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[[File:Le Voyage dans la lune (black and white, 1902).webm|upright=1.35|thumb|thumbtime=394|''[[A Trip to the Moon]]'' (1902) is considered to be a turning point in the development of narrative and science fiction films]]
{{Filmmaking sidebar}}
A '''film''' ([[British English]]){{emdash}}also called a '''movie''' ([[American English]]), '''motion picture''', '''moving picture''', '''picture''', '''photoplay''', or '''flick'''{{emdash}}is a work of [[visual art]] that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally accompanied by sound and (less commonly) other sensory stimulations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=
== Recording and transmission of the film ==
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[[File:Electrotachyscope1.jpg|thumb|{{center|An [[Ottomar Anschütz|Anschütz]] [[electrotachyscope]]<br /><small>''American Scientific'', 16/11/1889, p. 303</small>}}]]
[[Ottomar Anschütz|Anschütz]] made his first [[instantaneous photography|instantaneous photographs]] in 1881. He developed a portable camera that allowed [[shutter (photography)|shutter]] speeds as short as 1/1000 of a second in 1882. The quality of his pictures was generally regarded as much higher than that of the chronophotography works of [[Muybridge]] and [[Étienne-Jules Marey]].<ref name="before1896">{{Cite web|last=Rossell|first=Deac|title=The Exhibition of Moving Pictures before 1896|url=https://www.academia.edu/378569|language=en}}</ref>
In 1886, Anschütz developed the [[Electrotachyscope]], an early device that displayed short motion picture loops with 24 glass plate photographs on a 1.5 meter wide rotating wheel that was hand-cranked to a speed of circa 30 frames per second. Different versions were shown at many international exhibitions, fairs, conventions, and arcades from 1887 until at least 1894. Starting in 1891, some 152 examples of a coin-operated peep-box Electrotachyscope model were manufactured by [[Siemens & Halske]] in Berlin and sold internationally.<ref name=zoetrope>{{Cite web|last=Rossell|first=Deac|title=The Anschuetz Zoetropes|url=https://www.academia.edu/1078596|language=en}}</ref><ref name="before1896"/> Nearly 34,000 people paid to see it at the Berlin Exhibition Park in the summer of 1892. Others saw it in London or at the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair]]. On 25 November 1894, Anschütz introduced a Electrotachyscope projector with a 6x8 meter screening in Berlin. Between 22 February and 30 March 1895, a total of circa 7,000 paying customers came to view a 1.5-hour show of some 40 scenes at a 300-seat hall in the old Reichstag building in Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=
[[File:Pauvre Pierrot (Emile Reynaud, 1892).webm|thumb|thumbtime=40|right|''[[Pauvre Pierrot]]'' (1892) repainted clip]]
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=== Color ===
A significant technological advancement in film was the introduction of "natural color," where color was captured directly from nature through photography, as opposed to being manually added to black-and-white prints using techniques like hand-coloring or stencil-coloring.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Bordwell, David, Thompson, Smith |title=Film Art: An Introduction |publisher=New York: McGraw-Hill |year=2017 |edition=11th}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=davidbordwell.net : home |url=
The crucial innovation was the three-strip version of the Technicolor process, first used in animated cartoons in 1932.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Layton, Pierce |first=James, David |title=The Dawn of Technicolor 1915–1935 |publisher=NY: George Eastman Museum |year=1998 |pages=9–35}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Dawn of Technicolor, 1915–1935 |url=https://www.eastman.org/technicolor/book}}</ref> The process was later applied to live-action short films, specific sequences in feature films, and finally, for an entire feature film, Becky Sharp, in 1935.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haines |first=Richard |title=Technicolor Movies: The History of Dye Transfer Printing |publisher=Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company |year=1993}}</ref> Although the process was expensive, the positive public response, as evidenced by increased box office revenue, generally justified the additional cost.<ref name=":1" /> Consequently, the number of films made in color gradually increased year after year.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Higgins |first=Scott |title=Harnessing the Technicolor Rainbow: Color Design in the 1930s |publisher=Austin, TX: University of Texas Press |year=2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Who We Are |url=https://www.technicolor.com/company/who-we-are |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=www.technicolor.com |language=en}}</ref>
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The making and showing of motion pictures became a source of profit almost as soon as the process was invented. Upon seeing how successful their new invention, and its product, was in their native France, the [[Auguste and Louis Lumière|Lumières]] quickly set about touring the Continent to exhibit the first films privately to royalty and publicly to the masses. In each country, they would normally add new, local scenes to their catalogue and, quickly enough, found local entrepreneurs in the various countries of Europe to buy their equipment and photograph, export, import, and screen additional product commercially. The [[Oberammergau Passion Play]] of 1898<ref>{{Cite book|last=Couvares|first=Francis G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5R7NNAuH1AC&dq=Oberammergau+Passion+Play+1898&pg=PA63|title=Movie Censorship and American Culture|date=2006|publisher=Univ of Massachusetts Press|isbn=978-1-55849-575-3|language=en|access-date=2022-01-17|archive-date=2022-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311110351/https://books.google.com/books?id=D5R7NNAuH1AC&dq=Oberammergau+Passion+Play+1898&pg=PA63|url-status=live}}</ref> was the first commercial motion picture ever produced. Other pictures soon followed, and motion pictures became a separate industry that overshadowed the vaudeville world. Dedicated [[movie theater|theaters]] and companies formed specifically to produce and distribute films, while motion picture actors became major [[celebrity|celebrities]] and commanded huge fees for their performances. By 1917 [[Charlie Chaplin]] had a contract that called for an annual salary of one million dollars. From 1931 to 1956, film was also the only image storage and playback system for [[television programming]] until the introduction of [[videotape recorder]]s.
