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movies / film
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Film
Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of
film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by
recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using
animation techniques or special effects.
Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which 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 method
for educating -or indoctrinating- citizens. The visual elements of cinema
give motion pictures a universal power of communication; some movies have
become popular worldwide attractions, by using dubbing or subtitles that
translate the dialogue.
Traditional films are made up of a series of individual images called
frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the
illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering
between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision — whereby the
eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has
been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called
beta movement.
The origin of the name "film" comes from the fact that photographic film
(also called film stock) has historically been the primary medium for
recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an
individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, photo-play,
flick, and most commonly, movie. Additional terms for the field in general
include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema, and the movies.
History
"Film" refers to the celluloid medium on which motion pictures are printed.
Shown above is a reel of 8 mm film.
Mechanisms for producing artificially created, two-dimensional images in
motion were demonstrated as early as the 1860s, with devices such as the
zoetrope and the praxinoscope. These machines were outgrowths of simple
optical devices (such as magic lanterns) and would display sequences of
still pictures at sufficient speed for the images on the pictures to appear
to be moving, a phenomenon called persistence of vision. Naturally, the
images needed to be carefully designed to achieve the desired effect — and
the underlying principle became the basis for the development of film
animation.
With the development of celluloid film for still photography, it became
possible to directly capture objects in motion in real time. Early versions
of the technology sometimes required the viewer to look into a special
device to see the pictures. By the 1880s, the development of the motion
picture camera allowed the individual component images to be captured and
stored on a single reel, and led quickly to the development of a motion
picture projector to shine light through the processed and printed film and
magnify these "moving picture shows" onto a screen for an entire audience.
These reels, so exhibited, came to be known as "motion pictures." Early
motion pictures were static shots that showed an event or action with no
editing or other cinematic techniques.
Motion pictures were purely visual art up to the late 19th century, but
these innovative silent films had gained a hold on the public imagination.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, films began developing a narrative
structure by stringing scenes together to tell narratives. The scenes were
later broken up into multiple shots of varying sizes and angles. Other
techniques such as camera movement were realized as effective ways to
portray a story on film. Rather than leave the audience in silence, theater
owners would hire a pianist or organist or a full orchestra to play music
fitting the mood of the film at any given moment. By the early 1920s, most
films came with a prepared list of sheet music for this purpose, with
complete film scores being composed for major productions.
The rise of European cinema was interrupted by the breakout of World War I
while the film industry in United States flourished with the rise of
Hollywood. However in the 1920s, European filmmakers such as Sergei
Eisenstein and F. W. Murnau, along with American innovator D. W. Griffith
and the contributions of Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and others,
continued to advance the medium. In the 1920s, new technology allowed
filmmakers to attach to each film a soundtrack of speech, music and sound
effects synchronized with the action on the screen. These sound films were
initially distinguished by calling them "talking pictures", or talkies.
The next major step in the development of cinema was the introduction of
color. While the addition of sound quickly eclipsed silent film and theater
musicians, color was adopted more gradually. The public was relatively
indifferent to color photography as opposed to black-and-white, but as color processes improved and became as affordable as
black-and-white film, more and more movies were filmed in color after the
end of World War II, as the industry in America came to view color as
essential to attracting audiences in its competition with television, which
remained a black-and-white medium until the mid-1960s. By the end of the
1960s, color had become the norm for film makers.
Since the decline of the studio system in the 1960s, the succeeding decades
saw changes in the production and style of film. New Hollywood, French New
Wave and the rise of film school educated independent filmmakers were all
part of the changes the medium experienced in the latter half of the 20th
century. Digital technology has been the driving force in change throughout
the 1990s and into the 21st century.
Theory
Film theory seeks to develop concise, systematic concepts that apply to the
study of film as art. It was started by Ricciotto Canudo's The Birth of the
Sixth Art. Formalist film theory, led by Rudolf Arnheim, Béla Balázs, and
Siegfried Kracauer, emphasized how film differed from reality, and thus
could be considered a valid fine art. André Bazin reacted against this
theory by arguing that film's artistic essence lay in its ability to
mechanically reproduce reality not in its differences from reality, and this
gave rise to realist theory. More recent analysis spurred by Lacan's
psychoanalysis and Ferdinand de Saussure's semiotics among other things has
given rise to psychoanalytical film theory, structuralist film theory,
feminist film theory and others.
Criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films. In general, these
works can be divided into two categories: academic criticism by film
scholars and journalistic film criticism that appears regularly in
newspapers and other media.
Film critics working for newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media mainly
review new releases. Normally they only see any given film once and have
only a day or two to formulate opinions. Despite this, critics have an
important impact on films, especially those of certain genres. Mass marketed
action, horror, and comedy films tend not to be greatly affected by a
critic's overall judgment of a film. The plot summary and description of a
film that makes up the majority of any film review can still have an
important impact on whether people decide to see a film. For prestige films
such as most dramas, the influence of reviews is extremely important. Poor
reviews will often doom a film to obscurity and financial loss.
The impact of a reviewer on a given film's box office performance is a
matter of debate. Some claim that movie marketing is now so intense and well
financed that reviewers cannot make an impact against it. However, the
cataclysmic failure of some heavily-promoted movies which were harshly
reviewed, as well as the unexpected success of critically praised
independent movies indicates that extreme critical reactions can have
considerable influence. Others note that positive film reviews have been
shown to spark interest in little-known films. Conversely, there have been
several films in which film companies have so little confidence that they
refuse to give reviewers an advanced viewing to avoid widespread panning of
the film. However, this usually backfires as reviewers are wise to the
tactic and warn the public that the film may not be worth seeing and the
films often do poorly as a result.
It is argued that journalist film critics should only be known as film
reviewers, and true film critics are those who take a more academic approach
to films. This line of work is more often known as film theory or film
studies. These film critics attempt to come to understand how film and
filming techniques work, and what effect they have on people. Rather than
having their works published in newspapers or appear on television, their
articles are published in scholarly journals, or sometimes in up-market
magazines. They also tend to be affiliated with colleges or universities.
Industry
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 Lumičres 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 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 theaters
and companies formed specifically to produce and distribute films, while
motion picture actors became major celebrities and commanded huge fees for
their performances. Already by 1917, Charlie Chaplin had a contract that
called for an annual salary of one million dollars.
In the United States today, much of the film industry is centered around
Hollywood. Other regional centers exist in many parts of the world, such as
Mumbai-centered Bollywood, the Indian film industry's Hindi cinema which
produces the largest number of films in the world.[1] Whether the ten
thousand-plus feature length films a year produced by the Valley
pornographic film industry should qualify for this title is the source of
some debate. Though the expense involved in making movies
has led cinema production to concentrate under the auspices of movie
studios, recent advances in affordable film making equipment have allowed
independent film productions to flourish.
Profit is a key force in the industry, due to the costly and risky nature of
filmmaking; many films have large cost overruns, a notorious 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, ostensibly 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.
Production
The nature of the film determines the size and type of crew required during
filmmaking. Many Hollywood adventure films need computer generated imagery
(CGI), created by dozens of 3D modellers, animators, rotoscopers and
compositors. However, a low-budget, independent film may be made with a
skeleton crew, often paid very little. Also, an open source film may be
produced through open, collaborative processes. Filmmaking takes place all
over the world using different technologies, styles of acting and genre, and
is produced in a variety of economic contexts that range from
state-sponsored documentary in China to profit-oriented movie making within
the American studio system.
A typical Hollywood-style filmmaking Production cycle comprises five main
stages:
1. Development
2. Pre-production
3. Production
4. Post-production
5. Distribution
This production cycle typically takes three years. The first year is taken
up with development. The second year comprises preproduction and production.
The third year, post-production and distribution.
Crew
A film crew is a group of people hired by a film company, employed during
the "production" or "photography" phase, for the purpose of producing a film
or motion picture. Crew are distinguished from cast, the actors who appear
in front of the camera or provide voices for characters in the film. The
crew interacts with but is also distinct from the production staff,
consisting of producers, managers, company representatives, their
assistants, and those whose primary responsibility falls in pre-production
or post-production phases, such as writers and editors. Communication
between production and crew generally passes through the director and
his/her staff of assistants. Medium-to-large crews are generally divided
into departments with well defined hierarchies and standards for interaction
and cooperation between the departments. Other than acting, the crew handles
everything in the photography phase: props and costumes, shooting, sound,
electrics (i.e., lights), sets, and production special effects. Caterers
(known in the film industry as "craft services") are usually not considered
part of the crew.
