iMovie has had some really big updates this week, and one of my favourite new features is called Storyboard. This is an amazing way of creating videos either at home or perhaps like me, as a teacher, in the classroom. Here’s how it works: straight away in iMovie, you’re going to press ‘Start New Project’ at the bottom. Now from here, you’re going to choose ‘Storyboard’ in the middle, and then you’ll get a colourful grid of different options that appear on your screen. Every single one of these is a different category of storyboard that you can create, and each one has got a customised list of different shots and themes that it would recommend to make a final product. For example, if I go on to ‘Trip’ and then press ‘Create’ in the top corner, I get a list of shots about a holiday video. Going back, if I then choose a new storyboard and this time go for ‘Cooking’ and press ‘Create’ in the top corner, I’ll get a whole different list of options including the ingredients, some close-up shots, and every shot has got a little suggestion underneath as well of what you might like to film. This scaffolding can let you create really immersive videos without too much planning beforehand, which I think is great.

Okay, let’s jump out of this, and we’ll start a project for real this time. I’ll go to ‘Storyboard’, and I’m going to go for a product review. Now earlier, we bypassed this screen, but on this themes page, you can change the look of your video as much or as little as you like. I’m not going to spend too much time talking about it in this video because in my other video on the new iMovie feature called ‘Magic Movie’, I talk about it in more detail. I’ll link that down below, and make sure you watch it afterwards because then you’ll know all the new things in iMovie. I’m just going to change the font for mine and the colour, and then we’ll press ‘Create’ to go back to that lovely shot list of different video clips. Now on our storyboard screen, we have different sections for different parts of the video. It might be the overview or the features section or perhaps even the personal experience section, and that will help organise and structure your video. We haven’t just got a blank timeline here that we’re going to hope to make something good out of; we’ve got a really good structure to start with. As I mentioned before, every one of these ideas for a different shot has a small description underneath to help you get started. If you’re not quite sure what to do, but sometimes you might find that actually, this is a bit too long for my project and for my plan today. I’m not going to do a comparison, so what I’ll do is I’ll collapse the comparison section, swipe it left, and delete it because this storyboard is completely flexible to what you want. You haven’t got to follow iMovie’s ideas too rigidly. You can also use this as a really good structure to plan because you can rename and reorder all of those different shots. So if I swipe on one to the left and then press ‘Rename’, I can change the name so it’s more memorable, perhaps, and I can also drag and drop them to change the shooting order. This means with my iPad or iPhone, I know what shots I need to get before I even go out and start filming, which is quite handy.

Okay, so now we’re going to start bringing in some footage into iMovie and into my project. I can do this in different ways: I can film it directly in iMovie or I can import a video from my photos library. I’ll do both to show you how it works. So first of all, I’m going to tap onto the shot on the storyboard that I want to replace. I’ll start like the very beginning of my overview. Then when you tap on there, you can choose where your video is coming from. I’ll choose ‘Photo Library’. I’ll then tap on the clip that I want, and it’ll put it straight in position for me. Now, if I want to preview what I’ve got so far, I can simply press ‘Play’, and that will begin running through the order. “Today, we’re going to be reviewing this miraculous invention that can give people energy even when they have none. I call it coffee.” And as you can see, it goes onto the next shots as well. The nice thing is you’ve got a placeholder image here, so you know it’s not just a blank part of your movie. Now because I filmed this bit myself, with my amazing acting I might add, I do want to crop out the beginning and the end to make it a little bit more precise. So tap onto your clip on the left-hand side and then go to ‘Edit Clip’. From here, you get that familiar

iMovie interface, and you can just drag in the edges to make the clip as short and tidy as you need it to be. Then press ‘Back’ in the top corner, and you go back to your storyboard overview.

