Veer
File:Veer movie poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Anil Sharma
Produced by	Vijay Galani
Screenplay by	Shailesh verma,shaktimaan
Story by	Salman Khan
Starring	Salman Khan Zarine Khan Mithun Chakraborty Sohail Khan Jackie Shroff
Music by	Sajid-Wajid
Cinematography	Gopal Shah
Editing by	Ashfaque Makrani
Distributed by	Eros Entertainment Vijay Galani Moviez
Release date(s)	January 22, 2010 (2010-01-22)
Running time	155 minutes
Country	‹See Tfd› India
Language	Hindi
Budget	94 crore[1]
Box office	39.75 crore[2]

Veer (Hindi: वीर) is a 2010 Hindi film directed by Anil Sharma, and starring Salman Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Sohail Khan, Jackie Shroff and Zarine Khan.^[3] The film, written by Salman Khan, set during the 1825 Pindari movement of Rajasthan, when India was ruled by the British.

Veer was released on 22 January 2010.^[4] It received a mainly negative critical reception and was declared a below average performer at the Indian box office.^[5]

Plot[link]

This section requires expansion.

Veer Pratap Singh (Salman Khan) is a Pindari Prince and the son of the great Pindari warrior, Prithvi Singh (Mithun Chakraborty), who was known for his great battles to free India from British rule. Veer wishes to continue his father's legacy by leading a movement of Pindaris against the British in order to free both the Rajasthani Kingdom of Madhavghar and the rest of India from the great colonial power. Veer receives the help of his younger brother, Punya Singh (Sohail Khan) in gathering together an army. However Veer finds opposition from the King of Madhavghar, Gyanendra Singh (Jackie Shroff), who sees Veer as a threat to Madhavghar and his rule and orders for Veer to be killed. Veer and Punya along with their supporters go into hiding within the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, while Singh makes an alliance with the British Governor of Rajasthan, James Fraser (Tim James Lawrence), saying that Madhavghar will support the British in crushing the Pindari movement and eliminating Veer.

To keep stakes high, the Pindaris kidnap Singh's daughter Princess Yashodhara (Zarine Khan), who Veer finds himself in love with. The Pindaris then make a failed attempt to take down Singh's palace by surprise. However Singh's spies discover the plan and thousands of Pindari warriors are slaughtered. Veer fails to get his revenge on the corrupt King. In the meantime, Lady Angela Fraser (Lisa Lazarus), wife of British Governor James Fraser, begins to question her husband's actions as he supports the evil king in slaughtering members of the Pindari movement. However Fraser refuses to back down his campaign in crushing the Pindari movement of Rajasthan.

After Veer promises his father that he will finish Singh, he gatecrashes princes Yashodhara's Swayamvara. As he takes the princess away from the fort, Gyanendra Singh sees a vast army of Pindaris has surrounded his fort. He asks the British to help him but they refuse and make the Pindaris their ally in a bid to escape from Madhavghar. Before the British leave a battle follows in which the Governor and Gyanendra Singh both are killed. Veer, wounded from a gunshot, dies in the arms of his father. Years later it is shown that Veer's son and Prithvi are having a friendly fight.

Cast[link]

• Salman Khan as Veer Pratap Singh
• Mithun Chakraborty as Prithvi Singh, Veer's father
• Sohail Khan as Punya Pratap Singh, Veer's brother
• Jackie Shroff as Gyanendra Singh, the king of Madhavghar and father of Yashodhara
• Zarine Khan as Princess Yashodhara, Veer's lover
• Lisa Lazarus as Lady Angela Fraser, wife of Governor James Fraser
• Tim James Lawrence as James Fraser, Governor General of Rajasthan
• Bianca Van Varenberg
• Khurram Tejrar
• Gita Soto
• Neena Gupta as Veer's mother
• Aryan Vaid
• Bharat Dabholkar
• Bunny Anand^[6]
• Shahbaaz Khan
• Puru Raajkumar
• Militza Radmilovic
• Sully
• Charissa Glidden as the Governess
• Roy Bronsgeest as Rhino^[7]
• Taylor Wright
• Luke Groves
• Fiona Grace(Jaya Gupta)as nina francess

Production[link]

The story was written by Salman Khan twenty years ago^[8], who described it as his dream project.^[9] At that time, Khan planned to direct the film himself and cast Sanjay Dutt in the lead role.^[10] Veer is also partly based on the Russian novel Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol.^[4] For his role as Veer, Salman Khan went on a special diet and worked out with a personal trainer.^[11] For her role as a 19th century princess, Zarine Khan put on eight kilos of extra weight.^[12]