Independent
Independent filmmaking often takes place outside of Hollywood, or other
major studio systems. An independent film (or indie film) is a film
initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie
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 leads 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).[2] A hopeful director is almost
never given the opportunity to get a job on a big-budget studio film unless
he or she has significant industry experience in film or television. Also,
the studios rarely produce films with unknown actors, particularly in lead
roles.
Before the advent of 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. The cost of 35 mm film is outpacing
inflation: in 2002 alone, film negative costs were up 23%, according to
Variety.[2] Film requires expensive lighting and post-production facilities.
But the advent of consumer camcorders in 1985, and more importantly, the
arrival of high-resolution digital video in the early 1990s, have lowered
the technology barrier to movie production significantly. Both production
and post-production costs have been significantly lowered; today, the
hardware and software for post-production can be installed in a
commodity-based personal computer. Technologies such as DVDs, FireWire
connections and non-linear editing system pro-level software like Adobe
Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas and Apple's Final Cut Pro, and consumer level
software such as Apple's Final Cut Express and iMovie make movie-making
relatively inexpensive.
Since the introduction of DV technology, the means of production have become
more democratized. Filmmakers can conceivably shoot and edit a movie, create
and edit the sound and music, and mix the final cut on a home computer.
However, while the means of production may be democratized, financing,
distribution, and marketing remain difficult to accomplish outside the
traditional system. Most independent filmmakers rely on film festivals to
get their films noticed and sold for distribution. The arrival of
internet-based video outlets such as YouTube has further changed the film
making landscape in ways that are still to be determined.
Open content film
An open content film is much like an independent film, but it is produced
through open collaborations; its source material is available under a
license which is more permissive enough to allow other parties to create fan
fiction or derivative works, than a traditional copyright. Like independent
filmmaking, open source filmmaking takes place outside of Hollywood, or
other major studio systems.
Fan film
A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic
book or a similar source, created by fans rather than by the source's
copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been
amateurs, but some of the more notable films have actually been produced by
professional filmmakers as film school class projects or as demonstration
reels. Fan films vary tremendously in length, from short faux-teaser
trailers for non-existent motion pictures to rarer full-length motion
pictures.
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 persistence of vision).
Generating such a film is very labour intensive and tedious, though the
development of computer animation has greatly sped up the process.
File formats like GIF, QuickTime, Shockwave and Flash allow animation to be
viewed on a computer or over the Internet.
Because animation is very time-consuming and often very expensive to
produce, the majority of animation for TV and movies 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 UPA and popularized by Hanna-Barbera, and adapted by other
studios as cartoons moved from movie theaters to television.[3]
Although most animation studios are now using digital technologies in their
productions, there is a specific style of animation that depends on film.
Cameraless animation, made famous by moviemakers like Norman McLaren, Len
Lye and Stan Brakhage, is painted and drawn directly onto pieces of film,
and then run through a projector.
Venues
When it is initially produced, a feature film is often shown to audiences in
a movie theater or cinema. The first theater designed exclusively for cinema
opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1905.[4] Thousands of such theaters
were built or converted from existing facilities within a few years.[5] In
the United States, these theaters came to be known as nickelodeons, because
admission typically cost a nickel (five cents).
Typically, one film is the featured presentation (or feature film). Before
the 1970s, there were "double features"; typically, a high quality "A
picture" rented by an independent theater for a lump sum, and a "B picture"
of lower quality rented for a percentage of the gross receipts. Today, the
bulk of the material shown before the feature film consists of previews for
upcoming movies and paid advertisements (also known as trailers or "The
Twenty").
Historically, all mass marketed feature films were made to be shown in movie
theaters. The development of television has allowed films to be broadcast to
larger audiences, usually after the film is no longer being shown in
theaters. Recording technology has also enabled consumers to rent or buy
copies of films on VHS or DVD (and the older formats of laserdisc, VCD and
SelectaVision — see also videodisc), and Internet downloads may be available
and have started to become revenue sources for the film companies. Some
films are now made specifically for these other venues, being released as
made-for-TV movies or direct-to-video movies. The production values on these
films are often considered to be of inferior quality compared to theatrical
releases in similar genres, and indeed, some films that are rejected by
their own studios upon completion are distributed through these markets.
