Introduction
Movies, also called films or motion pictures, are works that use sequences of moving images to tell stories, document events, communicate ideas, or create artistic experiences. Modern movies combine photography, acting, directing, editing, sound, music, visual effects, production design, and many other creative and technical skills.
Film is both an art form and an industry. A movie may be produced by a major studio with thousands of workers or by a small independent team. It may be fictional, documentary, animated, experimental, or a mixture of several forms.
Cinema developed through many inventions and experiments rather than being created by one person on one date. By the 1890s, several inventors were producing moving-image systems. The Lumière brothers' Cinématographe became one of the best-known early camera-projector systems, while Thomas Edison's laboratory and William Dickson had already developed the Kinetoscope for individual viewing. (bfi.org.uk)
Learning Objectives
After studying this guide, you should be able to:
Explain the basic stages of movie production.
Identify major film genres and subgenres.
Understand cinematography, editing, sound, acting, and directing.
Recognize common camera shots and filmmaking terminology.
Describe important developments in film history.
Distinguish awards, box-office performance, critical reception, and film preservation.
What is a Movie?
A movie is a sequence of recorded or digitally created images presented rapidly enough to produce the impression of continuous movement.
Movies can be created using:
Live-action photography
Animation
Computer-generated imagery
Stop-motion photography
Motion capture
Combinations of several techniques
Movies vary greatly in length.
A feature film is generally long enough to serve as the main presentation in a cinema or streaming release, while a short film has a much shorter running time.
Film vs Cinema vs Movie
These terms overlap.
Movie is a common everyday term.
Film may refer either to a motion picture or to the physical photographic material historically used to record movies.
Cinema can mean:
The art of filmmaking
The movie industry
A movie theater in many countries
In film studies, cinema often refers broadly to motion-picture art and culture.
Major Movie Genres
A genre is a category based on recurring themes, settings, characters, narrative patterns, or emotional effects.
Movies often belong to more than one genre.
Action
Action movies emphasize:
Physical conflict
Chases
Battles
Stunts
Spectacle
Examples may include spy films, superhero films, and martial-arts movies.
Adventure
Adventure films focus on journeys, exploration, danger, or quests.
Common settings include:
Wilderness
Historical locations
Distant countries
Fantasy worlds
Comedy
Comedy aims primarily to produce humor.
Subgenres include:
Romantic comedy
Satire
Parody
Slapstick
Dark comedy
Drama
Drama focuses heavily on characters, relationships, emotional conflict, or serious situations.
Many films in other genres also contain strong dramatic elements.
Horror
Horror attempts to create fear, dread, shock, or unease.
Major subgenres include:
Supernatural horror
Slasher
Psychological horror
Body horror
Zombie films
Science Fiction
Science-fiction movies explore ideas involving:
Future societies
Space travel
Artificial intelligence
Aliens
Robotics
Advanced technology
Fantasy
Fantasy uses imaginary worlds or supernatural elements that are not necessarily explained scientifically.
Common elements include:
Magic
Mythical creatures
Imaginary kingdoms
Romance
Romance films focus primarily on relationships and love.
Thriller
Thrillers emphasize:
Suspense
Danger
Uncertainty
Pursuit
High-stakes conflict
Musical
Musicals integrate songs and often dance into storytelling.
Documentary
A documentary presents real people, events, places, or issues, although documentaries still involve choices about filming, editing, narration, and interpretation.
Genre and Subgenre
A subgenre is a more specific category within a larger genre.
Examples:
Horror → slasher
Comedy → romantic comedy
Science fiction → space opera
Crime → gangster film
A single movie may combine several categories.
For example, a film can be both:
Science fiction + horror
or:
Action + comedy
Story and Plot
These terms are related but can be distinguished.
Story refers broadly to the events that happen in the fictional world.
Plot refers to how those events are selected, ordered, and presented to the audience.
A film may tell events:
Chronologically
Through flashbacks
Through flash-forwards
From multiple perspectives
In deliberately fragmented order
Basic Narrative Structure
Many mainstream films use a structure involving:
Introduction or setup
Rising conflict
Major turning points
Climax
Resolution
However, filmmakers are not required to follow this pattern.
Experimental, art-house, and nonlinear movies may deliberately reject traditional storytelling structures.
Screenplay
A screenplay is the written script for a movie.
It usually contains:
Dialogue
Scene descriptions
Locations
Character actions
The person who writes it is a screenwriter.
Some screenplays are original, while others are adapted from:
Novels
Plays
Comics
Biographies
Earlier movies
Historical events
Director
The director is the key creative leader responsible for interpreting the screenplay and guiding how the movie is presented on screen.