Principal photography for Veer began on 1 December 2008. Portions of the film were originally scheduled to be shot at the College of Engineering and the Agricultural College in Pune, but due to the swine flu outbreak the locations were moved to Mumbai.^[13] Other location shooting took place in Jaipur and Bikaner. Location shooting at Amber Fort in Jaipur was also interrupted when several onlookers were injured and the Rajasthan High Court ordered a halt to filming. A case was filed against Anil Sharma accusing the film crew of damaging the fort, violating several conservation laws and causing the structure's 500-year-old roof to collapse.^[14] The crew finished their shoot after paying Rs. 20 lakh in damages.^[15]

Marketing[link]

The trailer of Veer was released on 27 November 2009 at the screening of Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan.^[16] The first song promo, "Salaam Aaya", was released on 13 December 2009. The song "Surili akhiyon wale" was released later. A short action trailer and a trailer featuring the song "Meherbaniyan" were also released.^{[citation needed]}

Reception[link]

Critical reception[link]

The movie was generally panned by critics.^[17] Taran Adarsh criticized the writing and direction of the movie, describing it as a colossal disappointment.^[18] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN termed it as "an impossible film to appreciate", criticizing the performance of the support cast, while praising the performance of Salman Khan.^[19] Gaurav Malani praised the performance of Salman Khan, while terming the story as average.^[20] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL.in also praised Salman Khan but added "Overall, ‘Veer’ has it’s pluses but it is sadly restricted to a very average film. It has nothing new and that only makes it seem slower."^[21] NkS Reviews It rated it 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "Veer is an epic at its best...If you like period films then you'll like Veer. If you are a Salman Khan fan then Veer shouldn’t be missed even for all the money in the world." The blog also praised Salman Khan's performance highly by saying, "..no other actor in Bollywood could have done this role so convincingly as Salman Khan did. He is spectacularly stupendous with the Veer tag."^[22]

Among U.S. critics, Frank Lovece of Film Journal International enjoyed it as "hokum of the highest order, punctuated with the most rousing musical sequences of the last several Indian imports," and after dissecting the film's numerous historical and chronological fallacies said, "Stateside Bollywood fans more accustomed to modern-day musical romances or stylish crime thrillers will be pleasantly surprised to find a period piece that's more Xena: Warrior Princess than A Passage to India.^[23]

Box office[link]

The film did very well in single screens in Rajasthan and other areas in North India. According to Eros, Veer grossed Rs. 32.5 crore net in its first week in India, including the Telugu version.^[24] As of 4 March 2010, the film grossed 48,000,000 It was declared a below average performer at the box office.

Allegations of plagiarism[link]

On 23 January 2010, author Pavan Chaudhary filed a Rs. 2 Million suit against Khan, Anil Sharma and producer Vijay Kumar Galani, alleging that the film borrowed elements from his novel, Trilogy of Wisdom. The suit calls for a halt of the film's screenings.^[25][26]

Criticism[link]

The Rajput youth organisation Karni Sena was heavily critical of Veer, alleging that portions of the dialogue are "derogatory and demeaning for the Rajput community". Members of the group attacked several multiplexes in Jaipur, vandalising posters and smashing windows. Anil Sharma responded that it was a misunderstanding and no insult had been intended towards the Rajput community.^[27]

Awards and nominations[link]

2011 Zee Cine Awards

• Nominated - Best Female Debut - Zarine Khan^[28]

Soundtrack[link]

The film's music was released on 17 December 2009. The film's songs are composed by Sajid-Wajid and the lyrics are written by Oscar-winning lyricist Gulzar.

The music received generally positive reviews from critics with Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama giving it an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5.^[29] The songs, Surili Akhiyon Wale, Salaam Aaya and Taali received special praise.^[29]

See also[link]

• Bollywood films of 2010
• List of historical drama films of Asia

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Veer at the Internet Movie Database
• Veer at Rotten Tomatoes
• Veer at Box Office Mojo
• Veer at AllRovi
• Veer at Bollywood Hungama

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the collegiate level by the Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily on the high school level, with some usage at the collegiate and (with slight modifications) the professional level with varying degrees of success. The Veer is an effective ball control offense that can help minimize mismatches in a game for a team. However, it can lead to turnovers with pitches and handoff option reads.

The Outside Veer (or "high dive") shown vs. an Oklahoma defense (3-4 or 5-2). The square indicates the dive read while the diamond indicates the pitch read.

Formations[link]

The Veer can be run out of any variety of formations, although it was primarily designed to be run out of the split-backed, aptly named veer formation. It has been used out of the I-formation (and its variants, including the Power-I and Maryland I) and the wishbone formation. It also is used in the shotgun formation. Some variants of the triple option have now made the jump to the shotgun formation. The Shotgun has become a popular option formation since Eric Crouch and the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers used the shotgun option during his 2001 Heisman campaign.

