Process for Development of iMovie

You may choose the topic for the movie that you create. You may use photos that you have taken from a recent trip or event OR you may decide on a topic and (1) pull your photos from the web or (2) take your own photos. All photos must be in a digital format and at high resolution.

  1. Decide on your topic.
  1. Collect your high-resolution digital photos. It is suggested that you work with 12-15 photos.
  1. Organize the photos in a folder. Give the folder a descriptive name to remind you what is there. For example, if you are creating a movie about the flowers on Stony Island, name the folder flowers_stony_island_movie. Use only lower-case and no spaces. If more than one word is involved, use an underscore ( _ ) to separate the words.
  1. Rename each photo with a descriptive name. Photos that are taken with a digital camera or are pulled from the web typically have numbers assigned to each photo. Rename each photo with a short descriptive name. Names should be lower case. If more than one word is involved, use an underscore ( _ ) to separate words. NOTE: The photos from the digital camera will be .jpeg files and at high resolution. You will need to change these to 72 dpi resolution for electronic (movie, slideshow, etc.) sharing. The high-resolution photos from the web may already be 72 dpi resolution, but you are responsible for checking resolution and size. If photos are NOT 72 dpi, you will have to change them accordingly in order to receive full credit.
  1. Once your photos are organized, open iMovie. Click “create a new project”. Enter a descriptive name. In the case of the flowers, flowers_stony_island might be appropriate. Save the file to the desktop.
  1. Drag each photo to the “clip panes” on the right side of the iMovie window,
  1. Build your movie. Drag the photos to the “clip viewer” in the order that you wish for them to appear in the movie. There are 2 views in which you work: the clip viewer and the timeline viewer.
  1. Timing for each photo. Each photo should be allotted 5 second for viewing until titles are added (which adds some time). Each photo can linger as long as you wish or you can apply the Ken Burns Effect to pan and zoom.
  1. Add titles or text. To add titles or text, click each photo and then click the edit button and click Titles. Select the title and the style that you desire. You can preview the photo to see what the title looks like. Titles or subtitles assist the reader in knowing what they are looking at.
  1. Add a Title for the movie … the first frame that is seen. Enter the title and by (your name). The title frame should be created “over black”. The color and font may be chosen as with all other titles. Be sure to be consistent with fonts, etc.
  1. Add a Credits Frame at the end of the movie. This should list the website where the images came from, the soundtrack you used, any people who assisted you, etc. The credits slide should be created over black and placed at the end.
  1. Make Adjustments. Make any adjustments to the timing, etc here. If you’re happy, move on.
  1. Add Transitions. Transitions smooth out the movie from one video clip or photo to another. This is not as obvious when using photos and can become distracting if too many are used. However, a few transitions should be inserted to show competency. If there is a definite change in scenery… for example, going back to the movie about flowers, a transition could be applied when moving types of flowers. Transitions can fade one city into another, or cause one city to dissolve into another.
  1. Add a Soundtrack. Sounds add a lot to a movie. You may add music, sound effects, a voiceover, or a combination of each. If you are going to use music, import a song to the iTunes library from a CD or saved audio file. Make adjustments to the volume and placement. Click media/audio. Click the audio source you will use. Move the playhead to the frame where you want the music to begin. You can lower the volume on the audio track in order to record a voiceover. To adjust an audio clip, drag the ends of the clip. Also, decrease the volume appropriately at the end of the clip so that the sound does not stop abruptly.
  1. Preview. Once you are satisfied, export as a QuickTime file at CD quality. This will compress the movie so that you may put it on your website in the future. To view the movie, viewers will have to have QuickTime player.