The Film Portal

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.

Film is an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten, and inspire audiences. The visual elements of cinema need no translation, giving the motion picture a universal power of communication. Films are also artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and in turn, affect them.

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 a combination of physiological and psychological effects. One is 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 also perceive motion due to psychological effects called beta movement and the phi phenomenon.

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.

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Featured article

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace and Peter Coyote. It tells the story of Elliott (played by Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends a friendly alien, dubbed E.T., who is stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help the alien return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government. The concept for E.T. came from an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents' divorce. When work on Night Skies stalled, Spielberg met screenwriter Melissa Mathison, whom he hired to pen the script for E.T.. The film was shot from September to December 1981 in California on a budget of US$10.5 million. Unlike most motion pictures, to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the young cast, the film was shot in roughly chronological order. E.T. was a box office hit, surpassing Star Wars to become the most financially successful film released to that point. Critics acclaimed it as a timeless story of friendship, ranking it as best science fiction film ever made in a Rotten Tomatoes poll. The alien became the subject of analogies for Jesus. The film was re-released in 1985, and in 2002 with altered special effects and additional scenes. Spielberg believes E.T. epitomizes his work.

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Selected picture

Credit: by Eadweard Muybridge (edited and animated by trialsanderrors)

The phenakistoscope (also spelled phenakistiscope) was an early animation device, the predecessor to the zoetrope. It was invented in 1831 simultaneously by the Belgian Joseph Plateau and the Austrian Simon von Stampfer.

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Did you know...

• ...that Hell Below, a 1933 WW I film, set the pattern for many WW II submarine dramas, and featured the deliberate sinking of USS Moody, slated for destruction by the London Naval Treaty?
  
• ...that the 1927 silent film The Scar of Shame is an early example of a "race movie," in which a feature film was made by a black cast exclusively for black audiences?
• ...that Cheryl Dunye's 1996 film The Watermelon Woman was the first feature film to be directed by a black lesbian?

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News

Wikinews film portal

• November 14: Sarkozy makes Clint Eastwood's day; actor becomes "Légion d'honneur" Commander
• October 26: Academy Award-winning film director Paul Haggis leaves Scientology
• October 14: American singer and actor Al Martino dies at age 82
• September 29: 'Aviator,' 'Baby' dominate 2005 Academy Awards

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Featured biography

Joseph Roland "Joe" Barbera (pronounced /bɑrˈbɛrə/ bar-BERR-ə);(March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose movie and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century. Through his young adult years, Barbera lived, attended college, and began his career in New York City. After working odd jobs and as a banker, Barbera joined Van Beuren Studios in 1932 and subsequently Terrytoons in 1936. In 1937 he moved to California and while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Barbera met William Hanna. The two men began a collaboration that was at first best known for producing Tom and Jerry and live action films. In 1957, they co-founded Hanna-Barbera, which became the most successful television animation studio in the business, producing programs such as The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, and Yogi Bear. In 1967, Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting for $12 million, but Hanna and Barbera remained head of the company until 1991. At that time the studio was sold to Turner Broadcasting System, which in turn was merged with Time Warner, owners of Warner Bros., in 1996; Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors. Hanna and Barbera won seven Academy Awards and eight Emmy Awards. Their cartoons have become cultural icons, and their cartoon characters have appeared in other media such as films, books, and toys. Hanna-Barbera's shows have a global audience of over 300 million people and have been translated into more than 20 languages.

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Gene Kelly (1912–1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director, producer, and choreographer whose work in motion pictures spans from 1942 to 1996. He is probably best known today for his performances in musicals, notably An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952). Kelly made his Hollywood film debut in For Me and My Gal (1942), co-starring with Judy Garland. Afterward, he went on to work as an actor, dancer and subsequently, choreographer, in a series of musical films. In these films, his choreography included experiments with a combination of dance and animation (Anchors Aweigh and Invitation to the Dance) and dance scenes involving special effects (including the "Alter Ego" number from Cover Girl and the split-screen dance number from It's Always Fair Weather). In addition to his work as an actor and choreographer, Kelly directed or co-directed several films, some of which did not feature him in an acting role. Kelly appeared in several non-musical dramatic and comedy films as well. Kelly received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance in Anchors Aweigh (1945) and won an Honorary Academy Award for his work in An American in Paris (1951). He was voted the 15th most popular film actor on the American Film Institute’s millennium list, while his Singin' in the Rain was voted the most popular movie musical of all time.

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Wikiprojects

• WikiProject Films
• WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers
• WikiProject Horror

Selected quote

Since actors need to get training someplace, in New York they tend to get it in the theater. In L.A., the only place they can get it is in TV. And the series are—as valuable as they are for sheer experience—deadening emotionally. Especially if you’re in a hit. After a year in a role, you’re not really discovering anything new. — Sidney Lumet

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Featured content

Featured articles: 35 mm film • Padmé Amidala • James T. Aubrey, Jr. • B movie • Kroger Babb • Eric Bana • Blackface • Blade Runner • The Boondock Saints • Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan • Cannibal Holocaust • Casablanca (film) • Bette Davis • Dog Day Afternoon • Karen Dotrice • Felix the Cat • Henry Fonda • Fritz the Cat (film) • Gremlins • Gremlins 2: The New Batch • Jake Gyllenhaal • Anthony Michael Hall • Halloween (1978 film) • Halloween II • Halloween III: Season of the Witch • Jabba the Hutt • Jaws (film) • Katie Holmes • Hong Kong action cinema • Angelina Jolie • Diane Keaton • Abbas Kiarostami • Kinetoscope • Lage Raho Munna Bhai • Latter Days • Vivien Leigh • Lindsay Lohan • The Lord of the Rings (1978 film) • Manos: The Hands of Fate • Mom and Dad • Cillian Murphy • Sydney Newman • Austin Nichols • Night of the Living Dead • November (film) • Our Gang • Palpatine • Panavision • Ran (film) • Satyajit Ray • Richard III (1955 film) • Sound film • Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace • Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back • KaDee Strickland • Summer of '42 • Sunset Boulevard (1950 film) • Sharon Tate • Tenebrae (film) • Trembling Before G-d • Triumph of the Will • V for Vendetta (film) • Witchfinder General (film) • Preity Zinta

Featured lists: BAFTA Award for Best Film • Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture • Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama • Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score • List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language Film • List of Harry Potter films cast members • List of films that received the Golden Film

Featured topics: Star Wars episodes

Featured pictures:

Buster Keaton by Bain News Service

"Phenakistoscope: A Couple Waltzing", by Eadweard Muybridge

Main topics

Film

Terms - Animation • Beta movement • Camera • Cult film • Digital cinema • Documentary film • Dubbing • Experimental film • Fan film • Film crew • Film criticism • Film festival • Film frame • Film genre • Film journals and magazines • Film industry • Film manifesto • Film stock • Film theory • Filmmaking • History of film • Independent film • Lost film • Movie star • Narrative film • Open content film • Persistence of vision • Photographic film • Propaganda • Recording medium • Special effect • Subtitles • Sound stage • Web film • World cinema

Lists - List of basic film topics • List of film topics • List of films • List of film festivals • List of film formats • List of film series • List of film techniques • List of highest-grossing films • List of longest films by running time • List of songs based on a film or book • List of US box office bombs • Lists of film source material • List of open content films

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