iMovie for iPhone 4 and the future of filmmaking
A filmmaker's perspective on what the iMovie App for iPhone 4, combined with the device's ability to record 720p video, means for the future of filmmaking.
It wasn't too long ago that I was charging batteries for my Sony digital 8mm camcorder so they would be ready to record the latest and greatest ideas my friends and I had scribbled down on a napkin. Those images would then be transferred my 800MHz G4 iMac running Mac OS X 10.4.x and edited using iMovie 4. The resulting video projects were fun to watch but nothing close to professional looking. Fast forward to today's announcement of the iPhone 4 and my how things have changed.
iMovie for iPhone 4 was, in my opinion, the most exciting part (save the actual iPhone 4 announcement) of this year's WWDC Keynote from Steve Jobs. As a filmmaker myself, I am always interested in new ways to capture high-quality video, especially from unexpected sources.
iPhone 4's ability to record at such a high resolution will, as the Apple tagline for the iPhone 4 suggests, change everything. Yes, we already have small devices that record that sort of quality, but combined with the iMovie App, the iPhone 4 becomes a true mobile editing suite, suitable for significant productions, all from a single device that you'd be carrying anyway.
Think of it this way: Your pocket just got lighter. CNET's David Carnoy asks, "Is HD video in iPhone 4 a Flip Video Killer?" Without a doubt. Not only does the iPhone 4 provide similar-quality video recording, it has an app to edit. And it happens to be built in to the most revolutionary phone device on the planet. Flip is dead.
Mobile videographers just got a whole lot more powerful. With just an iPhone 4, you can take a concept (written out on Final Draft for iPhone perhaps?), record it in beautiful 720p at 30fps, chop, transition, and title it in iMovie for iPhone, and share it to the world, all from one device.
As the "On Demand" life continues to proliferate modern media, iPhone 4 with iMovie takes video production to a whole new level of excitement. It is a here and now way to produce quality video ideas and that is blowing my mind right now.
Needless to say, I will be preordering the iPhone 4 on June 15--I've already started planning my first iPhone 4 film. What are you going to produce with your iPhone 4?