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For the photographic material used in cameras, see Photographic film.
"Movie" and "moving picture" redirect here. For other uses, see Movie (disambiguation) and Moving Pictures (disambiguation).
For other uses of "Film", see Film (disambiguation).
A vintage Fox movietone motion picture camera

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes us to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession. A film is created by photographing actual scenes with a motion picture camera; by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques; by means of CGI and computer animation; or by a combination of some or all of these techniques and other visual effects. Contemporary definition of cinema is the art of simulating experiences, that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty or atmosphere by the means of recorded or programmed moving images along with other sensory stimulations.[1]



Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer. Some have criticized the film industry's glorification of violence[2] and its sexist treatment of women.[3][4]




Main article: History of film
A frame from Roundhay Garden Scene, the world's earliest film produced using a motion picture camera, by Louis Le Prince, 1888
The Berlin Wintergarten theatre was the site of the first cinema ever, with a short movie presented by the Skladanowsky brothers on 1 November 1895. The image depicts a July 1940 variety show.





By the end of the 1880s, the introduction of lengths of celluloid photographic film and the invention of motion picture cameras, which could photograph an indefinitely long rapid sequence of images using only one lens, allowed several minutes of action to be captured and stored on a single compact reel of film. Some early films were made to be viewed by one person at a time through a "peep show" device such as the Kinetoscope. Others were intended for a projector, mechanically similar to the camera and sometimes actually the same machine, which was used to shine an intense light through the processed and printed film and into a projection lens so that these "moving pictures" could be shown tremendously enlarged on a screen for viewing by an entire audience. The first public exhibition of projected motion pictures in America was at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City on the 23rd of April 1896.




In the 1920s, the development of electronic sound recording technologies made it practical to incorporate a soundtrack of speech, music and sound effects synchronized with the action on the screen.[citation needed] The resulting sound films were initially distinguished from the usual silent "moving pictures" or "movies" by calling them "talking pictures" or "talkies."[citation needed] The revolution they wrought was swift. By 1930, silent film was practically extinct in the US and already being referred to as "the old medium."[citation needed]




Film theory

This 16 mm spring-wound Bolex "H16" Reflex camera is a popular entry level camera used in film schools.





Main article: Montage


Directors developed a theory of montage, beginning with Eisenstein and the complex superimposition of images in his film Battleship Potempkin.[6] Incorporation of musical and visual counterpoint, and scene development through mise en scene, editing and effects, has led to more complex techniques comparable to those used in Opera and ballet.


Main article: Film criticism






Main article: Film industry
The Babelsberg Studio near Berlin was the first large-scale film studio in the world (founded 1912) and the forerunner to Hollywood. It still produces global blockbusters every year.






Associated fields

Derivative academic fields of study may both interact with and develop independently of filmmaking, as in film theory and analysis. Fields of academic study have been created that are derivative or dependent on the existence of film, such as film criticism, film history, divisions of film propaganda in authoritarian governments, or psychological on subliminal effects (e.g., of a flashing soda can during a screening). These fields may further create derivative fields, such as a movie review section in a newspaper or a television guide. Sub-industries can spin off from film, such as popcorn makers, and movie-related toys (e.g., Star Wars figures). Sub-industries of pre-existing industries may deal specifically with film, such as product placement and other advertising within films.

Terminology used

The terminology used for describing motion pictures varies considerably between British and American English. In British usage, the name of the medium is "film". The word "movie" is understood, but seldom used.[8][9] Additionally, "the pictures" (plural) is used semi-frequently to refer to the place where movies are exhibited, while in American English this may be caledl "the movies", but it is becoming outdated. In other countries, the place where movies are exhibited may be called a cinema or theatre.

By contrast, in the US "movie" is the predominant form. Although the words "film" and "movie" are sometimes used interchangeably, "film" is more often used when considering artistic, theoretical, or technical aspects, as studies in a university class and "movies" more often refers to entertainment or commercial aspects, as where to go for fun on a date. For example, a book titled "How to Read a Film" would be about the aesthetics or theory of film, while "Lets Go to the Movies" would be about the history of entertaining movies.

Further terminology is used to distinguish various forms and media of film industry. "Motion pictures" or "Moving pictures" are films and movies, and "the motion picture" is frequently used in film productions specifically intended for cinematic release, such as for instance Batman: The Motion Picture. A "DVD" is a digital format which may be used to reproduce an analog film, while "videotape" ("video") was for many decades a solely analog medium onto which moving images could be recorded and electronically (rather than optically) reproduced. Strictly speaking, "Film" refers to the media onto which a visual image is shot, and to this end it may seem improper for work in other "moving image" media to be referred to as a "film" and the action of shooting as "filming", though these terms are still in general use. "Silent films" need not be silent, but are films and movies without an audible dialogue, though they may have a musical soundtrack. "Talkies" refers to early movies or films having audible dialogue or analog sound, not just a musical accompaniment. "Cinema" either broadly encompasses both films and movies, or is roughly synonymous with "Film", both capitalized when referring to a category of art. The "silver screen" refers to classic black-and-white films before color, not to contemporary films without color. It is also used as a metonym for the entire film industry.

