The Film Portal

Man working with a movie projector in a movie theater, 1958
Man working with a movie projector in a movie theater, 1958

A film, movie, or motion picture is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since the 1930s, synchronized with sound and sometimes using other sensory stimuli.

Films are produced by recording actual people and objects with cameras or by creating them using animation techniques and special effects. They comprise a series of individual frames, but when these images are shown rapidly in succession, the illusion of motion is given to the viewer. Flickering between frames is not seen 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. Also of relevance is what causes the perception of motion: a psychological effect identified as beta movement. (Full article...)

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Logo for the first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise that started with a television series (simply called Star Trek but now referred to as Star Trek: The Original Series) created by Gene Roddenberry. The series was first broadcast from 1966 to 1969. Since then, the Star Trek canon has expanded to include many other series, a film franchise, and other media.

The film franchise is produced by Paramount Pictures and began with Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. That film and the five that followed all starred the cast of The Original Series. The seventh film, Star Trek Generations (1994), was designed to serve as a transition from the original cast to that of the next series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. The next three films just starred the cast of The Next Generation, and ended with Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), which disappointed at the box office. (Portal:Film/Featured content)

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Bolex H16 Reflex camera
Bolex H16 Reflex camera
Credit: Janke

A 16 mm spring-wound Bolex H16 Reflex camera, a popular introductory camera in film schools. Bolex cameras were particularly important for early television news, nature films, documentaries and the avant garde, and are still favoured by many animators today.

Did you know...

  • ... that Episode 6867 of EastEnders was criticised for its depiction of Milton Keynes despite not being filmed there?
  • ... that the scenes set in the United States in the Taiwanese film Daughter's Daughter were nearly omitted during the writing process but were retained at the insistence of lead actress Sylvia Chang?
  • ... that Scrat, who appears in many films in the Ice Age franchise, was originally intended to be killed in the introduction of the first film?
  • ... that a review of a 2019 film wrote that its use of Vanilla Car made it "feel haunted by the shadow of the sex industry"?
  • ... that Jeff Baena, while unable to film in Italy in 2020, created Cinema Toast from an idea during an online poker game to re-cut and dub old movies into new stories?

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Farahani in 2024

Rahavard Farahani (Persian: رهاورد فراهانی; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (گلشیفته فراهانی), is an Iranian and French actress. She is known for her performances in M for Mother (2006), Body of Lies (2008), About Elly (2009), The Patience Stone (2012), Paterson (2016), Girls of the Sun (2018), Extraction (2020) and its sequel Extraction 2 (2023), and Invasion (2021–present). For her performance in The Patience Stone, she was nominated for Most Promising Actress at the 39th César Awards. (Full article...)

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George Clooney
I think now films are reflecting the exact same thing that goes on in society today which is for the first time since then people are sitting at restaurants and having conversations about their concerns or their beliefs in the political system and I think that films reflect that. We're not good first responder films. We have to write a script after things happen. We have to direct it. We have to shoot it. We have to edit it and release it. So, in general we tend to be, you know, is there a liberal bend, sure. I don't make any apologies about that. I'm a liberal, you know. I believe in it.
George Clooney, 2006

Main topics

Terms - Animation Beta movement Camera Cult film Digital cinema Documentary film Dubbing Experimental film Fan film Film crew Film criticism Film festival Film frame Film genre Film journals and magazines Film industry Film manifesto Film stock Film theory Filmmaking History of film Independent film Lost film Movie star Narrative film Open content film Persistence of vision Photographic film Propaganda Recording medium Special effect Subtitles Sound stage Web film World cinema
Lists - List of basic film topics List of film topics List of films List of film festivals List of film formats List of film series List of film techniques List of highest-grossing films List of longest films by running time List of songs based on a film or book Lists of film source material List of open content films

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