In the United States, much of the film industry is centered around [[Hollywood, California]]. Other regional centers exist in many parts of the world, such as [[Mumbai]]-centered [[Bollywood]], the [[Cinema of India|Indian film industry's]] [[Hindi]] cinema which produces the largest number of films in the world.<ref>[
Profit is a key force in the industry, due to the costly and risky nature of filmmaking; many films have large [[cost overruns]], an example being [[Kevin Costner]]'s ''[[Waterworld]]''. Yet many filmmakers strive to create works of lasting social significance. The [[Academy Awards]] (also known as "the Oscars") are the most prominent film awards in the United States, providing recognition each year to films, based on their artistic merits. There is also a large industry for educational and instructional films made in lieu of or in addition to lectures and texts. Revenue in the industry is sometimes volatile due to the reliance on [[blockbuster film]]s released in [[movie theater]]s. The rise of alternative home entertainment has raised questions about the future of the cinema industry, and Hollywood employment has become less reliable, particularly for medium and low-budget films.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Christopherson|first=Susan|date=2013-03-01|title=Hollywood in decline? US film and television producers beyond the era of fiscal crisis|journal=Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society|language=en|volume=6|issue=1|pages=141–157|doi=10.1093/cjres/rss024|issn=1752-1378}}</ref>
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== Terminology ==
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.<ref name="britam">{{Cite web|title=British English/American English Vocabulary|url=https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/british-american.htm|access-date=26 June 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621191145/
By contrast, in the United States, ''movie'' is the predominant term for the medium. Although the words ''film'' and ''movie'' are sometimes used interchangeably, ''film'' is more often used when considering [[artistic]], [[theoretical]], or [[technology|technical]] aspects. The term ''movies'' more often refers to [[entertainment]] or [[Commerce|commercial]] aspects, as where to go for fun evening on a date. For example, a book titled ''How to Understand a Film'' would probably be about the aesthetics or theory of film, while a book entitled ''Let's Go to the Movies'' would probably be about the history of entertaining movies and [[Blockbuster (entertainment)|blockbusters]].
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Further terminology is used to distinguish various forms and media used in the film industry. ''Motion pictures'' and ''moving pictures'' are frequently used terms for film and movie productions specifically intended for theatrical exhibition, such as ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''. ''[[DVD]]'', ''[[Blu-ray Disc]]'', and ''[[videotape]]'' are video formats that can reproduce a photochemical film. A reproduction based on such is called a ''transfer''. After the advent of theatrical film as an industry, the television industry began using videotape as a recording medium. For many decades, tape was solely an analog medium onto which moving images could be either recorded or transferred. ''Film'' and ''filming'' refer to the photochemical medium that chemically records a visual image and the act of recording respectively. However, the act of shooting images with other visual media, such as with a digital camera, is still called ''filming'', and the resulting works often called ''films'' as interchangeable to ''movies'', despite not being shot on film. ''[[Silent films]]'' need not be utterly silent, but are films and movies without an audible dialogue, including those that have a musical accompaniment. The word ''[[talkies]]'' refers to the earliest sound films created to have [[Hearing (sense)|audible]] [[dialogue]] recorded for playback along with the film, regardless of a musical accompaniment. ''Cinema'' either broadly encompasses both films and movies, or it is roughly synonymous with film and theatrical exhibition, and both are capitalized when referring to a category of art. The ''[[silver screen]]'' refers to the projection screen used to exhibit films and, by extension, is also used as a [[metonym]] for the entire film industry.
