserved by the University of Utah Department of Teaching and Learning