Production in iMovie

In your iMovie slideshow, you should include both image and text slides to help illustrate the message of your research paper. Your audio recording will accompany the slideshow. Follow these steps to get started with iMovie. If you make a mistake, it will be OK! Click Command and Z to undo an action.

Begin by opening iMovie. It is the star icon in the dock at the bottom of the screen. You can click Close on the window that pops up offering tutorials. However, you may watch the tutorial if you would  like!

When you open iMovie, you should see a screen divided into several sections. The top left screen is where you will build your slideshow, the right screen will be your preview window for the video, and the bottom sections will allow you to choose your photos and audio, add transitions, and adjust time settings. 






Placing Images in iMovie Slideshow

 Begin by placing your first image into your slideshow. A grey tool bar divides the top and bottom halves of the screen. Look for the camera icon on the far right of the tool bar. Click on the Camera Icon. You should see your photos appear under the heading that says iPhoto. Select one of your photos, and drag it into the top left segment of the screen. You should see the image stay there, representing its place in your slide show.

Double click on the image in the top left segment of the screen. A window should pop up labeled Inspector. In this window, you can change the duration, or length of time, that the image stays on the screen. The duration is automatically set to 4 seconds, but you can lengthen or shorten the time your image remains on the screen to match your audio recording.

Drag a second image into your slideshow. Again, you should see this image appear in the top left segment of the window. Continue adding images until all the images you intend to use are in your slideshow. Use your essay as a guide for ordering each image.







Placing Text Slides into iMovie Slideshow

You will probably want to break up the images with some slides that contain words. To do this, look at the tool bar the divides the screen in half. Click on the Titles Icon, the button with the letter T. Look at all of the options for including text, and choose the type of title text that you would like to add. Drag the text to the point you would like it to appear in the slideshow.

 You will be prompted to choose a background for your text. Choose a background that matches the tone of your essay. Click on the background you want to use.

Click on the Text in the preview window on the right-hand side of the window. You will be able to type in your own words.

If you need your text to go onto the next line, hold down Control when you press enter. This will make your text go to the next line, rather than shrinking all of your text to fit on one line.










Adding Audio to an iMovie Slideshow
After you've added all of the photos and text slides that you planned to include in your slideshow, you will need to add your audio.

You should see all of your images and photos in the top left segment of the screen.

Look for the Music Icon, in the tool bar that divides the window in two. The button is two music notes on the far right side of the screen. 

Look for the button that says Music under iTunes. You should see the .wav file that you placed into iTunes during the pre-production stage. If you did not do this, go back to the Pre-production tutorial.

Select your .wav audio file, and drag it to the first slide in your slide show. A Green Plus Sign will appear when your audio can be added to a slide.

Your audio will appear as a green bar below your images. You may need to stretch out the green audio bar to include your entire recording.

If your audio isn't dropped at the very beginning of the slide show, you can pick up the green audio bar to move it.



Adding Transitions to an iMovie Slideshow

To add transitions between your slides, choose the Transition Icon, that is represented by an hourglass figure. It's located on the toolbar in the middle of the window, next to the music, camera, and titles buttons.

Choose the type of transition you want, and drag it in between the two slides you would like a transition between.

 The transition will appear as a smaller grey box in between two slides.

 Double click on that small grey transition box to change the type of transition or to change the length of time that it takes for the transition to be completed.

After you've added your transitions, you should be able to see each transition in your slideshow in the project window.








Place your cursor at the beginning of the slideshow in the project window, and press the space bar to watch your slideshow. You can double click on any slide or transition to lengthen or shorten the amount of time it is on screen. Adjust the timing of your photos, text slides, and transitions until you are happy with your slideshow.