''[[Widescreen]]'' refers to a larger width to height in the [[film frame|frame]], compared to earlier historic [[aspect ratio (image)|aspect ratios]].<ref name="imdbmovietermsw">{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/glossary/W |title=Movie Terminology Glossary: W |publisher=[[IMDb]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722052010/
In US usage, one talks of a ''[[Film screening|screening]]'' or ''[[Movie projector|projection]]'' of a movie or video on a [[Projection screen|screen]] at a public or private ''theater''. In British English, a ''film showing'' happens at a ''[[movie theatre|cinema]]'' (never a ''[[theatre]]'', which is a different medium and place altogether).<ref name="sdope" /> ''Cinema'' usually refers to an arena designed specifically to exhibit films, where the screen is affixed to a wall, while ''theatre'' usually refers to a place where live, non-recorded action or combination thereof occurs from a podium or other type of stage, including the amphitheatre. Theatres can still screen movies in them, though the theatre would be retrofitted to do so. One might propose ''going to the cinema'' when referring to the activity, or sometimes ''to the pictures'' in British English, whereas the US expression is usually ''going to the movies''. A cinema usually shows a mass-marketed movie using a front-projection screen process with either a film projector or, more recently, with a digital projector. But, cinemas may also show theatrical movies from their home video transfers that include Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and videocassette when they possess sufficient projection quality or based upon need, such as movies that exist only in their transferred state, which may be due to the loss or deterioration of the film master and prints from which the movie originally existed. Due to the advent of [[digital cinema|digital film production and distribution]], physical film might be absent entirely.
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{{Main|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 one or two 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 were not going to play that film in that theater. Film studios realized that the more trailers that were shown (even if it was not 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 film" in a double feature program) begins. Film trailers are also common on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as well as on the Internet and mobile devices. Trailers are created to be engaging and interesting for viewers. As a result, in the Internet era, viewers often seek out trailers to watch them. Of the ten billion videos watched online annually in 2008, film trailers ranked third, after news and user-created videos.<ref>{{Cite web | url =
== The role of film in culture ==
[[File:Mona_Zaki_2015.jpg|thumb|219x219px|[[Mona Zaki]], Egyptian film star, her films influenced both the [[Culture of Egypt|Egyptian]] and [[Culture of Africa|African cultures]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-25 |title=Mona Zaki on Her Career's Future and Defending Women's Rights |url=https://en.vogue.me/culture/mona-zaki-vogue-arabia-interview/ |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=Vogue Arabia |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Actress Mona Zaki and key national authorities mark "The Egyptian Girl Celebration" with UNICEF during Gouna Film Festival |url=https://www.unicef.org/egypt/press-releases/actress-mona-zaki-and-key-national-authorities-mark-egyptian-girl-celebration-unicef |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en}}</ref>]]
Films are [[cultural artifact]]s created by specific [[culture]]s, facilitating intercultural dialogue. It is considered to be an important art form that provides entertainment and historical value, often visually documenting a period of time. The visual basis of the medium gives it a universal power of communication, often stretched further through the use of [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbing]] or [[subtitles]] to [[translation|translate]] the dialog into other languages.<ref>{{Citation|title=How people greet each other in TV series and dubbing: Veronica Bonsignori, Silvia Bruti|url=
=== Education and propaganda ===
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{{See also|Cinematic techniques}}
[[Film stock]] consists of transparent [[celluloid]], [[acetate]], or [[polyester]] [[film base|base]] coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive chemicals. Cellulose nitrate was the first type of film base used to record motion pictures, but due to its flammability was eventually replaced by safer materials. Stock widths and the [[film format]] for images on the reel have had a rich history, though most large commercial films are still shot on (and distributed to theaters) as [[35mm movie film|35 mm]] prints.
Originally moving picture film was shot and projected at various speeds using hand-cranked [[movie camera|cameras]] and [[movie projector|projectors]]; though 1000 frames per minute (16{{sfrac|2|3}} frame/s) is generally cited as a standard silent speed, research indicates most films were shot between 16 frame/s and 23 frame/s and projected from 18 frame/s on up (often reels included instructions on how fast each scene should be shown).<ref>{{Cite web|url=
As a medium, film is not limited to motion pictures, since the technology developed as the basis for [[photography]]. It can be used to present a progressive sequence of still images in the form of a slideshow. Film has also been incorporated into [[multimedia]] presentations and often has importance as primary historical documentation. However, historic films have problems in terms of preservation and storage, and the motion picture industry is exploring many alternatives. Most films on cellulose nitrate base have been copied onto modern safety films. Some studios save color films through the use of [[separation masters]]: three B&W negatives each exposed through red, green, or blue filters (essentially a reverse of the [[Technicolor]] process). Digital methods have also been used to restore films, although their continued obsolescence cycle makes them (as of 2006) a poor choice for long-term preservation. [[Film preservation]] of decaying film stock is a matter of concern to both film historians and archivists and to companies interested in preserving their existing products in order to make them available to future generations (and thereby increase revenue). Preservation is generally a higher concern for nitrate and single-strip color films, due to their high decay rates; black-and-white films on safety bases and color films preserved on Technicolor imbibition prints tend to keep up much better, assuming proper handling and storage.