How it works[link]

Morris Knolls High School executes a typical Veer play, the QB (#8) is meeting the dive back and #30 is the pitch back.

The Veer option is generally regarded as a "triple option". It is designed as a four-back attack with one player taking a dive course, one taking a pitch course and another being a lead blocker on the perimeter of the offensive formation. The QB makes reads on defensive players and then distributes the ball according to the defensive reaction to the offense. A typical play proceeds as follows (we will assume that this is an "inside veer" going to the right side out of the split-back formation): the quarterback takes the snap. He then does what is called "opening up": the quarterback goes from his two point stance, facing forward, and takes (in this situation) his opposite side, left foot and pivots ninety degrees on his right foot, extending the ball toward the sideline he is facing. The split-back halfback on the right side, who in this situation is the "dive back", goes forward into the line to where the quarterback is and meets in an area called the "mesh point". This is where the idea of the Veer begins to take shape: the offensive line has left one man unblocked here, most likely a defensive tackle (although it can be a linebacker).

This man is being Read by the QB. The defender is being forced to choose between tackling the dive back or the quarterback. The dive back explodes forward, puts his arms around the ball that is being extended, but does not take it. The quarterback, in his open stance, is reading the man being veered to determine whether he will "pull" the ball from the dive back, or let the dive back take the ball and go through the hole. This is where the name of the offense, the veer, comes from. This is just one part of the four-part option. If the quarterback keeps the ball, he attempts to cut up the field with the opposite side halfback, who has been running right towards the dive back's original position. He is the pitch man.

He attempts to maintain proper pitch relation to the quarterback, technically a few yards outside the quarterback and moving laterally so that the quarterback may pitch the ball as he goes down the field. This entire action does not take longer than a few seconds. The fourth player in the split-veer would be a wide receiver or tight end. His job, depending on the formation, would be to block the force player who is responsible for the flat to the side they are attacking. The offense relies on the quarterback making the proper reads, and reacting to the read (if he decides to keep the ball), turning up the field and gaining yardage. The dive back must remember to not take the football from the quarterback, rather the quarterback must give it to him. The pitch man must know to maintain proper spacing from the quarterback to ensure that the quarterback can make an effective pitch that can ensure more yardage.

Origin[link]

The College Football Hall of Fame credits Bill Yeoman with the invention of the veer formation. Yeoman ran that offense with the University of Houston Cougars beginning in the mid-sixties and continuing through his career at UH which concluded in 1986.

Use[link]

An example of an inside veer triple option.

When an offensive system is devised for a team, the coach must take into account his players, so the veer can be applied to several situations. It can be used for undersized players so that double teams and angles can be used to block defenders. It can be used to isolate defenders and create predictable responses to the offenses actions. If a team is very disciplined it can take advantage of an undisciplined defense that does not want to execute their responsibilities precisely on each snap of the game.

The veer relies on precision, execution, and smarts, rather than an advantage in athleticism, to score points. The ability of the QB to identify weakness in defensive alignment is paramount, as the veer can take quick advantage of a defensive misalignment. The veer also can be used with great effect when the offensive line is a strength of the team. Over time, the ability to pass out of the Veer has also been utilized depending on the QB's ability to "bounce" into a moving pocket to make short range passes. The most effective methods of passing out of the Veer also places emphasis on the interior linemen's ability to "sell" the defense on a run block scheme. Short yardage or goal line offensive situations are ideal for a Veer option pass play. The receivers that are the best options for a pass play out of the Veer are the first running back through the line who runs a "go" route isolating the frozen safety; the slot receiver who can release quickly from a block to run a skinny "go" route behind the cornerback or a tight end that can release out of his interior block and find an open seam underneath the lone safety. A third component to the Veer that comes with some passing success is the ability to run trick or gadget plays to take advantage of over anxious defensive backs and over pursuing linebackers. Once the ability to pass out of the Veer is proven successful, the countering of the Veer becomes more conventional and the safeties and cornerbacks must respect the pass first before attacking the line of scrimmage.

The veer offense was adopted by Jack Lengyel, the new head coach of Huntington, West Virginia's Marshall University Thundering Herd prior to the start of the 1971 season after a plane crash almost annihilated the previous team. (Seventy-five people, including most of the team and its coaches, as well as school officials, city and state legislators and supporters died in the November 14, 1970 crash.) Lengyel believed that the veer option offense would be a better offense than the Power I offense he had used at the College of Wooster. Bobby Bowden, then the head coach of in-state rivals West Virginia (although the two teams rarely played each other), offered to tutor Lengyel and his coaches on the intricacies and nuances of the veer option offense. Lengyel installed Reggie Oliver at quarterback. The Young Thundering Herd of Marshall would win two games in 1971: an emotional, last-second win against Xavier in their first home game after the crash and later in the year, in their homecoming game, against ranked Bowling Green.