The movie theater pays an average of about 50-55% of its ticket sales to the
movie studio, as film rental fees.[6] The actual percentage starts with a
number higher than that, and decreases as the duration of a film's showing
continues, as an incentive to theaters to keep movies in the theater longer.
However, today's barrage of highly marketed movies ensures that most movies
are shown in first-run theaters for less than 8 weeks. There are a few
movies every year that defy this rule, often limited-release movies that
start in only a few theaters and actually grow their theater count through
good word-of-mouth and reviews. According to a 2000 study by ABN AMRO, about
26% of Hollywood movie studios' worldwide income came from box office ticket
sales; 46% came from VHS and DVD sales to consumers; and 28% came from
television (broadcast, cable, and pay-per-view).[6]
Technology
Film stock consists of transparent celluloid, acetate, or polyester 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 35 mm prints.
Originally moving picture film was shot and projected at various speeds
using hand-cranked cameras and projectors; though 1000 frames per minute
(16⅔ per second) is generally cited as a standard silent speed, research
indicates most films were shot between 16 and 23 fps and projected from 18
fps on up (often reels included instructions on how fast each scene should
be shown) [1]. When sound film was introduced in the late 1920s, a constant
speed was required for the sound head. 24 frames per second was chosen
because it was the slowest (and thus cheapest) speed which allowed for
sufficient sound quality. Improvements since the late 19th century include
the mechanization of cameras — allowing them to record at a consistent
speed, quiet camera design — allowing sound recorded on-set to be usable
without requiring large "blimps" to encase the camera, the invention of more
sophisticated filmstocks and lenses, allowing directors to film in
increasingly dim conditions, and the development of synchronized sound,
allowing sound to be recorded at exactly the same speed as its corresponding
action. The soundtrack can be recorded separately from shooting the film,
but for live-action pictures many parts of the soundtrack are usually
recorded simultaneously.
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 movies 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.
Some films in recent decades have been recorded using analog video
technology similar to that used in television production. Modern digital
video cameras and digital projectors are gaining ground as well. These
approaches are extremely beneficial to moviemakers, especially because
footage can be evaluated and edited without waiting for the film stock to be
processed. Yet the migration is gradual, and as of 2005 most major motion
pictures are still recorded on film.
Future state
While motion picture films have been around for more than a century, film is
still a relative newcomer in the pantheon of fine arts. In the 1950s, when
television became widely available, industry analysts predicted the demise
of local movie theaters. Despite competition from television's increasing
technological sophistication over the 1960s and 1970s, such as the
development of color television and large screens, motion picture cinemas
continued. In the 1980s, when the widespread availability of inexpensive
videocassette recorders enabled people to select films for home viewing,
industry analysts again wrongly predicted the death of the local cinemas.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the development of digital DVD players, home theater
amplification systems with surround sound and subwoofers, and large LCD or
plasma screens enabled people to select and view films at home with greatly
improved audio and visual reproduction. These new technologies provided
audio and visual that in the past, only local cinemas had been able to
provide: a large, clear widescreen presentation of a film with a full-range,
high-quality multi-speaker sound system. Once again, industry analysts
predicted the demise of the local cinema. Local cinemas will be changing in
the 2000s and moving towards digital screens, a new approach which will
allow for easier, quicker distribution of films (via satellite or hard
disks), a development which may give local theaters a reprieve from their
predicted demise.
Notes
1. ^ Bollywood Hots Up cnn.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007
2. ^ a b Sharing Pix is Risky Business variety.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
3. ^ Savage, Mark (2006-12-19). Hanna Barbera's golden age of animation. BBC
News. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
4. ^ Timothy McNulty (2005-06-19). You saw it here first: Pittsburgh's
Nickelodeon introduced the moving picture theater to the masses in 1905.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
5. ^ Pre-Nickelodeon/Nickelodeon. University of Maryland Libraries
(2005-07-05). Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
6. ^ a b PBS Frontline: The Monster that Ate Hollywood: Anatomy of a
Monster: Now Playing ... And Playing ... And Playing ... pbs.org. Retrieved
June 23, 2007
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