Apple's latest dynamic duo--iPhone 4 and iMovie--makes shooting and editing videos easier than you'd guess, and our expert guide to the process will remove any lingering doubts you might have.

If you think the idea of editing video on a cell phone is crazy, you probably haven’t tried it yet. When you pair an iPhone 4 with the $4.99 iMovie app, almost anyone can capture footage, assemble the best bits, and share the finished results in minutes--all from the palm of their hand. But we understand that even the phrase “video editing” scares off many of you. So we’ve put together a guide to quickly making great videos that’ll help both newcomers and old pros get the most out of this powerful combo of hardware and the software.

Frame Shots for TV

Last year’s video-enabled iPhone 3GS brought with it a new phenomenon: the vertically lensed movie (or what many have dubbed “tallscreen”). While they get the job done, vertical movies (shot by holding the iPhone in portrait orientation) aren’t very TV-friendly, so if you plan to eventually present your creations that way, do yourself a favor now and remember to hold your iPhone 4 in landscape orientation while shooting to keep your video properly horizontal. This is particularly important now that the rear camera is working in the wider 16:9 aspect ratio inherent with 720p HD video--you’ll get results that completely fill the frame of your HDTV, rather than displaying a thin vertical image with mostly black at the sides.

Let There Be Light

More than a simple camera flash, the LED light on the back of the device can also act as a lamp that lights your movies. Just tap the lightning bolt icon in the upper left corner to toggle between Auto (where the light comes on only when necessary), Off, or On. We recommend using it sparingly, however--and not just because it’ll drain your battery faster. In many settings with at least a little bit of light, a grainy video is often preferable to a gaudy blast of LED light…complete with your subjects having glowing retinas right out of Village of the Damned.

See the Whole Widescreen Frame

720p HD video is wider than the iPhone 4 can display, so by default, the screen is actually showing you a cropped version of what you’re shooting. To see the whole widescreen view, open the Camera app, switch to movie mode, and double-tap in the center of the screen. Now you’ll see a wider image with black bars filling the rest of the frame--this is the full image area you’re actually recording.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to tap on your key subject to focus the camera on what’s important. In our tests, the iPhone 4 does quite a nice job of keeping things in focus when the subject is moving. But in general, the closer the subject, the more you’ll need to tap to focus.

Include Yourself in the Fun

The best part of a handset with two cameras is that the front-facing camera is always just a tap away. Using the front camera, not only can you see exactly what the device is capturing, but you can also include yourself in the fun. The results won’t be in HD (the front camera only records 640x480, similar to the 3GS’s camera). In a pinch, it’s better than nothing, and the resulting video can also be added to iMovie projects. Such footage will have those black bars on the sides, and we cover dealing with those next…

NEXT: Editing, Sharing, and importing iPhone 3GS videos with iMovie>>