The expression "Sight and Sound", as in the film journal of the same name, means "film". The following icons mean film: a "candle and bell" as in the films of Tarkovsky; a segment of film stock; a reel of film; a two faced Janus image; a movie camera in profile.

"Widescreen" and "Cinemascope" refers to a larger width to height in the frame, compared to an earlier historic aspect ratios.[10] A "feature length film", or "feature film", is of a conventional full length, usually 60 minutes or more, and can commercially stand by itself without other films in a ticketed screening.[11] A "short" is a film that is not as long as a feature length film, usually screened with other shorts, or preceding a feature length film. An "independent" is a film made outside of the conventional film industry.

In the US usage, one talks of a "screening" or "projection" of a movie or video on a screen at a public or private "theater". In British English, a "film showing" happens at a cinema (never a "theatre", which is a different medium and place altogether).[9] When referring to the activity, one might propose "going to the cinema", or sometimes "to the pictures", in British English, whereas in the US the expression is "going to the movies". The cinema will usually but not always be showing an actual film, as a video or DVD might also be shown when of sufficient projection quality, and with the advent of digital film production and distribution, physical film might be absent entirely. A "double feature" is a screening of two independent, stand-alone, feature films. A "viewing" is a watching of a film. "Sales" refers to tickets sold at a theater, or more currently, rights sold for individual showings. A "release" is the distribution and often simultaneous screening of a film. A "preview" is a screening in advance of the main release.

"Hollywood" may be used either as a pejorative adjective, shorthand for asserting an overly commercial rather than artistic intent or outcome, as in "too Hollywood", or as a descriptive adjective to refer to a film originating with people who ordinarily work near Los Angeles.

Expressions for Genres of film are sometimes used interchangeably for "film" in a specific context, such as a "porn" for a film with explicit sexual content, or "cheese" for films that are light, entertaining and not highbrow.

Any film may also have a "sequel", which portrays events following those in the film. Bride of Frankenstein is an early example. When there are a number of films with the same characters, we have a "series", such as the James Bond series. A film which portrays events that occur earlier than those in another film, but is released after that film, is sometimes called a "prequel", an example being Butch and Sundance: The Early Days.


A Post-credits scene is a scene shown after the end of the credits. Ferris Bueller's Day Off has a post-credit scene in which Ferris tells the audience that the movie is over and they should go home.


Main article: Test screening


Trailer and Teaser

Main article: Film trailer

Trailers or previews are advertisements for films that will be shown in 1 to 3 months at a cinema. Back in the early days of cinema, with theaters that had only 1 or 2 screens, only certain trailers were shown for the films that were going to be shown there. Later, when theaters added more screens or new theaters were built with a lot of screens, all different trailers were shown even if they weren't going to play that film in that theater. Movie studios realized, that the more trailers that were shown (even if it wasn't going to be shown in that particular theater) the more patrons would go to a different theater to see the film when it came out. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a film program. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theater after the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now shown before the film (or the A movie in a double feature program) begins.

Movie trailers are now also common on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as well as on the Internet and mobile devices. Of some ten billion videos watched online annually, film trailers rank third, after news and user-created video.[12]

Teasers are a much shorter preview that would last only 10 to 30 seconds. Teasers were used to get patrons excited about a movie coming out about 6 to 12 months away.

Film, or other art form?



Similarly, the playing of a film can be considered to fall within the realm of political protest art, as in the subtleties within the films of Tarkovsky. A "road movie" can refer to a film put together from footage from a long road trip or vacation.

Education and propaganda

Film is used for education and propaganda. When the purpose is primarily educational, a film is called an "educational film". Examples are recordings of lectures and experiments, or more marginally, a film based on a classic novel.




Main article: Filmmaking



  1. Development
  2. Pre-production
  3. Production
  4. Post-production
  5. Distribution




Main article: Film crew








Main article: Independent film






Open content film

Main article: Open content film


Fan film

Main article: Fan film



Main articles: Film distribution and Film release

Film distribution is the process through which a movie is made available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketing strategy of the film, the media by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing, and may set the release date and other matters. The film may be exhibited directly to the public either through a movie theater or television for personal home viewing (including DVD-Video or Blu-ray Disc, video-on-demand, download, television programs through broadcast syndication etc.).

Other ways of distributing a film include rental or personal purchase of the film in a variety of media and formats, such as VHS or DVD, or Internet download.


Main article: Animation

Animation is the technique in which each frame of a film is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model unit (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result with a special animation camera. When the frames are strung together and the resulting film is viewed at a speed of 16 or more frames per second, there is an illusion of continuous movement (due to the phi phenomenon). Generating such a film is very labor intensive and tedious, though the development of computer animation has greatly sped up the process.





