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Outline of film

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See also: Index of motion pictureโ€“related articles

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to film:

Film refers to motion pictures as individual projects and to the field in general. The name came from the fact that photographic film (also called filmstock) has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures.

What type of thing is film?[edit]

Film can be described as all of the following:

  • Art – aesthetic expression for presentation or performance, and the work produced from this activity.
    • One of the arts – as an art form, film is an outlet of human expression, that is usually influenced by culture and which in turn helps to change culture. Film is a physical manifestation of the internal human creative impulse.
      • One of the visual arts – visual arts is a class of art forms, including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and others, that focus on the creation of works which are primarily visual in nature.
      • One of the performing arts – art forms in which artists use their body, voice, or objects to convey artistic expression. Performing arts include a variety of disciplines but all take the form of a performance in front of an audience.
      • Fine art – in Western European academic traditions, fine art is art developed primarily for aesthetics, distinguishing it from applied art that also has to serve some practical function. The word "fine" here does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline according to traditional Western European canons.
  • Show business – a means of providing employment for actors, screenwriters, artisans and technicians, regardless of whether the finished film was produced as a for-profit enterprise or as a not-for-profit public service.

Other names for film[edit]

  • Movie
  • Motion picture
  • Talking picture
  • Picture
  • Celluloid
  • Flick (or flicker)
  • Photoplay
  • Picture show
  • The cinema
  • The silver screen (talkie era); the silver sheet (silent era)
  • Videos

Essence of film[edit]

  • Filmmaking – process of making a film. Filmmaking involves a number of discrete stages including an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a film release and exhibition. Filmmaking is both an art and an industry. That is why they call it "show business". It's a show and a business. Films were originally recorded onto nitrate film stock which was highly flammable.[1] After the late 1950s, polyester film was used which was shown through a movie projector onto a large screen (in other words, an analog recording process). The adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the entire process of production, distribution, and exhibition from start to finish.

Cinematic genres[edit]

Film genre

By setting[edit]

By mood[edit]

  • Action - generally involves a moral interplay between "good" and "bad" played out through violence or physical force
  • Adventure - involving danger, risk, and/or chance, often with a high degree of fantasy
  • Comedy - intended to provoke laughter
  • Drama - mainly focuses on character development
  • Erotic - sexuality or eroticism and sex acts, including love scenes
  • Horror - intended to provoke fear in audience
  • Mystery - the progression from the unknown to the known by discovering and solving a series of clues
  • Romance - dwelling on the elements of romantic love
  • Thrillers - intended to provoke excitement and/or nervous tension into audience

By format[edit]

  • Biographical - a biopic is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person, with varying degrees of basis in fact
  • Documentary - a factual following of an event or person to gain an understanding of a particular point or issue
  • Experimental (avant-garde) - created to test audience reaction or to expand the boundaries of film production/story exposition then generally at play
  • Musical - a film interspersed with singing by all or some of the characters
  • Silent - a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue

By production type[edit]

  • Live action - film using actors
  • Animation - illusion of motion by consecutive display of static images which have been created by hand or on a computer
  • Television - a film that is produced for and originally distributed by a television network

By length[edit]

  • Short - may strive to contain many of the elements of a "full-length" feature, in a shorter time-frame
  • Serial - similar to shorts, but forms a constant story arc
  • Feature film - film that is "full-length"

By age[edit]

  • Children's film - films for young children; as opposed to a family film, no special effort is made to make the film attractive for other audiences
  • Family - intended to be attractive for people of all ages and suitable for viewing by a young audience; examples of these are Disney films
  • Teen film - intended for and aimed towards teens although some teen films, such as the High School Musical series; may also be a family film; not all of these films are suitable for all teens, as some are rated R
  • Adult film - intended to be viewed only by an adult audience, content may include violence, disturbing themes, obscene language, or explicit sexual behaviour. This includes various forms of exploitation films. Adult film may also be used as a synonym for pornographic film.

