What is Movie: Definition and 283 Discussions

A film, also called a movie, motion picture or moving picture, is a work of visual art used to simulate experiences that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound, and more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it.
The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects.
Traditionally, films were recorded onto celluloid film stock through a photochemical process and then shown through a movie projector onto a large screen. Contemporary films are often fully digital through the entire process of production, distribution, and exhibition, while films recorded in a photochemical form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack (a graphic recording of the spoken words, music and other sounds that accompany the images which runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it, and is not projected).
Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They 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 medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions through the use of dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into other languages.
The individual images that make up a film are called frames. In the projection of traditional celluloid films, a rotating shutter causes intervals of darkness as each frame, in turn, is moved into position to be projected, but the viewer does not notice the interruptions because of an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after its source disappears. The perception of motion is partly due to a psychological effect called the phi phenomenon.
The name "film" originates from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion-picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay, and flick. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Common terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the movies, and cinema; the last of these is commonly used, as an overarching term, in scholarly texts and critical essays. In early years, the word sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. 'Film' in general is not a good term to refer to a long standard commercial video production since it’s ambiguous in general and therefore requires context for correct interpretation.

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  1. Maarten Havinga

    ChatGPT and the movie "I, robot"

    For those who do not know the movie/story: this thread is about whether AI such as chatGPT is - on the long run - a danger to humanity, and why or why not. With its popularity rising so quickly, chatGPT has influence on our societies, and it may be prudent to ponder about them. I, Robot is a...
  2. Isopod

    What are the Best Animated Videos on YouTube?

    I really like watching peoples animation and movie short videos on Youtube, so I thought I'd create a thread here where people can share animated videos that they've seen recently which they thought were good. Here's a 1st one: "Happiness"
  3. russ_watters

    Tesla": A Movie Review of the Unusual

    Anybody see the movie "Tesla" staring Ethan Hawke? It's...interesting. I'm almost finished with it, but got so angry I had to post this for validation... As historical fiction goes, it seems pretty good. But the movie's style is... unusual. It has a narrator who is JP Morgan's daughter and...
  4. Jarvis323

    Most realistic asteroid impact/end of the world movie yet?

    Is this how people would react to a looming world ending asteroid impact?
  5. DennisN

    Dune (2021) movie discussion (incl. spoilers)

    This is a thread for discussing the SF movie Dune (2021). Please post your opinions and reviews of the movie here, which may contain spoilers. There will be spoilers in this thread so please don't read it if you haven't seen the movie and don't like it spoiled! My short review: I really liked...
  6. E

    I Ray tracing in the movie Interstellar

    https://arxiv.org/abs/1502.03808 They are using Boyer-Lindquist coordinates for the Kerr metric. As far as I understand they also introduced a camera-fixed basis defining spherical coordinates ##\theta_{cs}## and ##\phi_{cs}## to keep track of the directions of the light rays relative to the...
  7. scottdave

    Claude Shannon "The Bit Player" movie free screening

    This weekend (June 26-28) the IEEE Information Theory Society is showing a free screening of The Bit Player - a movie about Claude Shannon (the "father" of information theory) The website below has the link and password for Vimeo...
  8. DennisN

    Dune (upcoming movies)

    The spice must flow. I just heard that there will be a new movie adaptation of the classic Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert. Article on Wikipedia: Dune (2020 film). And another movie is planned, i.e. the two movies will cover the first book. I don't think there is any trailer yet. The director...
  9. Wrichik Basu

    Anyone has the movie "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974)?

    I watched this movie maybe four or five years back in school. I wanted to watch it again, but cannot find it anywhere. YouTube seems to have only the trailer. A Google search brings up some useless sites, and Chrome blocks most of them saying they are insecure. Does anyone have a copy of the movie?
  10. DennisN

    Ghostbusters: Afterlife (upcoming sequel)

    Ghostbusters: Afterlife is an upcoming sequel to the classic Ghostbusters (1984). I loved the original movie when I was a kid, and I actually look forward to seeing this sequel. I think the trailer is pretty cool: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE - Official Trailer (HD)
  11. Nantes

    I Treatment of Relativity in "Las Leyes de la Termodinámica" Movie

    Background: There is a very interesting Catalunyan film on Netflix called "Las Leyes de la Termodinámica" (The Laws of Thermodynamics) which is perhaps the world's first hybrid of a physics documentary and a romance film. The main character is a physics professor who falls in love and attempts...
  12. T

    The movie Shrek is hypocritical

    Have any of you seen the movie Shrek? The message of the movie Shrek is that we should accept everyone regardless of their physical appearance, yet the movie Shrek made fun of the Lord Farquad character for being short throughout the entire movie. Am i the only person who thinks this is...
  13. B

    B Interstellar Movie: Light Reflection on Planet Close to Event Horizon

    In the movie Interstellar we see a planet close to the event horizon so when the astronauts land and get stuck on the planet for over an hour, many years passes for the guy on the spaceship and when they return he is an old man. From what I understand, this is indeed what would happen and they...
  14. M

    Fooey, 'Underwater' is not the movie I hoped it might be....

