So, I just found out that iMovie HD can't handle 24fps, and I need to film a short on thursday. So My question is I still want to get the whole film/cine look but i'm unsure how without using 24 fps, any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Have you tried shooting at 30fps and doing a pull down conversion to 24fps?

"But iMovie should be able to handle DVX100 footage shot in 24p mode because that is output from the camera into any NLE as if it were 60i footage."
The DVX100a has a built in pulldown, so the images are still stored on tape in an interlaced format (60i instead of 30i). This may be usable with iMovie.

Also, for best results, you should shoot in the 24P Advanced mode with a DVX100a.

If all else fails, shoot it in standard NTSC mode. If it's well light, well shot and well directed, it won't matter if it doesn't "look like film" because no matter how you do it, your source material is still video anyway. ;)

24P Advanced mode sadly wont work on iMovie HD. I understand 60i looks just like a regular video camera, err.

Have you tried shooting at 30fps and doing a pull down conversion to 24fps?

How do you do that, explain?

60i does not look like regular video.. 60i is the format that anything shot at 24p on the dvx gets stored on the tape.

There's a program available from DVFilm (http://www.dvfilm.com/maker/index.htm) that'll do it.

You can shoot 24p Normal and edit it in a 60i timeline. Works quite well if you can't work with 24pA and gives the same motion rendering.

Your big problem isn't the 24fps or trying to get a filmic look, it's trying to do that on imovie which is hobby software.

Don't get me wrong I love imovie; I think it's a great teaching tool, but if you're looking to get a filmic look to your end product you've got to think about moving up to Final Cut.

The truth is that imovie is just the wrong tool for this kind of work. Trust me when you get into just what an incredible piece of editing software Final Cut is, you'll never want to cut on imovie ever again.