A film (1888- ) is a picture whose parts move so that it is like a picture of something happening before your eyes. They are also known as motion pictures or movies. They can be seen on television or in a theatre, known as a cinema or movie theatre. Film as an art or industry is known as the cinema.
Films became common in the 1920s, sound was added in the 1930s and colour in the 1940s. Films are chiefly used for shows.
In the old days when you went to the theatre, you saw actors on the stage acting out a play. Now that can be recorded once in a film and shown over and over again all over the country. Even if it was recorded years ago.
A film can do far more than just record a stage play. It can seem a lot more true to life:
- You can get the best actors and actresses.
- It can be acted in the place where the story takes place, like Egypt or Paris.
- Parts of it can be made in different times and places and later put together into one film.
- Computers can paint things into to the flim that look real.
- Special effects can make the action in a film seem real (like people dying or flying spaceships).
When a book is made into a film, a lot of it has to be cut out. A two-hour film is only 120 pages long. But those who have never read the book will not notice anything missing.
When a film first comes out, you have to see it at the cinema. Which is not bad since the screen that it is shown on is much larger than anything you have at home. In time you can get them on disc and later they are shown on television for free.
Before television, people used to go to the cinema on Saturdays as a regular thing.
The top actors and actresses are rich and famous and live like kings and queens. We hear all about their private lives in the newspapers, magazines and on television. It is hard to escape.
Most films are made in India and America: in Bollywood in Bombay and Hollywood in Los Angeles.
Bollywood films last three hours and are chiefly in Hindi. Most are sure to include singing, dancing, a love story and twists of fate.
Hollywood films last about two hours and are chiefly in English. Most are about good against evil. The hero (good) in time finds himself overpowered or outnumbered by his enemies (evil). It looks hopeless, but he always wins in the end. Sometimes a love story is thrown in.
Most serious films, like those that win awards at Cannes, do not always have happy endings, a clear cut hero or even a clear storyline.
In America, the highest film award is the Oscar or Academy Award. In India it is the Filmfare Award.
See also:
Abagond 
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