Movies are a form of entertainment that is popular all over the world. Movies are pictures that seem to move when shown on a screen. They are also called motion pictures or films.
Equipment
Making and viewing a movie requires special equipment. Two important pieces of equipment are the movie camera and the movie projector.
A movie camera records photographs, or pictures, on film. A movie camera takes many still pictures very quickly. Most movie cameras take 24 pictures every second. Because they are taken so close together they catch very small differences in movement.
A movie projector makes the still pictures appear to move. As the film runs through it, a projector flashes the pictures one after the other on a screen. The pictures go past the eye so quickly that the brain links them together as a moving scene.
The projector also plays the movie’s soundtrack. The soundtrack contains all of the sounds of the movie, including talking, music, and sound effects. The soundtrack is a thin band that runs along the edge of the film, next to the pictures.
Movie theaters receive reels of film that contain a movie’s pictures and soundtrack. A typical film is five or six reels long. Theaters usually join the reels together to make larger reels. Then one or two projectors play the reels to show the movie on the screen.
People Who Make Movies
Making a movie takes many people. The producer handles the business matters of making a movie. The producer raises money for making the movie and hires people, including the screenwriter and the director. The screenwriter puts the story together and writes what the actors will say.
The director turns the written story into a movie. The director works with almost everyone involved in making the movie. The director helps the producer choose the actors and actresses who appear in the movie. During filming, the director decides how scenes are filmed and tells others what to do. The director oversees the people who handle costumes, makeup, lighting, sound, and cameras.
Some members of a film crew create special effects. Special effects are tricks used to film things that would otherwise be too difficult or expensive to film. For example, miniature models of buildings or vehicles can be used to film such events as earthquakes, floods, fires, and explosions.
After the filming is done, editors put the pictures and sound together. Usually, the director films a lot of material that will not fit in the final movie. Film editors work with the director to cut scenes and move others around. Sound editors make sure that the soundtrack fits well with the pictures.
History
People began experimenting with ways of making and viewing moving pictures in the 1800s. By 1890 the U.S. inventor Thomas Edison had developed a movie camera. He also invented a projector. In France, Louis and Auguste Lumière invented a combined the movie camera and projector in 1895. The Lumière brothers opened the world’s first movie theater in Paris, France.
In the early 1900s, France was the center of the movie industry. But by 1920 most movies were made in the United States. Big movie studios were set up in Hollywood, a part of Los Angeles, California.
Early movies did not have sound or color pictures. The Jazz Singer, from 1927, was the first popular movie with talking and music. In 1928 Walt Disney produced the first animated cartoon with sound, Steamboat Willie. The first high-quality color movies were made in the 1930s.
Audiences packed theaters in the 1940s. But with the invention of television, audiences no longer had to leave their homes to see moving pictures. By 1950 television had cut into the audiences for movies. Many people returned to theaters in the 1970s to see blockbuster movies such as Star Wars.
In the late 20th century new technology led to improvements in movies. Digital recording created clearer pictures and sound. In digital recording, images are recorded on special video tapes instead of film. Computers were also used to produce better special effects. Some movies, such as Toy Story (1995), were made entirely with computers.