Counterplays[link]

After the 1970 regular season, Texas looked well on its way to winning its 31st consecutive game and third consecutive national title in the Cotton Bowl Classic game versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. However, Ara Parseghian and his coaching staff put together the first known strategy for countering the Veer. Although the Veer can either be run on the interior of the line or on the edge, at this point, the veer was primarily run on the inside. The coaching staff implemented the following plan: focus the interior linemen and inside linebackers on stopping the dive back. Focus the outside linebackers and defensive end on stopping the quarterback as he cuts up the field. Focus the cornerbacks and safeties on stopping the pitch man (although they would have help from any defensive players who flowed to the ball). The strategy limited the Texas offense to 11 points, and Notre Dame won. However, it became clear after such a demonstration that the veer could be an effective weapon if used properly.

In the F.S.U.-Houston game in the Gator Bowl in 1968, the 'Noles brought the safeties up and they ignored the QB, running right by him at times, and crashed into the trailing back, usually Paul Gipson. This took the pitch option away. The Veer wasn't stopped but it was slowed. Florida State won the game 40-20.

High school level[link]

The most famous High School program to use the Veer is De La Salle High School in Concord, California. Head Coach Bob Ladouceur brought the offense to the school when he originally arrived to bring the infant program its first winning season. He put in the system because of the undersized players he had. After a record 151 game winning streak, he continues to use the offense today. Graduates of De La Salle who have gone to the NFL include Amani Toomer, and Maurice Jones-Drew. Another prolific high school program that runs the split back veer offense is John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge, Louisiana. The Patriots have run the veer since 1970, compiling a 431-36-6 record (through 2006) and winning 21 Louisiana State Championships under head coach J.T. Curtis. College Park High School in The Woodlands, Texas, which opened in 2005, runs the Veer Triple Option under Head Coach Richard Carson. The College Park Cavaliers who went 9-2 in only their second Varsity season in Class 5A in 2007, featured Josh Parsons at quarterback and Running Backs D'Jeale Lyons and David Crittenden in the Triple Option Offense. Notable Odessa Permian High School "Permian Panthers" of Odessa, Texas, a long time Wing-T offensive school, adapted to the Veer under Head Coach Scott Smith during the 2003-2004 seasons. They now are a spread option team. Another famous high school that runs the veer is Morris Knolls High School in Rockaway,NJ. Morris Knolls head coach Bill Regan has been running the system since 1975, and has won 4 New Jersey State Championships and 3 IAC and IHC conference championships. Many high school programs use the Veer for several reasons. Many times, the coach of the school played within the system. Other times, the same situation exists as above - lack of speed, size, and athleticism to compete with the teams in their league. However, the Veer has begun to fade as the spread offense and the run and shoot offense permeate the game. The system remains with old school coaches, and it will not cease to exist for a long while.

Other successful teams known to use the veer are the Kemmerer Rangers (Wyoming), which has won two state titles in the last three years; and the Baker County Wildcats (Florida) who went 10-2 and were 30th in the country. Thomas County Central High of Thomasville, Georgia, under head coach Ed Pilcher, won AAA state titles in 5 of 6 seasons ('92, '93, '94, '96, & '97) during the decade of the 1990s running the veer. They were also state title runner-up in 2002, and reached the state semi-finals in 2003 and 2007. The Yellow Jackets went 15-0 in 1997, and finished 9th in the USA Today national poll. After the departure of Coach Ed Pilcher to region rival Bainbridge High School following the 2007 season, Thomas County Central High promoted long-time offensive coordinator Bill Shaver to the head coaching position, and the Yellow Jackets continue to use the Veer. As of 2012, the 'Jackets have been using the Veer as their basic offensive package for 22 seasons, while enjoying a streak of 21 straight playoff appearances since the implementation of the offense in 1991. Graduates of Thomas County Central who have gone on to the NFL include Joe Burns, Paul Miranda, and more recently, Dontavia Bogan. It is also noted that Coach Ed Pilcher then implemented the Veer at Bainbridge, but with far less success than what he achieved at Thomas Co. Central. He currently has a 23-17 regular-season record at Bainbridge, including a 1-3 record against his former team.