By audience reception[edit]

Other genres[edit]

Cinema by region[edit]

History of film[edit]

History of film

General film concepts[edit]

Film theory

Film formats[edit]

Films[edit]

Films by genre[edit]

Films by origin[edit]

Films by setting location[edit]

Films by cost[edit]

Films by success[edit]

Films by movement[edit]

Film companies[edit]

Film studios[edit]

Major film studios

Majors (Big Five)[edit]

Others[edit]

Awards and festivals[edit]

Professions related to films (Film crew)[edit]

Above the line[edit]

Above the line

  • Actor โ€“ Person who portrays a character in a production
    • Voice actor โ€“ Performing voice-overs to represent a character or provide information
    • Leading actor โ€“ Type of role of an actor
    • Supporting actor โ€“ Actor who performs a less-important role than that of the leading actor
    • Ensemble cast โ€“ Cast with many actors given similar standing
    • Character actor โ€“ Actor who predominantly plays distinctive or eccentric characters
    • Bit actor โ€“ Acting role in which there is direct interaction with the main actors but little dialogue
    • Cameo actor โ€“ Brief appearance in performing art
  • Film director โ€“ Person who controls the artistic and dramatic aspects of a film production
  • Screenwriter โ€“ Person who writes for films, TV shows, comics, and games
  • Film producer โ€“ Person supervising the making of a film

Below the line[edit]

Below the line โ€“ Section of film budget

Pre-production[edit]

Pre-production โ€“ Phase of producing a film or television show

  • Unit production manager โ€“ Responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production
  • Production coordinator โ€“ coordinates the various groups and personnel in a filmmaking or video production
  • Production accountant โ€“ Opaque or creative accounting methods
  • Assistant director โ€“ Film management and logistics role
  • Script supervisor โ€“ Oversees the continuity of scenes during filmmaking
  • Script coordinator โ€“ role in film and television production
  • Casting director โ€“ Pre-production process for selecting actors, dancers, singers, or extras for roles or parts
  • Production assistant โ€“ Person responsible for various aspects of a film or TV production
  • Location manager โ€“ person responsible for locations where a movie is shot
  • Location scout โ€“ Filmmaking and commercial photography production process
  • Storyboard artist โ€“ Person who creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions

Production design[edit]

  • Production designer โ€“ Person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event
  • Costume designer โ€“ Person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show
  • Greensman
  • Hairdresser โ€“ Person whose occupation is to cut or style hair
  • Make-up artist โ€“ Artist who applies makeup and prosthetics
  • Set decorator โ€“ Person in charge of the set dressing on a film
  • Set dresser โ€“ someone who prepares a creative production set with props and furniture
  • Property master โ€“ Person overseeing props for a production
  • Weapons master โ€“ Person responsible for weapon care and safety on a film set
  • Matte painter โ€“ Film making technique
  • Illustrator โ€“ Artist enhancing writing with images
  • Scenic design โ€“ Creation of theatrical or film scenery

Photography[edit]

Principal photography โ€“ Phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place

  • Cinematographer / director of photography โ€“ Creative head of a motion picture's camera and lighting decisions
  • Camera operator โ€“ Professional operator of a film or video camera
  • Digital imaging technician โ€“ works in collaboration with the cinematographer
  • Second unit โ€“ Filmmaking occupation
  • Gaffer โ€“ Chief lighting technician
    • Best boy electric โ€“ Film crew position overseeing lighting or grips
    • Lighting technician โ€“ controls lighting for art and entertainment venues or for films
  • Key grip โ€“ Person in charge of grip crews and equipment management
    • Best boy grip โ€“ Film crew position overseeing lighting or grips
    • Dolly grip โ€“ Cinematography technician who operates the camera dolly
    • Grip โ€“ Camera supporting equipment technician

Sound design[edit]

Sound design โ€“ Sound track creation

Special effect[edit]

Special effect โ€“ Illusions or tricks to change appearances

  • Special effects supervisor โ€“ individual who works on a commercial, theater, television or film set creating special effects
  • Visual effects supervisor โ€“ responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director and/or producers through the use of visual effects

Animation[edit]

Animation โ€“ A team within a film studio that works on various aspects of Animation

Talent[edit]

  • Acting coach โ€“ Teacher who trains performers
  • Body double โ€“ Person who substitutes for another actor in a film scene such that their face is not shown
  • Dialect coach โ€“ person who trains actors to speak with authentic accents
  • Movement director โ€“ Film crew member
  • Choreographer โ€“ Art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies
  • Extra โ€“ Nonspeaking or nonsinging acting role
  • Talent agent โ€“ Person who represents the interests of entertainment, broadcast, and sports professionals
  • Stand-in โ€“ Substitute for an actor for production purposes
  • Acting instructor โ€“ person who teaches acting
  • Intimacy coordinator โ€“ Staff member who supports actors in sex scenes
  • Stage combat โ€“ Technique used in theatre to create the illusion of physical combat
  • Stunt double โ€“ Person who substitutes for another actor in a film scene such that their face is not shown
  • Stunt performer โ€“ Person who performs stunts
  • Under-five โ€“ TV or film actor whose character has fewer than five lines of dialogue

