This iMovie exercise teaches:
 


● How to preview the setup of a shot
● How to position your camera
● How to choose light levels
● How to think about where characters stand, look, and move

(Instructions for Windows-based software coming soon.)
 
  1. Download these files. They are a twenty-five second fragment of Kid's Auto Race at Venice and a still photograph to simulate a Charlie Chaplin close-up.  
  Consider. first. what mise-en-scene elements such as camera angle and distance, lighting levels, and depth of field and blocking convey.  
  2. Create a new standard iMovie project. Call it "Mise-en-Scene." Import "chaplin640.mov" into the project and drag it into the workspace.  
  3. To represent how aspect ratio frames a world view, convert the 1.33:1 aspect ratio into masked widescreen (1.78:1). (Project Properties>Aspect Ratio>Widescreen 16:9>OK). Export. (Share>Export Movie>640 X 360>Export).  
  Simulate a still wider 35 mm anamophic widescreen (2.39:1).
 
  In three aspect ratios, the movie fragment looks like this.
  
  4. Restore the original 1:33-1 aspect ratio. (Project Properties>Aspect Ratio>Standard (4:3)>OK).  
  To douse your footage with atmosphere, affix a "filter" or a "mask" to the lens of your Pathé "cracker box" camera. Apply one or more iMovie video effects. Cartoon? Dream? Vignette? Try everything. To lend your footage color, "tint" it. (Inspector>Heat Wave>Video>Red Gain 200%>Green Gain 23%.)
  
Kid Auto Races In Venice Kid Auto Races In Venice
 
KId Auto Races In Venice Kid Auto Races In Venice
  To relocate the Tramp on the weaker right side of the frame—we tend to read mise-en-scène from left to right—reverse the footage. (Inspector>Video Effect>Flipped>Done.)  
 
Lehman and Chaplin, Kid Auto Races in Venice
  
  5. To enlist the viewer in the Tramp's mischief using mise-en-scène, simulate a "close up. " Insert "ChaplinFauxClose.jpg" into the clip between the penultimate and final shot. (Inspector>Duration>.05 seconds). Fit it to the frame. (Window>Cropping, Ken Burns and Rotation>Fit>Done.)
  Using the Clip Trimmer, trim back the final shot to the frame in which the Tramp's head swivels to its angle in the still.
  6. Add music and effects. Use the effects that worked best with this footage. With a "close up" inserted, the Charlie Chaplin lurking inside you could start strutting and sounding something like this.