1. A Primer on Shooting Video

The capability to record motion pictures has been around for about a century, and the current state of the art—high-definition video that average consumers can afford—is really just a blip in that timeline. One thing has remained constant, however, whether you’re shooting with a feature-film camera or an iPhone:

Get the best source video you can.

No amount of postprocessing can resurrect poor-quality footage, unless maybe you have millions of dollars at your disposal or your initials are I.L.M. So, before we jump into how iMovie works and the projects you can undertake, let’s look at the equipment needed to capture video and learn some basic shooting principles that will improve the original—and often irreplaceable—footage. ...

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