    I finally saw Ford v Ferrari, and one of the shorts opened with a team of people working seven miles under the ocean. My immediate, very excited, thought was that they've made Peter Watts amazing novel, Starfish, into a film. Starfish is the first in Watts' Rifters trilogy, and I loved it...
  15. N

    Collection of Favorite Movie Phrases

    What are the favorite or touching phrases you have ever heard in movies? Mine is that scene in Phantom of the Opera: Christine: "Pitiful creature of darkness What kind of life have you known? God give me courage to show you, You are not alone." Who wrote that line anyway? What's yours?
  16. Bystander

    Movie Classics that totally escape me

    e.g., at the moment I'm watching The Maltese Falcon, and finding it every bit as boring as 2001, A Space Oddysey. Any interest in a thread devoted to "critically acclaimed" movies that you want your money back when you see them for free in "The Nam," like Easy Rider? I did waste a perfectly...
  17. M

    Export a 3d surface movie with good quality

    Hi PF! I have a 3D surface that changes with time. I am trying to make a movie. The following is what I do, but the output is extremely low quality. Does anyone know how I can get the same quality that Mathematica uses for its images? mov[t_] := Show[ParametricPlot3D[{(2 + Cos[v]) Cos[U]...
  18. almostvoid

    Virtual Revolution Sci Fi Movie [2016]

    for once not a Hollywood ending. Looks like Blade Runner at first, the plot is not unfamiliar but the ending is.
  19. Borek

    Trying to remember an Italian movie

    So far my google fu failed me. There was an Italian movie, shot is sixties or seventies, kind of a psychological drama (definitely not an action movie) that ended with a long car crash scene: guy was speeding through the country, at crossroads something went wrong, his car started rolling and...
  20. LLD1231

    Science review of the movie Contact?

    I’m curious as to what you guys thought of the movie Contact. How well does it stand up to science and physics?
  21. BillTre

    Is the New Meg Movie Scientifically Accurate?

    Here is a Science magazine news article on the Scientific Reality of the new Meg movie (staring Jason Stathan). You probably won't be surprised by the results (mostly not too realistic). This article is also in line with a show I saw during Shark Week where about four shark experts were shown...
  22. jedishrfu

    Great Domain of Science Video on Movie Sci Fi

    Domain of Science reviews science in sci fi movies: The reviewer talks about how physics is misused in movies and cringes at some of the funny movie moments where they got physics wrong.
  23. RandyD123

    B What the movie Interstellar got right and wrong?

    We all know that getting too close to the gravity well of a massive object like a black hole causes time to move more slowly for you than it would for people on Earth. But is it possible for a planet to exist close enough to a black hole and have a person actually stand on that planet? And if...
  24. DennisN

    Are you excited for the upcoming movie First Man?

    I just heard of this upcoming movie and thought I'd share it on PF. As a fan of The Right Stuff and Apollo 13, I look forward to this movie. :smile: First Man - Official Trailer (HD)
  25. T

    Lost In Space (Netflix Original)

    Just want to get a poll out there about what people think this is going to be like compared to the movie. I think it will be really good.
  26. phinds

    What are your thoughts on the Black Panther movie?

    I'm interested to see what folks think about the BP movie. I just saw it this evening. Personally, I was very impressed by all of the actors except the Black Panther, whom I thought was meh. The general, the little sister, and the bad guy were all particularly outstanding to me. The CGI was...
  27. DennisN

    Solo: A Star Wars Story (Upcoming)

    (In this one I personally do not believe. But surprised I could be, who knows...) Trailer 1:
  28. Arman777

    B MPEG movie: traveling to a black hole or a neutron star

    I find a very interesting site that shows us what it would be like to travel to a black hole or a neutron star. https://apod.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html Have fun !
  29. russ_watters

    Movie "Hidden Figures" [Spoilers]

    Great movie, if you haven't seen it. I have a question on the technical side for those who have and might know the math/history. This is the GD forum, but this is as much a math and orbital mechanics question... The movie follows three [real] black women through the early space program (a...
  30. scottdave

    Mortal Engines movie - Wired magazine looks at the science

    If you've seen a recent movie trailer with the entire city of London on some treads and able to move around - that is Mortal Engines. Wired magazine takes a look at the science that goes along with that, and even has a few "homework" problems to work out. :smile...
  31. Jameson

    MHB Movie Reviews of 2017: My Take on the Year's Hits and Flops

    I go to the movies quite a bit. I've always loved the experience and find it's fun to go into a new world for 1-3 hours. Usually I have at least one movie that gets me super excited each year, but this year was a big flop unfortunately. These are the ones I saw accord to my purchase history. I...
  32. BillTre

    Issues with the Downsizing Movie

    I recently ran across a review of the new movie "Downsizing" (starring Matt Daman and Kristen Wigg (together again from "The Martian")). The main issue in the movie seems to be shrinking people will reduce their environmental load on the planet (smaller people use less stuff). However, as any...
  33. J

    What are the best movie fight scenes ever?