Post-production[edit]

Post-production โ€“ Step in film, video, audio or photography process

  • Film editor โ€“ Creative and technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking
  • Sound editor โ€“ Creative professional that selects and assembles sound recordings before final audio mixing
  • Colorist โ€“ Enhancing the color of an image or video
  • Animator โ€“ Person who makes animation sequences out of still images
  • Technical director โ€“ Occupation
  • VFX creative director โ€“ Visual effects person
  • Visual effects editor โ€“ Various processes by which imagery is created
  • Compositor โ€“ Combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images

Other[edit]

  • Swing gang โ€“ People who make last-minute changes on a film set
  • Unit still photographer โ€“ person who takes photographs to document activity on a film set

Notable people from the film industry[edit]

Film theorists and critics[edit]

Famous film producers[edit]

Notable film producers

Notable directors[edit]

  • Chantal Akerman โ€“ Belgian film director (1950โ€“2015)
  • Woody Allen โ€“ American filmmaker, actor, and comedian (born 1935)
  • Pedro Almodovar โ€“ Spanish filmmaker (born 1949)
  • Robert Altman โ€“ American filmmaker (1925โ€“2006)
  • Theo Angelopoulos โ€“ Greek film director, screenwriter and film producer
  • Michelangelo Antonioni โ€“ Italian film director and screenwriter (1912โ€“2007)
  • Richard Attenborough โ€“ British actor (1923โ€“2014)
  • Ingmar Bergman โ€“ Swedish filmmaker (1918โ€“2007)
  • Bernardo Bertolucci โ€“ Italian film director and screenwriter (1941โ€“2018)
  • Kathryn Bigelow โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1951)
  • Bong Joon-Ho โ€“ South Korean filmmaker (born 1969)
  • Robert Bresson โ€“ French film director (1901โ€“1999)
  • Clarence Brown โ€“ American film director (1890โ€“1987)
  • Tod Browning โ€“ American film director (1880โ€“1962)
  • Luis Bunuel โ€“ Spanish-Mexican filmmaker (1900โ€“1983)
  • James Cameron โ€“ Canadian filmmaker (born 1954)
  • Frank Capra โ€“ Italian-born American film director (1897โ€“1991)
  • Marcel Carnรฉ โ€“ 1906-1996 French film director
  • John Carpenter โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1948)
  • John Cassavetes โ€“ Greek-American filmmaker and actor (1929โ€“1989)
  • Nuri Bilge Ceylan โ€“ Turkish film director, screenwriter, film producer and photographer (born 1959)
  • Claude Chabrol โ€“ French film director (1930โ€“2010)
  • Youssef Chahine โ€“ Egyptian film director (1926โ€“2008)
  • Park Chan-wook โ€“ South Korean filmmaker (born 1963)
  • Charles Chaplin โ€“ English comic actor and filmmaker (1889โ€“1977)
  • Chen Kaige โ€“ Chinese filmmaker
  • Yash Chopra โ€“ Indian film director and film producer (1932โ€“2012)
  • Renรฉ Clair โ€“ French filmmaker and writer (1898โ€“1981)
  • Henri-Georges Clouzot โ€“ French film director, screenwriter and producer
  • Jean Cocteau โ€“ French writer and film director (1889โ€“1963)
  • Joel and Ethan Coen โ€“ American filmmakers
  • Francis Ford Coppola โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1939)
  • Pedro Costa โ€“ Portuguese film director
  • Alfonso Cuarรณn โ€“ Mexican filmmaker
  • George Cukor โ€“ American film director and producer
  • Michael Curtiz โ€“ Hungarian-American director (1886โ€“1962)
  • Cecil B. DeMille โ€“ American film director, producer and actor (1881โ€“1959)
  • Vittorio De Sica โ€“ Italian film director and actor (1901โ€“1974)
  • Carl Dreyer โ€“ Danish film director (1889โ€“1968)
  • Guru Dutt โ€“ Indian film director, producer, choreographer and actor
  • Clint Eastwood โ€“ American actor and director (born 1930)
  • Sergei Einstein โ€“ Soviet filmmaker and theorist (1898โ€“1948)
  • Victor Erice โ€“ Spanish filmmaker
  • Asghar Farhadi โ€“ Iranian film director and screenwriter (born 1972)
  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder โ€“ German filmmaker (1945โ€“1982)
