shooting formats and editing

[islandpoet]

We're doing a family history dvd and are going to shoot some oral history one-subject interviews to cut into earlier video footage shot in standard def 4:3 and standard def 16:9, as well as some old home movie footage.

Would you recommend shooting the new stuff in 16:9 or 4:3 format? The bulk of the footage to date is 4:3.

I also understand that I can shoot in high def, then bump the footage down to standard def during editing, if it doesn't cut well with the earlier footage?

I have a MacBook Pro and iMovie. Any advice would be much appreciated. First interview is in a few days.

Thanks,
islandpoet

[SenorKaffee]

I say shoot in 16:9, but keep the action in a 4:3 frame.
So you will have the freedom to fine-tune the viewpoint in your video editing program, in a 4:3 project the parts on the left and on the right will just be cut off.

Shoot in HDV and down-scale to SD in your NLE. Again you will have the luxury of all this extra pixels fine-tune the viewpoint.

[islandpoet]

This is helpful, and makes sense. Thanks much for your advice.