Product Description

Now it's as easy to make professional-quality movies and showcase them over the Internet as it is to use e-mail or surf the Web. Using clear, simple, jargon-free language, Making iMovies for the Web offers step-by-step instructions, and guides readers through the unique features of Apple's easy-to-use iMovie software (integrated with the new iMac DV models). On top of that, the disc provides all the necessary elements-lesson files, video clips, sound effects, music scores, illustrations, still photographs-for completing sophisticated tutorial projects, inspiring readers by giving them a sense of confidence and competence. Apple's introduction of the low-cost iMac DV computers will transform desktop video production in the same way Macintosh computers sparked the desktop publishing revolution. It put creative movie production capabilities in the hands of anyone who has the simple tools, but it also leaves wide open the kinds of movies they can produce.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #908171 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 156 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
You'll have seen the ads: with an iMac Dv and a digital camcorder suddenly the leap from juddery home videos that make you feel faintly dizzy to Cannes and the Palm d'Or doesn't seem quite so unlikely. The trouble is, that in the absence of a little guidance, what most people end up with are well-edited juddery home videos--with some nausea-inducing transition effects to liven things up a little. Making iMovies could help you avoid this pitfall. Ambitiously, and in true Hollywood style, it goes the whole nine yards--we're talking real movies here, with actors, storyboards and a plot, as well as, who knows, maybe even a script. But while this is a more ambitious enterprise than editing last year's holiday video, the whole thing is handled in a very approachable and easy-to-follow way and the topics and techniques are applicable to almost any video project.

The book centres around producing three short movie projects (all the materials you need to complete these are on the accompanying DVD) each demonstrating various movie-making techniques as well as specific features of iMovie, The digital video editing software supplied with the iMac DV. There are some fundamentals to deal with before you press the record button--where to get your actors (friends, family, pets), how to structure your story and shooting techniques--before getting to grips with the technical stuff like importing and cropping clips; adding sound and music; voiceovers; titling; and transition effects. A short penultimate chapter deals with preparing video for web delivery and finally you're treated to an instructive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the three tutorial movies.

The well-structured layout, clear uncluttered design and lack of jargon make this an ideal starting point whether your aim is low-budget short fiction, documentary or holiday videos of the non-juddering genre. --Ken McMahon

From the Back Cover

Scott Smith is a senior editor at RES: The Magazine of Digital Filmmaking, where he reports on trends in digital video production. An experienced filmmake and animator, he is also a founding partner of Silver Planet Studio, creator of digital effects for dozens of feature films including director Frank Grow's Love God and Tood Solondz's latest film, Happiness. His last book was The Film 100, a ranking of the msot influential people in the history of cinema.

About the Author

Scott Smith is a senior editor at RES: The Magazine of Digital Filmmaking, where he reports on trends in digital video production. An experienced filmmake and animator, he is also a founding partner of Silver Planet Studio, creator of digital effects for dozens of feature films including director Frank Grow's Love God and Tood Solondz's latest film, Happiness. His last book was The Film 100, a ranking of the msot influential people in the history of cinema.

Customer Reviews

Excellent iMovie guide with a *great* DVD-ROM
I'm sure you've seen the Apple TV commercials: make digital home movies, including professional-standard fades, cuts and credits, on your iMac DV! Enticed by these dramatic TV commercials, I bought an iMac DV, but of course there was no iMovie instruction manual included. One of the only laments I have about Apple these days is the lack of documentation and instruction books included with their new computers (and their online help features are frequently confusing, anemic, and infuriating to use), but luckily a whole new range of books are being published to cope with this lack. This is one of the first iMovie instruction manuals published, and though I can't make any comparisons yet with the many that will likely follow, this is a great instruction and idea manual. This largish-format paperback (9 x 9 inches) takes you step-by-step through planning your iMovie, storyboarding, filming on your digital camera, editing, scoring, and adding sound and credits. Lots of color illustrations show you examples as well as screen-shot menus that make the process clear and easy-to-follow. There's an excellent general theory section on storytelling on film, many examples of how to make your shots more dramatic, how to get around the basic limitations of shooting digitally or showing your iMovies on a computer screen, troubleshooting, things to avoid, and much more. Among the great tips it offered that I didn't know and *needed* to know is how to convert Quicktime files into iMovie format. Most important, this book contains a DVD-ROM with all the files you need for three separate project exercises in editing, scoring, adding sound and credits. Most "exercises" provided with computer manuals are usually pretty lame, but *not* these...they're entertaining, well-shot short-short film segments (you put 'em together into three films), with a tongue-in-cheek quality and twist endings that make them fun to work on, *not* laborious. So, in short, this a great introduction and beginner's manual to a user-friendly but very detailed Macintosh program in specific and novice filmmaking in general. While the page count (138 pages) may seem anemic for £29.99, the large amount of color and the DVD-ROM featuring imaginative projects to use as exercises and source material go a long way to making this a good buy. I'm eagerly awaiting a competing book: David Pogue's "iMovie: The Missing Manual" (ISBN 1565928598)--Pogue is one of the recognized experts on all things Mac and *always* entertaining to read--but *this* book is a great way to start out making your own iMovies. Narration by Jeff Goldblum not included.