  • Federico Fellini โ€“ Italian filmmaker (1920โ€“1993)
  • Robert J. Flaherty โ€“ American documentary filmmaker
  • David Fincher โ€“ American film director (borm 1962)
  • Victor Fleming โ€“ American film director, cinematographer, and producer
  • John Ford โ€“ American film director (1894โ€“1973)
  • Milos Forman โ€“ Czech-American filmmaker (1932โ€“2018)
  • Bob Fosse โ€“ American actor, choreographer, dancer, and director (1927โ€“ 1987)
  • Jesรบs Franco โ€“ Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor (1930โ€“2012)
  • Abel Gance โ€“ French film director and producer
  • Ritwik Ghatak โ€“ Indian Bengali filmmaker and script writer
  • Jean-Luc Godard โ€“ French and Swiss film director (1930โ€“2022)
  • Miguel Gomes โ€“ Portuguese film director (born 1972)
  • Adoor Gopalakrishnan โ€“ Indian film director (born 1941)
  • D.W. Griffith โ€“ American filmmaker (1875โ€“1948)
  • Howard Hawks โ€“ American film director (1896โ€“1977)
  • Werner Herzog โ€“ German director, producer, screenwriter (born 1942)
  • Alfred Hitchcock โ€“ English film director (1899โ€“1980)
  • John Huston โ€“ American filmmaker (1906โ€“1987)
  • Im Kwon-taek โ€“ South Korean film director (born 1934)
  • Shohei Imamura โ€“ Japanese film director (1926โ€“2006)
  • Peter Jackson โ€“ New Zealand filmmaker (born 1961)
  • Miklos Jancso โ€“ Hungarian film director and screenwriter (1921โ€“2014)
  • Jia Zhangke โ€“ Chinese film director and screenwriter (born 1970)
  • Alejandro Jodorowsky โ€“ Chilean-French filmmaker
  • Elia Kazan โ€“ American film and theatre director (1909โ€“2003)
  • Abbas Kiarostami โ€“ Iranian filmmaker (1940โ€“2016)
  • Kim Ki-duk โ€“ South Korean film director (1960โ€“2020)
  • Krzysztof Kieslowski โ€“ Polish film director and screenwriter (1941โ€“1996)
  • Stanley Kramer โ€“ American film director and producer (1913โ€“2001)
  • Stanley Kubrick โ€“ American filmmaker (1928โ€“1999)
  • Akira Kurosawa โ€“ Japanese filmmaker (1910โ€“1998)
  • Fritz Lang โ€“ Austrian filmmaker (1890โ€“1976)
  • Ang Lee โ€“ Taiwanese filmmaker (born 1954)
  • David Lean โ€“ British film director (1908โ€“1991)
  • Spike Lee โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1957)
  • Sergio Leone โ€“ Italian filmmaker (1929โ€“1989)
  • Ken Loach โ€“ British filmmaker (born 1936)
  • Ernst Lubitsch โ€“ German-American film director
  • Sidney Lumet โ€“ American filmmaker (1924โ€“2011)
  • David Lynch โ€“ American filmmaker, musical and visual artist (born 1946)
  • Louis Malle โ€“ French film director, screenwriter, and producer
  • Mohsen Makhmalbaf โ€“ Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz โ€“ American film director, screenwriter, and producer (1909โ€“1993)
  • Leo McCarey โ€“ American film director (1898โ€“1969)
  • Deepa Mehta โ€“ Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter
  • Jean-Pierre Melville โ€“ French filmmaker and actor (1917โ€“1973)
  • Brillante Mendoza โ€“ Filipino independent filmmaker
  • Vincente Minnelli โ€“ American stage and film director (1903โ€“1986)
  • Kenji Mizoguchi โ€“ Japanese filmmaker
  • Joao Cesar Monteiro โ€“ Portuguese film director, actor, writer, and film critic
  • F. W. Murnau โ€“ German film director (1888โ€“1931)
  • Mira Nair โ€“ Indian-American filmmaker
  • Mike Nichols โ€“ American film and theatre director (1931โ€“2014)
  • Christopher Nolan โ€“ British and American filmmaker (born 1970)
  • Manoel de Oliveira โ€“ Portuguese film director, screenwriter and racing driver (1908โ€“2015)
  • Max Ophรผls โ€“ German film director (1902โ€“1957)
  • Nagisa Oshima โ€“ Japanese filmmaker (1932โ€“2013)
  • Yasujiro Ozu โ€“ Japanese filmmaker (1903โ€“1963)
  • Georg Wilhelm Pabst โ€“ Austrian film director (1885โ€“1967)
  • Sergei Parajanov โ€“ Soviet filmmaker (1924โ€“1990)
  • Alan Parker โ€“ British filmmaker (1944โ€“2020)
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini โ€“ Italian writer, filmmaker, poet, and intellectual (1922โ€“1975)