    What do you guys think?
  34. A

    Finding Dory is a boring movie

    For my English class, I had to watch this movie. I remember watching Finding Nemo a long time ago when I was a pre-teen. I don't remember anything about the first movie except that Nemo got lost and his two fish friends had to find him. I was quite fond of the first movie and I feel like...
  35. C

    Looking for the Vintage movie on Physics -- shows swimmer diving

    In discussing the arrow of time, the movie shows the swimmer diving and then shows the sequence in reverse so that the diver is seen going from the water back to the diving board. The movie was made decades ago; it's a black and white film, about an hour long. Anyone know the title or where I...
  36. Wrath_of_sloths

    A problem with interstellar travel

    Hi guys, I am writing an undergraduate screenplay about physicist. The physicist is working on a mission with the aim to fly a spaceship with human crew to an extremely distant planet with an environment suitable for humans. Its really not that important for the story, because the film is...
  37. infinitebubble

    Melancholia, Lars von Trier's movie

    In the Sci-Fi movie Melancholia, strange movie as it were I couldn't help but be drawn by the slowly moving planet as it gets closer to Earth. Unfortunately the new planets gravity should have shown many effects to weather/oceans much more in strength than what the Moon could have sooner. But as...
  38. DennisN

    Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (upcoming)

    Ok, the next Star Wars, Episode 8, is named "The Last Jedi" and here is a brand new teaser, the first I think. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Arriving in your galaxy December 15."
  39. BillTre

    Cloud Atlas (not the movie) Gets an Update

    Newly described clouds (also here) have been added to the International Cloud Atlas. I have always found clouds kind of fascinating, especially when viewed from airplanes. Didn't even know there was a cloud atlas.
  40. J

    A Must-See Movie: Highly Recommended!

    This is a well taken movie. Would strongly recommend...
  41. pixel

    Arrival (2016): What Do You Think? SPOILER ALERT

    SPOILER ALERT. I saw this movie recently and, as usual, there are some things that I found puzzling and was wondering what other people thought. For one thing, the aliens were very much more advanced than us, so why didn't they figure out our language, instead of us having to figure out their...
  42. Noisy Rhysling

    "The Great Wall", a movie for the Mythbusters of yore

    Saw this yesterday and was thinking of Adam and Jamie afterwards. Several things in the movie were, IMNSHO, testable. 1. How much gunpowder would be needed to blow open a door made of iron reinforced wood that is 100mm or so thick? 2. Can you make a flying guillotine out of a shield? (A...
  43. W

    Looking for a good sci-fi movie to watch

    I'm actually running out of sci-fi movies to watch. I like sci-fi movies that keep their feet on the ground with science, don't mash much with fantasy (wizards, etc...) and at the same time spur "What If..." thought or make you pause and hop to the web to look something up. for example: Flat...
  44. J

    Incorrect Physics in Furious 7 Car Tower Scene

    Homework Statement I have a project that involves explaining the incorrect physics that happens in a particular scene of a movie. I chose to do Furious 7 and the scene where dom rolls out of the car because the brakes stopped working and the car crashes falls out of the tower. I need at least 3...
  45. D

    B The movie wanted defies physic.

    In the movie wanted, the characters inside the movie can curve bullets by swinging the pistol, it is obvious it defies the law of physics. I know that a bullet cannot curve due to the law of motion, it is the same a sling (the thing that throw rocks) where the trajectory will always be a...
  46. UsableThought

    "Hidden Figures" movie about sane mathematicians

    (NOTE: Not sure if this shouldn't be in "General Discussion"? The movie is fiction, but it's based on a true story about NASA & the first manned space launches.) Some math guy in another thread (I think it was "How smart is Tony Stark?") was complaining that mathematicians are usually...
  47. farolero

    Writing: Input Wanted A small SciFi comic loosely based on the sixth day movie

    I hope you like it: http://s40.photobucket.com/user/raaaid/media/comic2/1_zps1rp0ynb2.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
  48. L

    [Gravitational Potential Energy] In a movie stunt, a 65 kg skier...

    Homework Statement [/B] In a movie stunt, a 65 kg skier starts from a rest position at the top of a hill 30 m high. She slides down the hill to the bottom, where she collides with a 45 kg stationary skier. The collision is completely inelastic. Find the final velocity of the skiers. Homework...
  49. Zafa Pi

    I Scientific American Entanglement Movie

    Scientific American created a short movie purporting to explain entanglement and the Bell experiment at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/video/quantum-entanglement-the-movie-2012-01-30/ The part that interests me is near the end when explaining what is possible with entangled photons, which I...
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