Section 18.4. Still Images as Titles


18.4. Still Images as Titles

As noted at the beginning of this chapter, one of the best reasons to get to know the still-image importing feature is so that you can supplement, or replace, iMovie's built-in titling feature. By using still images as your titles, you gain the freedom to use any colors, type sizes, and positions you want.

The only disadvantage to this approach is that you sacrifice the professional-looking animation styles built into the iMovie titling feature.

Even so, imported graphic title cards don't have to be still and static by any means. For one thing, there's nothing to stop you from animating your still-image titles by applying the Ken Burns effect to themto make the title zoom in from nothing, for example, or slide from left to right. (Just remember to prepare the title as a graphi with high enough resolution for Ken Burns to work with.)

Furthermore, consider the following title tricks.

18.4.1. The Freeze-Frame Effect

If you were a fan of 1970s action shows like Emergency !, you may remember how the opening credits looked : You'd be watching one of the starring characters frantically at work in some lifesaving situation. As she looked up from her work just for a moment, the picture would freeze, catching her by lucky happenstance at her most flattering angle. At that instant, you'd see her credit flashed onto the screen: "JULIE LONDON as Dixie McCall, RN." ( Queer Eye for the Straight Guy does the same kind of thing.)

That's an easy one to simulateand nobody will guess that it was created using a still image. To pull this off, you must first export the still frame from your footage that you'll want to use as the freeze-frame. (You'll find instructions for exporting a still frame in the next section.) Import the frozen shot into your graphics program, like AppleWorks or Photoshop Elements. Then add the text you want.

Finally, import this touched-up image into iMovie as a still image. Place it at the precise frame in your footage from which you exported the still frame to begin with, and you've got your freeze-frame title effect.


Tip: If you don't need the added typographical flexibility of your graphics program, you can simplify this procedure by simply creating a freeze-frame, as described on the previous page, and then using iMovie's built-in title feature to add the text over it.

18.4.2. The Layered Effect

In many cases, the most creative use of still-image titles comes from using several of them, each building on the last. For example, you can make the main title appear, hold for a moment, and then transition into a second still graphic on which a subtitle appears.

If you have more time on your hands, you can use this trick to create simple animations. Suppose you were to create ten different title cards, all superimposed on the same background, but each with the words in a different size or position. If you were to place each title card on the screen for only half a second (15 frames ), joined by very fast crossfades, you'd create a striking visual effect. Similarly, you might consider making the color of the lettering shift over time. To do that, create two or three different title cards, each with the text in a different color. Insert them into your movie, join them with slow crossfades, and you've got a striking, color-shifting title sequence.




iLife 05. The Missing Manual
iLife 05: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 0596100361
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 314
Authors: David Pogue

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