One of the highlights of Apple’s introduction of the faster, sleeker, iPad 2 last week was the demonstration of the new version of iMovie for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
Although the $4.99 app only works with 720p H.264 video, it can be used to create good-looking videos, has three audio tracks (plus one for background music), and looks to be about the easiest non-linear editor yet devised, thanks to its touch-driven interface. If Apple were to bring out a touch-screen interface (using the iPad) for the next version of Final Cut Pro (rumoured for release at or around NAB), it would be a great alternative to the mouse – there are already iPad apps that allow you to use it to control colour correction and use it as an interface to various audio and video software running on the Mac.
Completed videos can be uploaded directly from iMovie to CNN iReports (it even comes with an iReports visual theme), YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook or MobileMe, which should extend the usage of iPhone footage on these sites even further – it is already one of the most widely used cameras on these platforms.
www.apple.com/ipad/from-the-app-store/imovie.html
Paranmanjang – the 1st iPhone movie
The first iPhone feature has already been shown in cinemas (in South Korea).
Director, Park Chan-Wook, who previously shot two movies that won festival prizes at the Cannes Film Festival: Oldboy (2003) and Thirst (2009), used two iPhones as his main cameras on the recently-released Paranmanjang (Night Fishing). There were also contributions from smartphones used by various members of the 80-person crew. It wasn’t a tiny budget shoot (costing about $133,000 and shot over ten days).
There is also an iPhone Film Festival next month (closing date March 31st). Entries must be shot 100% with an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (although they can be edited on anything), and there will be three main categories: Best Film (Feature Film [over three minutes], Short Film and Series); Best Music Video; and Best Cinematography (Cinematography and Documentary).
CollabraCam multi-camera iOS production
Uing a new £5.99 app from Apptopus, directors can now do a multi-camera shoot using iPhones or other iOS devices, with up to four iPhones on a WiFi network, and do a live mix on another iPhone or iPad.
The app, CollabraCam, also syncs the video to the director’s device, and allows the director to communicate directly with each camera, telling them (visually) to pan a shot or move in for a close up.
The video clips are recorded to each camera and transferred to the director in the background. At the end of the production, when the session is saved, the final clips are uploaded in minutes with automatically generated credits.
Video clips can also be exported for editing in another app or saved via File Sharing in iTunes to edit on a computer.
iPhone robotic camera mount
Shooting yourself on an iPhone and having the camera follow your every move is now possible with a new camera mount that automatically points the lens at a remote tracker.
The Satarii Star Camera Base is being built by a start-up company that raised the $20,000 funding it needed online. It should work with any iPhone-sized camera in landscape or portrait mode, such as a Flip, and follows the tracker wherever you hold it.
The two developers are hoping that it will be available for sale late this year, probably at about $200, although this will depend on the final feature set, and production costs. There will also, eventually, be versions for larger cameras.
