A film, also referred to as a video, motion picture or digital film, is a visual work of art that employs moving pictures to portray specific experiences, emotions, themes, representations, beauty, or setting. The term “film” derives from the term “mise-matte”, which described the composition of a painting in the style of an ancient Roman or Greek painter. Initially, only the studio directors and producers of movies were able to see the finished product. As time progressed, different media including projection screens, VCRs, DVDs, and computer monitors allowed individuals to view movies at any location.
Today, movies are available in a variety of formats including DVD, Betamax, and Blu-Ray. Although the term “film” refers to physical images, it also includes non-physical components such as sound, music, visual images, computer animation, television, and video games. The first movies to be made on moviemaking included early morning shots of the sunrise and sunset. Over the years, advancements in equipment for cellulose acetate printing and cellulose process have enabled mass production of movies with realistic special effects and vivid colors. The major improvements in digital video and computer animation techniques enable today’s films to be made on a much larger scale than even the early movies, which often had very small crews.
Movies have become an important part of our culture and society. In the past, only the elite class of society that could afford the expensive cost of viewing motion pictures at the movies would ever get a chance to see a quality motion picture. Advancements in technology over the past few decades have now made possible the widespread access of many movies to the masses, opening the possibility of mass entertainment to almost every person in the world. Documentary films, short documentaries, educational films, home videos, and arts and crafts films have all been successful in bridging the gap between the elite and the mass audiences.