Collegiate level[link]

Because more media attention exists on the collegiate level, the collegiate teams who have run the Veer and its variants are far better known. Beyond the Texas teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the most famous and well covered officially "Veer" team was the Houston squad led by Bill Yeoman. Yeoman's teams racked up thousands of yards on the ground, and won four conference championships and 11 bowl games. His teams finished in the top 10 four times. Other famous Veer teams include University of Nebraska, who won several national titles in their Power-I offense, and the United States Air Force Academy, NC State under Lou Holtz, and United States Naval Academy. The above mentioned teams now run the official definition of a veer offense - that is, under center. Currently, the most successful team that runs the veer as their base offense is the Georgia Institute of Technology, which runs the veer exclusively from the flexbone formation under former Naval Academy coach Paul Johnson. Paul Johnson's version of the Veer, or Flex-Bone has not, however, been successful against Georgia Tech's biggest rival, the University of Georgia. He is currently 1-3 against the Bulldogs. Critics of the offense often point out that Georgia Tech's lack of a potent passing attack is what hampers the offense against better defenses in other conferences who have extra time to prepare for his running attack. This is evident when seeing Johnson's Bowl record (0-4 with losses to LSU, Iowa, Air Force & Utah) and his 1-3 record against the University of Georgia.

The zone read, or shotgun veer play, is now widely used throughout all levels of college football. A running back is lined up adjacent to the quarterback, and, at the snap, the quarterback opens up facing the running back. He reads the end on the same side as the running back. The running back is performing effectively the same motion as the dive back in a conventional veer, except he runs at the defensive end on the opposite side of the field. If the unblocked end on the running back's side (who, in a sense, is being veered) moves up the field towards the crossing running back, the quarterback pulls the ball from the running back and sprints by the end. If the veered end is waiting at his original position, the quarterback gives the ball to the running back. Many different formations are employed, and as a general rule, the option being employed is the base offense for the team, and not as a wrinkle.

The NFL[link]

No team has ever used the option as a base offensive system in the NFL since the players on defense are simply too athletic and recover too quickly to the misdirection of the offense, and because the veer exposes the quarterback to being hit (and possibly injured) more than most NFL teams find tolerable. However, teams have used it as a wrinkle. A more commonly seen version was used by the Atlanta Falcons when Michael Vick was their quarterback. They used a version of the zone read, slightly watered down, to take advantage of their speed. However, they did not use it frequently.

In the 2000s, the Tennessee Titans used an offensive strategy similar to the veer, in which Vince Young played the option quarterback utilizing the zone-read, and Chris Johnson played the dive-back. In 2011, the Denver Broncos began utilizing a version of the veer in order to best utilize the abilities of Quarterback Tim Tebow who ran a similar offense at the University of Florida.

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up veer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the French Wikipedia. (January 2012) Don't speak French? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the French article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|fr|Cinéma}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

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This 16 mm spring-wound Bolex "H16" Reflex camera is a popular entry level camera used in film schools.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

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 films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

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, moving picture, photo-play and flick. A common name for film in the United States is movie, while in Europe the term film is preferred. Additional terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema and the movies.

History[link]

A clip from the Charlie Chaplin silent film The Bond (1918)

Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film: scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, and scores. Much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scene (roughly, the entire visual picture at any one time). Owing to an absence of technology for doing so, moving visual and aural images were not recorded for replaying as in film.

In the 1860s, mechanisms for producing two-dimensional drawings in motion were demonstrated with devices such as the zoetrope, mutoscope and 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. An 1878 experiment by English photographer Eadweard Muybridge in the United States using 24 cameras produced a series of stereoscopic images of a galloping horse, is arguably the first "motion picture", though it was not called by this name.^[1] This technology required a person to look into a viewing machine to see the pictures which were separate paper prints attached to a drum turned by a handcrank. The pictures were shown at a variable speed of about 5 to 10 pictures per second, depending on how rapidly the crank was turned. Commercial versions of these machines were coin operated.

A frame from Roundhay Garden Scene, the world's earliest film produced using a motion picture camera, by Louis Le Prince, 1888

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. The first public exhibition of projected motion pictures in America was shown at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City on the 23rd of April 1896.

Ignoring W. K. L. Dickson's early sound experiments (1894), commercial motion pictures were purely visual art through the late 19th century, but these innovative silent films had gained a hold on the public imagination. Around the turn of the 20th century, films began developing a narrative structure by stringing scenes together to tell a story. 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 with noise of early cinema projectors, theater owners would hire a pianist or organist or a full orchestra to play music that would cover noises of projector. Eventually, musicians would start to fit 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.

A shot from Georges Méliès Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) (1902), an early narrative film.

