Film

A film, movie, or motion picture is a work of visual art that tells stories or shares ideas using moving images. Since the 1930s, most films also have sound, and sometimes they use other ways to make you feel things.

Films are made by recording real people and objects with cameras. Or they are created using animation and special effects. When many pictures are shown quickly one after another, they look like they are moving.

Many people think films are a very important kind of art. Films can entertain, teach, and inspire people. Because pictures can be understood by anyone, films can be enjoyed all over the world. This is especially true when the film has dubbing or subtitles to help people understand the words. Films are also a part of different cultures. They show what a culture is like, and they can also change that culture.

History

Main articles: History of film technology and History of film

The art of film grew from older ways of telling stories like storytelling, literature, theatre, and visual arts. Early ways to enjoy moving images included shadowgraphy, camera obscura, shadow puppetry, and magic lantern.

In the 1830s, new ways to make moving images were invented. These included the stroboscopic disc, also called the phénakisticope, and later the zoetrope, the flip book, and the praxinoscope. These tools showed quick, changing pictures that looked like motion.

By the late 1800s, photography had been created, but it took time to learn how to capture moving things. In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge took many pictures of a horse running and showed them to prove that horses sometimes have all four feet off the ground at once. Other inventors like Étienne-Jules Marey and Ottomar Anschütz also made their own ways to capture motion.

The first movies were shown one person at a time using devices such as the Electrotachyscope and the Kinetoscope. Soon, people could see movies on big screens in theaters. The first public movie showings where people paid to see them happened in 1895.

In the early 1900s, movies were just single scenes without editing. But soon, filmmakers began to string several scenes together to tell a story. They also added new ways to move the camera and show different angles.

Movies were silent until the 1920s when sound was added. This let actors talk and added music and sound effects. Sound movies quickly became popular.

Color also changed movies. Early color was not very natural, but new ways to capture color directly from nature were invented. One of the first big color movies was The Wizard of Oz in 1939.

As television became popular in the 1950s, movie theaters added bigger screens, new sound systems, and more color movies to attract people back. Today, movies use digital technology and new ways to make pictures look three-dimensional.

Film theory

"Film theory" helps us understand film as a special kind of art. It began in 1911 when Ricciotto Canudo called film the "sixth art." The Moscow Film School, the world's oldest film school, opened in 1919 to teach and study film theory. Some thinkers, like Rudolf Arnheim, thought film was special because it looked different from real life. Others, like André Bazin, believed film's power was in showing real life as it is.

Films have their own ways of "talking." For example, showing one actor's left side, then another's right side, tells us they are talking to each other. Directors use these film "languages" to tell stories and help us feel like we are part of them. The way films are put together, called montage, can create new meanings. Famous filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein used montage to make strong scenes. Today, directors still use these tricks to make movies more exciting and full of meaning.

Main article: Montage (filmmaking)

Film criticism is about looking at and talking about movies. Critics write reviews of new films for newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media. Their reviews can help people decide if they want to see a film, especially for serious or artful movies. Sometimes, very bad reviews can make a film less popular, while great reviews can help unknown films find more viewers. Critics also study films to see how the ways movies are made affect our feelings and thoughts.

Industry

Making and showing movies became a way to earn money soon after it was invented. The Lumières traveled around Europe to show the first films. Then, local business people started making and showing their own movies. The Oberammergau Passion Play from 1898 was the first movie ever made for money. Over time, special theaters and companies were created just for making and sharing films, and movie stars became famous.

In the United States, much of the film industry is in Hollywood, California. Other big film centers are found around the world, like Mumbai-based Bollywood, which makes the most films each year. Even though making films can cost a lot, new, cheaper tools have helped independent filmmakers make movies too.

Associated fields

Films inspire many areas of study and new industries. People can study films through film theory, film criticism, and film history. Films can share messages, like in film propaganda. Other industries make products related to films, such as popcorn makers, toys like Star Wars figures, and advertising through product placement and other advertising inside movies.

Terminology

The words we use for movies change depending on where you live. In British English, people usually say "film." In American English, people often say "movie."

Both words can be used to talk about watching films at a place called a "cinema" in British English or a "movie theatre" in American English.

In the United States, "movie" is the common word for films meant for entertainment. “Film” often refers to movies looked at for their art or technical skills. Films can be shown in special buildings called cinemas or theatres. People gather there to watch them on large screens. Some films are long enough to be shown by themselves. These are called feature-length films. Shorter films are known as shorts. There are also independent films made outside big movie studios. Sometimes, two films are shown together in a double feature.

Culture

Films are cultural artifacts made by different cultures. They help people from around the world understand each other. Films are an art form that can entertain and teach about history. They often show what life was like at a certain time. Because films use pictures, people all over the world can understand them, even if they speak different languages. This is helped by dubbing or subtitles that translate what is being said into other languages.

Films are also used for many purposes, such as teaching and sharing ideas. When a film is made mainly to teach something, it is called an educational film. Examples include recordings of school lessons or films based on famous books. Sometimes films are also used to influence people’s opinions, which is called propaganda. This can happen in many ways, such as through government-made films or artistic works. The same film might be seen as educational by some people and as propaganda by others, because what a film means can depend on who is watching it.

Main articles: Educational film and Propaganda film

Production

Making a film can be simple or very complex. One person with a camera can make a film, or thousands of people can work together. The main steps are: having an idea, planning it, filming it, making changes, and sharing it. Bigger films need more time and resources. They have stages like development, pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution. These stages can take three years.

A film crew is the group of people who help make a movie when it is being filmed. They handle things like props, costumes, lights, and sound. Actors perform the characters. Crew members work in different departments to help the director. Over time, technology has changed how films are made. From early hand-cranked cameras to today's digital video, filmmaking has become easier. Independent films often do not use big studios. They use newer, cheaper technology to make movies without major studio support.

Distribution

Film distribution is how movies reach people so they can watch them. A special company called a film distributor decides how to market the movie and where it will be shown. Movies can be seen in movie theaters, on television, or at home using devices like DVD players, computers, or streaming services. People can also rent or buy movies to watch whenever they want.

Animation

Main article: Animation

Animation is a special way to make films. It uses pictures made one at a time. These can be hand-drawn, made on a computer, or by moving small models a little at a time. When shown quickly, they look like they are moving. This works because our eyes can't see the fast changes.

Making animation used to take a lot of time and money. Most animated films come from big studios. But some people have made animations by themselves since the 1950s. Even with new tools, some artists still paint directly onto film to create unique movies.