Directors work with departments responsible for:
Acting
Cinematography
Production design
Editing
Sound
Music
Visual effects
The director does not personally perform every filmmaking task. Cinema is highly collaborative.
Producer
A producer helps organize and manage the production.
Depending on the production, producers may be involved in:
Financing
Hiring
Scheduling
Business decisions
Rights acquisition
Distribution arrangements
Different producer titles can indicate different responsibilities.
Examples include:
Producer
Executive producer
Co-producer
Associate producer
Cinematography
Cinematography is the art and technique of creating the movie's visual images.
The chief cinematographer is often called the:
Director of Photography (DP or DoP)
Cinematography involves decisions about:
Camera position
Lens choice
Lighting
Framing
Movement
Exposure
Color
Common Camera Shots
Extreme Long Shot
Shows a very large environment.
It is often used to establish:
Location
Scale
Landscape
Long Shot
Shows a character's full body and surrounding environment.
Medium Shot
Usually frames a character from approximately the waist upward.
It is common in conversations.
Close-Up
Shows a face or object in detail.
Close-ups can emphasize:
Emotion
Reaction
Important objects
Extreme Close-Up
Focuses very tightly on a detail such as:
Eyes
Hands
An object
Camera Angles
Eye-Level Shot
The camera is placed roughly at the subject's eye level.
High-Angle Shot
The camera looks downward.
Depending on context, it can make a subject appear smaller or emphasize the environment around them.
Low-Angle Shot
The camera looks upward.
It may make a figure appear larger, powerful, threatening, or heroic.
The meaning of a camera angle depends on context rather than on a fixed rule.
Camera Movement
Common camera movements include:
Pan
The camera rotates horizontally.
Tilt
The camera rotates vertically.
Tracking Shot
The camera moves through space while following or observing action.
Dolly Shot
The camera is physically moved toward, away from, or alongside a subject.
Crane Shot
The camera moves vertically or through the air using a crane or similar system.
Modern filmmakers can also use:
Steadicams
Gimbals
Drones
Computer-controlled cameras
Mise-en-Scène
Mise-en-scène is a film-studies term referring broadly to what appears within the frame and how it is arranged.
It can include:
Sets
Locations
Costumes
Lighting
Props
Actors
Blocking
Blocking means the planned positioning and movement of actors within a scene.
Mise-en-scène can communicate character, mood, social status, time period, or theme before anyone speaks.
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and arranging shots.
An editor determines:
Shot order
Rhythm
Pacing
Transitions
Timing
Editing can completely change how viewers understand an event.
Cut
A cut is an immediate transition from one shot to another.
It is the most common film-editing transition.
Fade
A shot gradually appears from or disappears into a blank image, often black.
Dissolve
One image gradually overlaps and replaces another.
Montage
A montage combines multiple shots to condense time, show development, or create an idea through comparison.
For example, a training sequence may compress several weeks of practice into a few minutes.
Continuity Editing
Continuity editing aims to make separate shots appear to form one smooth and understandable sequence.
Techniques include:
Matching movement
Maintaining screen direction
Eyeline matches
Shot/reverse shot
The goal is often to keep the audience focused on the story rather than the editing itself.
Sound in Movies
Movie sound can include:
Dialogue
Music
Sound effects
Ambient sound
Silence
Sound can establish location, mood, rhythm, and emotional meaning.
Diegetic Sound
Diegetic sound comes from within the story world.
Examples:
A character speaking
A radio playing in a room
Footsteps
Non-Diegetic Sound
Non-diegetic sound is added for the audience but does not normally exist within the characters' world.
Examples include:
Background score
Some narration
Dramatic musical cues
Film Score and Soundtrack
A film score usually refers to original music composed to accompany a movie.
A soundtrack can refer more broadly to the film's recorded sound or to an album containing songs and music associated with the movie.
The terms are related but not identical.
Acting
Film acting involves performing characters for the camera.
Unlike stage acting, movie performances are often recorded:
Out of story order
In repeated takes
Through close-ups
In short segments
Actors must therefore maintain emotional and physical continuity between separately filmed scenes.
Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production
Movie creation is commonly divided into three broad stages.
Pre-Production
Planning before filming.
This can include:
Screenwriting
Casting
Storyboarding
Location scouting
Budgeting
Costume design
Set preparation
Scheduling
Production
The period when principal filming occurs.
This involves:
Actors
Directors
Camera crews
Lighting
Sound recording
Sets and locations
Post-Production
Work performed after principal photography.
This can include:
Editing
Sound mixing
Music
Color grading
Visual effects
Titles
Visual Effects and Special Effects
These terms are often confused.
