Apple Training Series: iLife 06

You started working with still images in the early lessons of this book, moved on to dynamic still images, and then explored culling video. Now you'll make an important transition to editing video.

Up to this point, you used the editing tools in iMovie to cut up raw material and throw out parts you didn't want, but you maintained shots in the timeline according to the order in which you shot them. You also treated the segments you liked as if they were slidesdiscrete elements to be shortened or lengthened, but ultimately almost like still images. Now you will see how an editor uses different portions of a single video shot to build structure. To tell a story, you will rearrange the order of video clips, which will likely have no relationship to the order in which they were shot. This is the essence of editing, and it's important to understand before digging deeper into Hollywood-style shooting (as you'll do in Lesson 9) and editing (Lesson 10).

Having built a slideshow from a series of static shots with Christopher, and then followed along with Jennifer as she turned her still images into a more dynamic presentation using iMovie, you might start to wonder if it's worth the extra effort to use video. But video has properties you just can't get from a dynamic slideshow. Partly because of the power of sound, a video is more "real" and possibly more personal. Also, video allows you to see the way people behave and interact with more subtlety. Finally, by using cinematic techniques to gather elements and put them together, you have more power to convey emotion and direct the viewer's experience.

Once you have command over both stills and video, using iPhoto and iMovie, you'll become a far more sophisticated media creatorwith a range of options for any given project.

Following Christopher, this lesson is a quick introduction to the language of Hollywood filmmaking. Seeing how shooting and editing work together, and how you can impart emotion to the viewer through your work as a director and editor, opens up a world of high-quality personal videos. Then, in subsequent lessons, you'll be ready to acquire skills you can apply to everything from your first school project to a feature film debuting at a prestigious festival.