The rise of European cinema was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I when the film industry in United States flourished with the rise of Hollywood, typified most prominently by the great innovative work of D. W. Griffith in The Birth of a Nation (1914) and Intolerance (1916). However in the 1920s, European filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein, F. W. Murnau, and Fritz Lang, in many ways inspired by the meteoric war-time progress of film through Griffith, along with the contributions of Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and others, quickly caught up with American film-making and continued to further 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 so-called "natural color", which meant color that was photographically recorded from nature rather than being added to black-and-white prints by hand-coloring, stencil-coloring or other arbitrary procedures, although the earliest processes typically yielded colors which were far from "natural" in appearance. While the addition of sound quickly eclipsed silent film and theater musicians, color replaced black-and-white much more gradually. The pivotal innovation was the introduction of the three-strip version of the Technicolor process, which was first used for short subjects and for isolated sequences in a few feature films released in 1934, then for an entire feature film, Becky Sharp, in 1935. The expense of the process was daunting, but continued favorable public response and enhanced box-office receipts increasingly justified the added cost. The number of films made in color slowly increased year after year.

In the early 1950s, as the proliferation of black-and-white television started seriously depressing theater attendance in the US, the use of color was seen as one way of winning back audiences. It soon became the rule rather than the exception. Some important mainstream Hollywood films were still being made in black-and-white as late as the mid-1960s, but they marked the end of an era. Color television receivers had been available in the US since the mid-1950s, but at first they were very expensive and few broadcasts were in color. During the 1960s, prices gradually came down, color broadcasts became common, and the sale of color television sets boomed. The strong preference of the general public for color was obvious. After the final flurry of black-and-white film releases in mid-decade, all major Hollywood studio film production was exclusively in color, with rare exceptions reluctantly made only at the insistence of "star" directors such as Peter Bogdanovich and Martin Scorsese.

Since the decline of the studio system in the 1960s, the succeeding decades saw changes in the production and style of film. Various New Wave movements (including the French New Wave, Indian New Wave, Japanese New Wave and New Hollywood) 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 2000s. 3D technology increased in usage and has become more popular since the early 2010s.

Theory[link]

Film theory seeks to develop concise and 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 Jacques 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. On the other hand, critics from the analytical philosophy tradition, influenced by Wittgenstein, try to clarify misconceptions used in theoretical studies and produce analysis of a film's vocabulary and its link to a form of life.

Language[link]

Film is considered to have its own language. James Monaco wrote a classic text on film theory titled "How to Read a Film". Director Ingmar Bergman famously said, "[Andrei] Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream." Examples of the language are a sequence of back and forth images of one actor's left profile speaking, followed by another actor's right profile speaking, then a repetition of this, which is a language understood by the audience to indicate a conversation. Another example is zooming in on the forehead of an actor with an expression of silent reflection, then changing to a scene of a younger actor who vaguely resembles the first actor, indicating the first actor is having a memory of their own past.

Montage[link]

Parallels to musical counterpoint have been developed into a theory of montage, extended from the complex superimposition of images in early silent film^{[citation needed]} to even more complex incorporation of musical counterpoint together with visual counterpoint through mise en scene and editing, as in a ballet or opera; e.g., as illustrated in the gang fight scene of director Francis Ford Coppola’s film, Rumble Fish.

Criticism[link]

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[link]

Cate Blanchett at the Berlin International Film Festival. Around 20,000 professionals from over 130 countries attend the event in Berlin.

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 Lumières 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^{[citation needed]} 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. By 1917 Charlie Chaplin had a contract that called for an annual salary of one million dollars.

From 1931 to 1956, film was also the only image storage and playback system for television programming until the introduction of videotape recorders.

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.^[2] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.

Associated fields[link]

Derivative academic Fields of study may both interact with and develop independently of filmmaking, as in film theory and analysis. Fields of academic study have been created that are derivative or dependent on the existence of film, such as film criticism, film history, divisions of film propaganda in authoritarian governments, or psychological on subliminal effects of a flashing soda can during a screening. These fields may further create derivative fields, such as a movie review section in a newspaper or a television guide. Sub-industries can spin off from film, such as popcorn makers, and toys. Sub- industries of pre-existing industries may deal specifically with film, such as product placement in advertising.