Practical or Special Effects
Physical effects created during filming may include:
Explosions
Makeup
Mechanical creatures
Miniatures
Weather effects
Visual Effects
Visual effects (VFX) usually involve creating or modifying images during post-production.
Examples include:
Digital environments
CGI creatures
Removing objects
Compositing several images
Many modern films combine practical effects with digital VFX.
Animation
Animation creates the illusion of movement from individually created or manipulated images.
Major techniques include:
Hand-drawn animation
Computer animation
Stop motion
Cut-out animation
Animation is a medium rather than one single genre.
An animated movie can be:
Comedy
Drama
Fantasy
Science fiction
Horror
Silent Cinema
Early cinema did not begin with synchronized recorded dialogue.
However, silent films were not necessarily experienced in silence. Screenings often included live musicians, orchestras, sound effects, or lecturers.
The late 19th century saw several competing moving-image technologies rather than one universally agreed "first movie." The BFI notes that Edison's Kinetoscope was commercially viewed in 1894, while projected cinema systems developed rapidly in several countries during 1895. (bfi.org.uk)
The Arrival of Sound
Synchronizing recorded sound with moving images transformed cinema during the late 1920s.
The Jazz Singer (1927) became famous because it included synchronized music, singing, and sequences of spoken dialogue using the Vitaphone system. It was not completely spoken throughout, and the transition from silent to sound cinema happened gradually rather than overnight. (bfi.org.uk)
Fully synchronized sound movies became increasingly common around the world during the following years.
Color Cinema
Color technology also developed gradually.
Early filmmakers sometimes added color through:
Hand coloring
Tinting
Toning
Later photographic color systems allowed filmmakers to record increasingly realistic colors.
Color did not instantly replace black-and-white filmmaking. Both forms existed alongside each other for decades.
Film Awards
Film awards recognize achievements in acting, directing, writing, cinematography, editing, sound, design, and other areas.
Famous awards include:
Academy Awards
BAFTA Awards
Cannes Film Festival awards
Golden Globe Awards
Venice Film Festival awards
Berlin International Film Festival awards
Academy Awards
The first Academy Awards ceremony took place on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Wings received the award now recognized as the first Best Picture Oscar. (oscars.org)
Quiz Connection
First Academy Awards → 1929
First Best Picture winner → Wings
Box Office
Box office refers to revenue generated by ticket sales.
Important terms include:
Domestic Box Office
Ticket revenue from a defined home market.
International Box Office
Revenue from overseas markets.
Worldwide Box Office
Combined revenue from multiple markets.
Opening Weekend
Revenue earned during a movie's first major weekend of release.
Important Distinction
Box-office revenue is not the same as profit.
A movie's financial result may also depend on:
Production budget
Marketing costs
Theater revenue shares
Distribution fees
Streaming
Television rights
Home entertainment
Merchandise
Critical Reception vs Audience Reception
A movie can receive very different reactions from critics and general audiences.
Critical reception refers mainly to professional reviews and analysis.
Audience reception refers to reactions from moviegoers.
Neither box-office success nor awards automatically proves artistic quality.
They measure different things.
Film Preservation
Movies can deteriorate or become lost if they are not properly preserved.
The Library of Congress reports that a large percentage of American silent-era films no longer survive in complete form. Film can be damaged through chemical deterioration, shrinking, fading, fire, and physical wear. (loc.gov)
Film archives preserve movies through methods such as:
Controlled storage
Restoration
Photochemical copying
Digital scanning
Creating preservation masters
National Film Registry
The U.S. National Film Registry preserves awareness of films considered culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
The Library of Congress adds 25 films each year to the Registry. The Registry is not intended as a list of the "best" movies; its purpose is preservation and recognition of enduring cultural significance. (loc.gov)
This is an important distinction for film-history quizzes.
Common Movie Terms
Term | Meaning |
Director | Leads the creative interpretation of the film |
Producer | Helps organize and manage production |
Screenplay | Written movie script |
Cinematography | Creation of the visual image |
Editing | Arrangement of shots |
Score | Music composed for a film |
Montage | Sequence combining shots to compress time or ideas |
Close-up | Tight shot emphasizing a face or object |
Mise-en-scène | Arrangement of visible elements in the frame |
VFX | Digital or post-production visual effects |
Common Mistakes
Movies Were Not Invented by One Person
Cinema developed through the work of multiple inventors, photographers, engineers, exhibitors, and entrepreneurs. (bfi.org.uk)
Silent Films Were Not Always Silent in Theaters
They were frequently accompanied by live music or other sound.
The Jazz Singer Was Not Completely a Talking Film
It contained synchronized musical and spoken sections, but much of the film remained in the older silent-film style. (bfi.org.uk)
Director and Producer Are Different Roles
The director usually leads creative interpretation, while producers concentrate more heavily on organizing and managing the production.