  • Sam Peckinpah โ€“ American film director (1925โ€“1984)
  • Dadasaheb Phalke โ€“ Indian film producer, director and screenwriter (1870โ€“1944)
  • Roman Polanski โ€“ French and Polish filmmaker (born 1933)
  • Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger โ€“ English film director
  • Otto Preminger โ€“ Austrian-American director, producer, and actor (1905โ€“1986)
  • Vsevolod Pudovkin โ€“ Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor
  • Nicholas Ray โ€“ American film director (1911โ€“1979)
  • Satyajit Ray โ€“ Indian filmmaker and writer (1921โ€“1992)
  • Jean Renoir โ€“ French film director and screenwriter (1894โ€“1979)
  • Alain Resnais โ€“ French film director
  • Leni Riefenstahl โ€“ German film director (1902โ€“2003)
  • Jacques Rivette โ€“ French film director, screenwriter and film critic
  • Eric Rohmer โ€“ French film director (1920โ€“2010)
  • Roberto Rossellini โ€“ Italian film director (1906โ€“1977)
  • Ken Russell โ€“ British film director (1927โ€“2011)
  • Shadi Abdel Salam โ€“ Egyptian film director
  • Martin Scorsese โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1942)
  • Ridley Scott โ€“ British film director and producer (born 1937)
  • Tony Scott โ€“ British film director and producer (1944โ€“2012)
  • Ousmane Sembene โ€“ Senegalese film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and author (1923โ€“2007)
  • Mrinal Sen โ€“ Indian film director (1923โ€“2018)
  • Eduardo Serra โ€“ Portuguese cinematographer
  • Douglas Sirk โ€“ German film director (1897โ€“1987)
  • Steven Spielberg โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1946)
  • Konstantin Stanislavski โ€“ Russian actor and theatre director (1863โ€“1938)
  • Josef von Sternberg โ€“ Austrian-American film director (1894โ€“1969)
  • Oliver Stone โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1946)
  • Eric von Stroheim โ€“ Austrian-American actor and director
  • Quentin Tarantino โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1963)
  • Andrei Tarkovsky โ€“ Russian filmmaker (1932โ€“1986)
  • Jacques Tati โ€“ French mime, filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter (1907โ€“1982)
  • Guillermo del Toro โ€“ Mexican filmmaker and author (born 1964)
  • Tran Anh Hung โ€“ Vietnamese-born French filmmaker
  • Lars von Trier โ€“ Danish director and screenwriter (born 1956)
  • Franรงois Truffaut โ€“ French film director (1932โ€“1984)
  • Roger Vadim โ€“ French filmmaker (1928โ€“2000)
  • Agnes Varda โ€“ French photographer, artist, film director and screenwriter (1928โ€“2019)
  • Paul Verhoeven โ€“ Dutch film director (born 1938)
  • Dziga Vertov โ€“ Soviet film director (d. 1954)
  • King Vidor โ€“ American writer and director (1894โ€“1982)
  • Jean Vigo โ€“ French film director
  • Luchino Visconti โ€“ Italian theatre, opera and cinema director
  • Andrzej Wajda โ€“ Polish film director (1926โ€“2016)
  • Apichatpong Weerasethakul โ€“ Thai film director (born 1970)
  • Orson Welles โ€“ American actor and filmmaker (1915โ€“1985)
  • William Wellman โ€“ American director, actor
  • Wim Wenders โ€“ German filmmaker
  • James Whale โ€“ English film director (1889-1957)
  • Billy Wilder โ€“ Austrian-American filmmaker (1906โ€“2002)
  • Robert Wise โ€“ American film director, film producer and film editor
  • Wong Kar-wai โ€“ Hong Kong film director (born 1958)
  • Sam Wood โ€“ Director, producer, and actor
  • William Wyler โ€“ German-born American film director and producer (1902โ€“1981)
  • Ozu Yasujiro โ€“ Japanese filmmaker (1903โ€“1963)
  • Zhang Yimou โ€“ Chinese filmmaker (born 1951)
  • Robert Zemeckis โ€“ American filmmaker (born 1952)
  • Fred Zinnemann โ€“ Austrian-American film director (1907โ€“1997)

Famous actors[edit]

Notable actors

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Accomando, Beth. "What's The Issue With Nitrate Film Stock? It's Combustible". NPR. Retrieved 12 April 2021.

External links[edit]

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