Terminology used[link]

Although the words "film" and "movie" are sometimes used interchangeably, "film" is more often used when considering artistic, theoretical, or technical aspects, as studies in a university class and "movies" more often refers to entertainment or commercial aspects, as where to go for fun on a date. For example, a book titled "How to Read a Film" would be about the aesthetics or theory of film, while "Lets Go to the Movies" would be about the history of entertaining movies. "Motion pictures" or "Moving pictures" are films and movies. A "DVD" is a digital format which may be used to reproduce an analog film, while "videotape" ("video") was for many decades a solely analog medium onto which moving images could be recorded and electronically (rather than optically) reproduced. Strictly speaking, "Film" refers to the media onto which a visual image is shot, and to this end it may seem improper for work in other "moving image" media to be referred to as a "film" and the action of shooting as "filming", though these terms are still in general use. "Silent films" need not be silent, but are films and movies without an audible dialogue, though they may have a musical soundtrack. "Talkies" refers to early movies or films having audible dialogue or analog sound, not just a musical accompaniment. "Cinema" either broadly encompasses both films and movies, or is roughly synonymous with "Film", both capitalized when referring to a category of art. The "silver screen" refers to classic black-and-white films before color, not to contemporary films without color.

The expression "Sight and Sound", as in the film journal of the same name, means "film". The following icons mean film: a "candle and bell", as in the films Tarkovsky, of a segment of film stock, or a two faced Janus image, and an image of a movie camera in profile.

"Widescreen" and "Cinemascope" refers to a larger width to height in the frame, compared to an earlier historic aspect ratios.^[3] A "feature length film", or "feature film", is of a conventional full length, usually 60 minutes or more, and can commercially stand by itself without other films in a ticketed screening.^[4] A "short" is a film that is not as long as a feature length film, usually screened with other shorts, or preceding a feature length film. An "independent" is a film made outside of the conventional film industry.

A "screening" or "projection" is the projection of a film or video on a screen at a public or private theater, usually but not always of a film, but of a video or DVD when of sufficient projection quality. A "double feature" is a screening of two independent, stand-alone, feature films. A "viewing" is a watching of a film. A "showing" is a screening or viewing on an electronic monitor. "Sales" refers to tickets sold at a theater, or more currently, rights sold for individual showings. A "release" is the distribution and often simultaneous screening of a film. A "preview" is a screening in advance of the main release.

"Hollywood" may be used either as a pejorative adjective, shorthand for asserting an overly commercial rather than artistic intent or outcome, as in "too Hollywood", or as a descriptive adjective to refer to a film originating with people who ordinarily work near Los Angeles.

Expressions for Genres of film are sometimes used interchangeably for "film" in a specific context, such as a "porn" for a film with explicit sexual content, or "cheese" for films that are light, entertaining and not highbrow.

Any film may also have a "sequel", which portrays events following those in the film. Bride of Frankenstein is an early example. When there are a number of films with the same characters, we have a "series", such as the James Bond series. A film which portrays events that occur earlier than those in another film, but is released after that film, is sometimes called a "prequel", an example being Butch and Sundance: The Early Days.

Credits is a list of the people involved in making the film. Before the 1970s, credits were usually at the beginning of a film. Since then, the credits roll at the end of most films.

A Post-credits scene is a scene shown after the end of the credits. Ferris Bueller's Day Off has a post-credit scene in which Ferris tells the audience that the movie is over and they should go home.

Preview[link]

A preview performance refers to a showing of a movie to a select audience, usually for the purposes of corporate promotions, before the public film premiere itself. Previews are sometimes used to judge audience reaction, which if unexpectedly negative, may result in recutting or even refilming certain sections (Audience response).

Trailer[link]

Trailers or previews are film advertisements for films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a film programme. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theater after the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now shown before the film (or the A movie in a double feature program) begins.

Film, or other art form?[link]

Film may be combined with performance art and still be considered or referred to as a "film", for instance, when there is a live musical accompaniment to a silent film. Another example is audience participation films, as at a midnight movies screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, where the audience dresses up in costume from the film and loudly does a karaoke-like reenactment along with the film. Performance art where film is incorporated as a component is usually not called film, but a film, which could stand-alone but is accompanied by a performance may still be referred to as a film.

The act of making a film can, in and of itself, be considered a work of art, on a different level from the film itself, as in the films of Werner Herzog.

Similarly, the playing of a film can be considered to fall within the realm of political protest art, as in the subtleties within the films of Tarkovsky. A "road movie" can refer to a film put together from footage from a long road trip or vacation.

Education and propaganda[link]

Film is used for education and propaganda. When the purpose is primarily educational, a film is called an "educational film". Examples are recordings of lectures and experiments, or more marginally, a film based on a classic novel.

Film may be propaganda, in whole or in part, such as the films made by Leni Riefenstahl in Nazi Germany, US war film trailers during World War II, or artistic films made under Stalin by Eisenstein. They may also be works of political protest, as in the films of Wajda, or more subtly, the films of Andrei Tarkovsky.

The same film may be considered educational by some, and propaganda by others, such as some of the films of Michael Moore.