Animation Is Not Just a Children's Genre
Animation is a filmmaking method capable of telling stories for audiences of any age.
Box Office and Profit Are Different
High ticket revenue does not automatically mean high profit.
The National Film Registry Is Not a Ranking
Films are selected for cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance, not because the Library of Congress considers them the 25 "best" movies of the year. (loc.gov)
Memory Tips
For filmmaking stages:
Pre-production → plan
Production → shoot
Post-production → finish
For camera scale:
Long shot → environment
Medium shot → conversation
Close-up → detail
For filmmaking roles:
Writer → script
Director → creative vision
Cinematographer → image
Editor → shot order
Composer → music
For sound:
Diegetic → inside story world
Non-diegetic → audience hears it, characters usually do not
Summary
Movies combine visual images, performance, sound, editing, music, design, and storytelling. They can belong to many genres, including drama, comedy, horror, action, science fiction, fantasy, documentary, and musical.
Filmmaking is highly collaborative. Screenwriters create scripts, directors guide creative interpretation, cinematographers design the photographed image, actors perform characters, producers organize production, and editors shape recorded material into the finished film.
Cinema developed through several moving-image technologies in the late 19th century. The transition to synchronized sound became especially important during the late 1920s, while color, widescreen, computer-generated imagery, digital cameras, and modern sound systems continued transforming filmmaking.
Understanding movie terminology makes it easier to analyze how films produce meaning. Camera placement, lighting, editing, performance, music, and sound can all shape the audience's interpretation of the same story.
FAQ
What is cinematography?
Cinematography is the art and technique of creating a movie's visual images through camera placement, lenses, lighting, movement, framing, and related choices.
What does a film director do?
A director guides the creative interpretation of the screenplay and works with actors and production departments to shape the finished movie.
What is a screenplay?
A screenplay is the written script used as the basis for a film.
What is a montage?
A montage is an edited sequence of several shots used to compress time, develop an idea, or show a series of connected events.
What is mise-en-scène?
Mise-en-scène refers broadly to elements arranged within the frame, including actors, sets, costumes, props, lighting, and staging.
What is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound?
Diegetic sound exists within the story world. Non-diegetic sound, such as much background music, is presented for the audience but is not normally heard by the characters.
What movie won the first Academy Award for Best Picture?
Wings won the first Best Picture award at the inaugural Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. (oscars.org)
Was The Jazz Singer the first completely talking movie?
No. The Jazz Singer was an important early synchronized-sound film, but it contained only portions of synchronized speech and singing rather than continuous spoken dialogue. (bfi.org.uk)
What is box office?
Box office generally refers to revenue generated from cinema ticket sales.
What is the National Film Registry?
It is a Library of Congress program recognizing American films of cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance and encouraging their preservation. (loc.gov)
Key Takeaways
Movies combine storytelling with cinematography, acting, editing, sound, music, design, and other creative disciplines.
Major genres include drama, comedy, action, horror, science fiction, fantasy, romance, thriller, musical, and documentary.
Pre-production involves planning, production involves filming, and post-production includes editing, sound, music, color, and visual effects.
Cinema developed through the work of many pioneers, while synchronized sound became commercially transformative during the late 1920s.
Film awards, box-office revenue, critical reception, audience reception, and cultural significance measure different aspects of a movie's impact.
References
British Film Institute — In the Beginning: Cinema's Origin Story Historical overview of early moving-image technologies and pioneers including Edison, Dickson, the Lumière brothers, Robert Paul, and other early filmmakers.
BFI — Origins of CinemaBritish Film Institute — Film Sound and Its Restoration Authoritative discussion of early synchronized sound, Vitaphone, Don Juan, The Jazz Singer, and the technological transition to recorded sound.
BFI — Film SoundAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — The 1st Academy Awards Official record of the inaugural Academy Awards ceremony in 1929 and Wings as the first Best Picture winner.
Oscars — 1st Academy AwardsLibrary of Congress — National Film Registry Official information on the preservation and recognition of culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant American films.
Library of Congress — National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress — National Film Registry FAQ Official explanation of Registry selection, significance criteria, annual additions, preservation, and common misconceptions about the program.
Library of Congress — Film Registry FAQLibrary of Congress — Film Preservation Study Major research resource documenting film deterioration, lost silent cinema, archival preservation, and threats to historical motion pictures.
Library of Congress — Film Preservation StudyLibrary of Congress — Moving Image Research Guide Research resources and terminology for film, video, archival prints, production credits, and moving-image collections.
Library of Congress — Moving Image Research