Film

Initially, moving pictures meant only the movement that is perceived when a string of celluloid-recorded images are projected at a rate of 16 frames per second or more (see persistence of vision). Today, motion pictures (or "movies") are an art form, as well as one of the most popular forms of entertainment.

History of Cinema

topics to be covered

Eadweard Muybridge
William Friese-Greene
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
George Eastman
Thomas Edison
Auguste and Louis Lumière
Georges Méliès
Etienne-Jules Marey
Cinema pre-history: the zoetrope, chronophotograhy, etc.

Originally moving picture film was shot at a nominal 16 frames per second, but was changed to 24 frames per second with the introduction of sound. Other improvements since the late 1800s include the mechanization of cameras, allowing them to record at a consistent speed, and the invention of more sophisticated filmstocks, allowing directors to film in increasingly dim conditions. Since the advent of many other media technologies, film may include a broad range of media--both linear and non-linear, dramatic and informational, motion and still (though progressive).