The film industry has been criticized for glorifying and glamorizing violence, particularly gun violence, and for the sexist treatment of women in the industry, both in terms of the limited role of women in filmmaking and the allegedly sexist portrayal of women in film screenplays.


Critics argue that "[g]raphic violence in a film, when it is intended to produce an adrenaline rush in the audience, desensitizes the viewer not only to the victim's pain but also to the debasement of the perpetrator. In many instances, these films glorify violence and the persons who commit it." It has been alleged that graphic violence is mainly used to "...attract the audience of 18 to 35 year old males, the demographic group most likely to purchase theater tickets. It's often obvious that screenwriters or directors have had a failure of inspiration or craft and have decided to punch up their flagging effort with heavy doses of gore."[16]

Actor Dustin Hoffman claimed in 2013 that " directors... [are] desensitizing audiences with a "fraudulent" depiction of real life violence and discriminating against actors who refuse to use firearms onscreen." Hoffman argues "...many moviemakers use shooting scenes to bolster the plot because "the script is lacking," and don't convey the true horror of real life violence because "a gun is rarely used in film in a way that it feels like in life. It's simplified into being a cartoon experience."[17]

Prolific US producer Harvey Weinstein, who is known for making action movies with substantial gun violence, vowed in 2014 "to stop making films that glorify gun violence"[18] US President Barack Obama asked Hollywood not to make films that "glorify gun violence".[19]


In 2012, women made up only 18 percent of film directors, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors in the top 250 grossing films.[4] No woman won a best Director Oscar until 2009, when Kathryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker.

Critics have alleged that there is also sexism in the way screenplays depict women. Young women learn from films to focus on "[p]laying down your strength and focusing on your sexual or physical worth..." and that "women are accessories to male adventure, which is the central and most important part of a narrative."

Another measure of sexism in screenplays is the "Bechdel Test, established in 1985 by the cartoonist Alison Bechdel and her friend Liz Wallace, is a way of examining movies for gender bias. The test composes three questions: Does a movie contain two or more female characters who have names? Do those characters talk to each other? And, if so, do they discuss something other than a man?….[A]n astonishing number of lighter entertainments…fail, including “The 40-Year-Old-Virgin,” “The Proposal,” “The Hangover,” “The Truman Show,” “The Wedding Singer,” “The Princess Bride,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “Marley & Me.”"[3]

Future state



However, the nature and structure of film prevents an apples-to-apples comparison with regard to resolution.[20] The resolving power of film, and its ability to capture an image which can later be scanned to a digital format, will ensure that film remains a viable medium for some time to come.[citation needed] Currently the super-16 format is seeing use as a capture medium, with digital scanning and post-production providing good results.[21][22]


See also

  • Lists
Related topics


  1. ^ Severny, Andrei (2013-09-05). "The Movie Theater of the Future Will Be In Your Mind". Tribeca film. Retrieved September 5, 2013. 
  2. ^ Media, Sex, Violence, and Drugs in the Global Village - Page 51, Kuldip R. Rampal - 2001
  3. ^ a b
  4. ^ a b
  7. ^ Bollywood Hots Up Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  8. ^ "British English/American English Vocabulary". Retrieved 26 June 2013. 
  9. ^ a b "British English vs. U.S. English - film vs. movie". Straight Dope Message Board. Retrieved 26 June 2013. 
  10. ^ "Movie Terminology Glossary: W". IMDB. 
  11. ^ "Movie Terminology Glossary: F". IMDB. 
  13. ^ "Silent Film Speed". 1911-12-02. Retrieved 2010-11-25. 
  14. ^ Amdur, Meredith (2003-11-16). "Sharing Pix is Risky Business". Variety. Retrieved June 23, 2007. 
  15. ^ Savage, Mark (2006-12-19). "Hanna Barbera's golden age of animation". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
  16. ^
  17. ^
  18. ^ Child, Ben (20 January 2014). "Harvey Weinstein vows to stop making films that glorify gun violence". The Guardian. 
  19. ^
  20. ^ "ADOX CMS Film Resolving Equivalence". 
  21. ^ "Kodak Motion Picture Film". 
  22. ^ "Kodak Motion Picture Film Testimonials". 


  • Basten, Fred E. (1980). Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow. Cranbury, NJ: AS Barnes & Company. ISBN 0-498-02317-6. 
  • Merritt, Greg (2000). Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56025-232-4. 
  • Rocchio, Vincent F. (2000). Reel Racism: Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-6710-7. 
  • Schrader, Paul (Spring 1972). "Notes on Film Noir". Film Comment 8 (1): 8–13. ISSN 0015-119X. 
  • Schultz, John (writer and director); James Earl Jones (narrator) (1995). The Making of 'Jurassic Park' (Documentary). Amblin Entertainment. 

Further reading

External links