Production[link]

At its core, the means to produce a film depend on the content the filmmaker wishes to show, and the apparatus for displaying it: the zoetrope merely requires a series of images on a strip of paper. Film production can therefore take as little as one person with a camera (or without it, such as Stan Brakhage's 1963 film Mothlight), or thousands of actors, extras and crewmembers for a live-action, feature-length epic.

The necessary steps for almost any film can be boiled down to conception, planning, execution, revision, and distribution. The more involved the production, the more significant each of the steps becomes. In a typical production cycle of a Hollywood-style film, these main stages are defined as:

1. Development
2. Pre-production
3. Production
4. Post-production
5. Distribution

This production cycle usually 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.

The bigger the production, the more resources it takes, and the more important financing becomes; most feature films are not only artistic works, but for-profit business entities.

Crew[link]

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.

Technology[link]

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 frame/s) is generally cited as a standard silent speed, research indicates most films were shot between 16 frame/s and 23 frame/s and projected from 18 frame/s on up (often reels included instructions on how fast each scene should be shown).^[5] 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 preferred by some moviemakers, especially because footage shot with digital cinema can be evaluated and edited with non-linear editing systems (NLE) without waiting for the film stock to be processed. Yet the migration is gradual, and as of 2005 most major motion pictures are still shot on film.

Independent[link]

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.

The Lumière Brothers

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).^[6] 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.

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, and Microsoft's Windows Movie Maker 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 and Veoh has further changed the film making landscape in ways that are still to be determined.

Open content film[link]

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 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[link]

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.

Distribution[link]

When it is initially produced, a feature film is often shown to audiences in a movie theater or cinema. The identity of the first theater designed specifically for cinema is a matter of debate; candidates include Tally's Electric Theatre, established 1902 in Los Angeles,^[7] and Pittsburgh's Nickelodeon, established 1905.^[8] Thousands of such theaters were built or converted from existing facilities within a few years.^[9] 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.^{[citation needed]} In 1967, videocassettes of movies became available to consumers to watch in their own homes.^[10] Recording technology has since 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 a television movie 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 movie 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.^[11] 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).^[11]

This section requires expansion with: optical disc distribution.

Animation[link]

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 labor intensive and tedious, though the development of computer animation has greatly sped up the process.

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.^[12]

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.

Future state[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

While motion picture films have been around for more than a century, film is still a relative newcomer in the pantheon^{[clarification needed]} of fine arts. In the 1950s, when television became widely available, industry analysts^[who?] predicted the demise of local movie theaters.^{[citation needed]} Despite competition from television's increasing technological sophistication over the 1960s and 1970s^{[citation needed]} such as the development of color television and large screens, motion picture cinemas continued. In fact with the rise of television's predominance, film began to become more respected as an artistic medium by contrast due the low general opinion of the quality of average television content.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1990s and 2000s, the development of 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 21st century and moving towards digital screens, a new approach which will allow for easier and quicker distribution of films (via satellite or hard disks), a development which may give local theaters a reprieve from their predicted demise.^{[citation needed]} The cinema now faces a new challenge from home video by the likes of a new high definition (HD) format, Blu-ray, which can provide full HD 1080p video playback at near cinema quality.^{[citation needed]} Video formats are gradually catching up with the resolutions and quality that film offers; 1080p in Blu-ray offers a pixel resolution of 1920×1080, a leap from the DVD offering of 720×480 and the 330×480 offered by the first home video standard, VHS.^{[citation needed]} Ultra HD, a future digital video format, will offer a resolution of 7680×4320. However, the nature and structure of film prevents an apples-to-apples comparison with regard to resolution.^[13] The resolving power of film, and its ability to capture an image which can later be scanned to a digital format, will ensure that film remains a viable medium for some time to come.^{[citation needed]} Currently the super-16 format is seeing use as a capture medium, with digital scanning and post-production providing good results.^[14][15] Despite advances in digital capture, film still offers unsurpassed ability to capture fine detail beyond what is possible with digital image sensors. A 35 mm film frame, with proper exposure and processing, still offers an equivalent resolution in the range of 500 mega pixels.^[13]

Despite the rise of all-new technologies, the development of the home video market and a surge of online copyright infringement, 2007 was a record year in film that showed the highest ever box-office grosses. Many^[who?] expected film to suffer as a result of the effects listed above but it has flourished, strengthening film studio expectations for the future.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Genre
• Fiction film basic genre
• Documentary basic genre
• Docufiction hybrid genre

• Lists

Film portal

• List of film awards
• List of film festivals
• List of film journals and magazines
• List of film topics
• List of video-related topics
• List of years in film
• Lists of films

Related topics

• Cinematic techniques
• Digital cinema
• Lost film
• Web film

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

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