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{{Main|Independent film}}
[[File:Fratelli Lumiere.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Auguste and Louis Lumière brothers seated looking left|[[Auguste and Louis Lumière|The Lumière Brothers]], who were among the first filmmakers]]
Independent filmmaking often takes place outside Hollywood, or other major [[studio system]]s. An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a [[list of Hollywood movie studios|major film studio]]. Creative, business and technological reasons have all contributed to the growth of the indie film scene in the late 20th and early 21st century. On the business side, the costs of big-budget studio films also lead to conservative choices in cast and crew. There is a trend in Hollywood towards co-financing (over two-thirds of the films put out by [[Warner Bros.]] in 2000 were joint ventures, up from 10% in 1987).<ref name="VARIETY_2003">{{Cite web|first=Meredith|last=Amdur|url=https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117895718&categoryid=10|title=Sharing Pix is Risky Business|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=2003-11-16|access-date=June 23, 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915040337/
Before the advent of [[digital cinematography|digital]] alternatives, the cost of professional film equipment and stock was also a hurdle to being able to produce, direct, or star in a traditional studio film. But the advent of consumer [[camcorder]]s in 1985, and more importantly, the arrival of high-resolution [[digital video]] in the early 1990s, have lowered the technology barrier to film production significantly. Both production and post-production costs have been significantly lowered; in the 2000s, the hardware and software for post-production can be installed in a commodity-based [[personal computer]]. Technologies such as [[DVD]]s, [[FireWire]] connections and a wide variety of professional and consumer-grade [[video editing software]] make film-making relatively affordable.
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Animation is a 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. Because animation is very time-consuming and often very expensive to produce, the majority of animation for [[Television|TV]] and films comes from professional animation studios. However, the field of [[independent animation]] has existed at least since the 1950s, with animation being produced by independent studios (and sometimes by a single person). Several independent animation producers have gone on to enter the professional animation industry.
[[Limited animation]] is a way of increasing production and decreasing costs of animation by using "short cuts" in the animation process. This method was pioneered by [[United Productions of America|UPA]] and popularized by [[Hanna-Barbera]] in the United States, and by [[Osamu Tezuka]] in Japan, and adapted by other studios as cartoons moved from [[movie theater]]s to [[television]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=
== See also ==
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* {{Cite book|author=Acker, Ally|title=Reel Women: Pioneers of the Cinema, 1896 to the Present|location=New York|publisher=Continuum|year=1991|isbn=0-8264-0499-5|url=https://archive.org/details/reelwomenpioneer00acke}}
* {{Cite book|author=Basten, Fred E.|title=Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow|location=Cranbury, NJ|publisher=AS Barnes & Company|year=1980|isbn=0-498-02317-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/glorioustechnico0000bast}}
* {{Cite video |people=Basten, Fred E. (writer); Peter Jones (director and writer); Angela Lansbury (narrator) |date=1998 |title=Glorious Technicolor |url=
* {{Cite book|author=Casetti, Francesco|author-link=Francesco Casetti|title=Theories of Cinema, 1945–1995|location=Austin, TX|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=1999|isbn=0-292-71207-3}}
* {{Cite book|author=Cook, Pam|author-link=Pam Cook|title=The Cinema Book|edition=3rd|location=London|publisher=British Film Institute|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84457-193-2|url=https://archive.org/details/cinemabookedbypa0000unse}}
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* {{Cite book|author=Rocchio, Vincent F.|title=Reel Racism: Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture|location=Boulder, CO|publisher=Westview Press|year=2000|isbn=0-8133-6710-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/reelracismconfro0000rocc}}
* {{Cite journal|author=[[Paul Schrader|Schrader, Paul]]|date=Spring 1972| title = Notes on Film Noir| journal = Film Comment| volume = 8| issue = 1| pages= 8–13| issn=0015-119X }}
* {{Cite video |people=Schultz, John (writer and director); James Earl Jones (narrator) |date=1995 |title=The Making of 'Jurassic Park' |url=
* {{Cite book|author=Thackway, Melissa|title=Africa Shoots Back: Alternative Perspectives in Sub-Saharan Francophone African Film|location=Bloomington|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2003|isbn=0-85255-576-8}}
* {{Cite book|author=Vogel, Amos|author-link=Amos Vogel|title=[[Film as a Subversive Art]]|location=New York|publisher=Random House|year=1974|isbn=0-394-49078-9 }}
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