Okay, let’s press ‘Play’ one more time and just check I’m happy with that edit. “Now today, we’re going to be reviewing this miraculous invention that can give people energy even when they’re perfect. Much better.” You may well have noticed there’s a title on that clip as well. That’s part of the project, but at the moment, it just says ‘Title Title Title Title’, which isn’t great. So what I’ll do is I’ll tap back onto my clip and go to ‘Edit Clip’. On the editing screen, I can choose what sort of title I have. So for me, I want a title that feels a bit more like a start of a video rather than just like a medium in the middle title. And then when I’ve chosen that, I can go into text, and I can type in any text that I want for my title. This will animate, and it will fit the theme of your video beautifully. So next up, we’ll go back to our main storyboard overview, and we’re going to start adding in some more clips, this time of the product itself. So I’ll tap on the next shot in my shot list, and you could do this in any order by the way, don’t feel like you have to start at the beginning and work your way through. But I’ll tap onto that second shot, and then I’m going to choose to capture it straight from the camera. Now, we get some beautiful filmmaking done live, holding up my coffee cup a little bit shaky at this stage from all the caffeine, but never mind, and we’ll just record as normal. Then you can insert that clip and repeat the process as much as you want to. I’ll do one more clip now very quickly, and I’ll get that recording put into my movie. Now, you may have noticed that I’ve not been talking as I’ve been recording those two clips, but what I’m going to do is go back into my editor by going to ‘Edit Clip’ and then recording a short voiceover. This is a really clever thing to do because it means you can then tie your whole video together, particularly the B-roll shots if you haven’t got any talking on them. So to do this, I’ll start on the first clip where my voiceover is going to begin, and then at the bottom, I’ll press ‘Voiceover’. When I’m ready, I can hit ‘Record’. I’ll get the three-second countdown, and then, “I call it coffee. It comes in this lovely big white cup with a cardboard sleeve for holding.” Perfect, that’s my voiceover done, and I can approve that and add it to my video. Of course, you can make as many edits as you like. This is still iMovie, and all the normal tools still apply. But the main difference here is this structure and this storyboard. And remember, this is different for every type of video. If you go into a news report, it will encourage you to talk about the scene and the location and what’s happening or action or what event’s taken place. If you go into a gaming one, it will encourage you to talk about the game and set the scene. There are loads of different storyboards here. As I’m talking, you can see I’m adding a few more details to my video.

Okay, I won’t make you watch me do the entire video, but what I will do is jump ahead now to my finished project. So I’ve gone through every clip, I’ve taken note of what the clip is suggested to be, and what the description could be, and I’ve recorded something that kind of fits in with that vein. Now, I’ve gone from having nothing in iMovie to having a very comprehensive review video about a cup of coffee in about 15 minutes. I think this, along with ‘Magic Movie’, makes the new update to iMovie absolutely fantastic, and you can create some really fun videos with both features. Do check out the other video down below after this one if you want to learn how ‘Magic Movie’ works. Now, speaking of amazing videos that you can make in iMovie, here is probably the best review about a cup of coffee you’re going to see all day. Enjoy! “Today, we’re going to be reviewing this miraculous invention that can give people energy even when they have none. I call it coffee. It comes in this lovely big white cup with a cardboard sleeve for holding, and it even has my name on, so no one can steal it. But that’s not all. As well as the cup, you get the cardboard sleeve, and you get a lid. Everything you need. I know what you’re probably thinking, ‘How much

is this miraculous and amazing thing?’ Well, it’s very expensive, unfortunately. Coffee, if you get it from a place like this, costs a lot. You can make it at home, but that’s effort. If you’re tired, you buy this. Look, I get it, you’re thinking, ‘Why should I spend that money?’ Well, when you’re feeling tired and sleepy, this will give you that kickstart you need to help you on your way and make the most out of your day. And just look at that craftsmanship, and that lovely round lid, how pleasing. To bring you this review today, this product underwent a rigorous amount of testing. That testing consisted of, and then some, and then a little bit more, just for good measure. At this point, I may have drunk too much, but I can’t stop, I’m making a video. Dimensions: caramel macchiato with skinned milk. Oh, look at that coffee, yum yum yum, caffeine. I would say this product is ideal for anyone that has to make two iMovie videos in one day, particularly when they’re feeling quite tired. I would suggest, go for a large if you need that extra caffeine hit. Fair warning, though, caffeine is not a great thing to have in large quantities. Why not get a better night’s sleep instead, or maybe don’t let your cats wake you up at 4:30 in the morning. I know what you’re thinking, ‘What rating would I give this particular cup of coffee in this very informative product review video?’ Well, I would give it five out of five because if you’re watching this, that means I finished two videos in one day. I hope you found this video helpful. There are literally hundreds more on my YouTube channel down below, so make sure you head over there now. I’ll see you next time.”