Chapter 2. Movies [628807]

Chapter 2. Movies
2.1. The history of the notion
The first movies revolutionized the cultural life of the world. In the beginning, they were called
motion pictures.Through constant improvements in filming and projection techniques, the movie
became the most important medium of communication of the twentieth century, shaping and
changing the world as no other art did until its appearance. The evolution of cinema was determined
not only by artistic ambitions, but also by economic, social and political inte rests. In this way,
cinematic creations blurred the line between elitist culture and mass entertainment. There were
several stages in the creation of movies.
-the first step toward the invention of cinema was the image projection. Through the use of a devi ce
known as the magic lantern, which utilized a glass lens, a shutter, and a persistent light source, usually
a powerful lantern, the earliest precursors to film began to project images from hand -painted glass
slides onto a wall. However, in the 19th centu ry, those slides were replaced by still photographs
-the next significant step was the development of an understanding of image movement. In the late
1820's -early 1830's it was discovered the phenomenon called "Persistence of Vision" which
demonstrated tha t when a series of still images is shown at a considerable speed in front of a viewer's
eye, the images merge into one registered image that appears to show movement. [3] All these
discoveries and inventions replaced the optical illusions with motion pictu res and the paved the way
for the invention of movies as we know them
-the french scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer, Étienne -Jules Marey, was one of the first
to experiment with film which consisted of flexible and transparent celluloid and co uld record split
second pictures. In 1882, the same scientist developed a camera that could take twelve photographs
per second (superimposed into one image) of animals or humans in motion
-in 1877 -1880 appeared the first "proto -movie". The english -american photographer Eadweard
Muybridge, known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, captured a horserace
by setting up a row of cameras along a racetrack and timed image exposures to capture the many
stages of a horse's gallop. He said that he only nedded a camera with sufficiently high shutter speed,
a filmstrip capable of taking multiple exposures swiftly and means of projecting the developed
images on a screen.[4]
-in 1888, Louis Le Prince, the inventor of an early motion picture camera wa s the first person to
shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of (paper) film. It is called
Roundhay Garden Scene and it's the oldest surviving movie to this day. It consists in a two -second
recording of people walking in a p ark .[5]
-the american inventor Thomas Edison, developed the Kinetograph (a photographic device that
captured sequential images) and the Kinetoscope (a device for viewing the images captured by the
kinetograph). These two devices allowed for the creation a nd exhibition of short films.[3]

-auguste and Louis Lumière created the Cinématographe, which proved to be a more portable and
practical device which combined a camera, a film processor and a projector in one unit.[3] This
device allowed simultaneous viewi ng by multiple people. Their first film, Sortie de l'usine Lumière
de Lyon, shot in 1894, is considered the first true motion picture.[6
– years later, the celluloid film was invented, which was strong and flexible, greatly facilitated the
making of motion pictures. This film was 35 mm wide and was pulled using four sprocket holes,
which became the industry standard. ("Lumière". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007.)
Technological progress represented only one of the elements that developed the movies as a popular
art form. The screenings, initially exclusive, generated a professional film industry, and the cinema
soon became an economic reality. The Lumière brothers had used their cinema only to recreate
everyday life, but the French theater operator Georges Méliès perceived the potential of the new
technology. Therefore, in 1902, Méliès made a series of so -called "magic movies", in which fictitious
sets were created with the help of prefabricated backgrounds in the studio. The first one was called
Journey to the Moon. It marked an essential moment in the movie industry and it was the first feature
film of about 15 minutes.
Economic factors have proven to be crucial in turning movies into mass shows. Charles Pathé, the
founder of the French film industr y, played an important role in the international movie trade before
the First World War. Pathé who owned more than 200 cinemas in France and Belgium, made variety
shows, accessible to a wider audience. Gradually, movie industries began to appear in differe nt
countries. The american movie pioneer Edwin S. Porter filmed in 1903, the first western, The Great
Train Robbery. In Denmark, the largest film producer in Europe afer France, Ole Olson founded a
film production company, Nordisk Film Kompagni and in 190 6 Viggo Larsen's adventure movie,
The Lion Hunt was a success. In Italy, historical subjects were preferred, and the frech loved
comedies. In Germany, films did not really succeed until the end of the first decade of the twentieth
century. Another signific ant aspect is that in this time period filmmakers began working more and
more often with famous writers for making movies.
The First World War marked a turning point in the European film industry. The number of European
films decreased, but during this tim e, in Hollywood, in the United States, a multitude of cinematic
genres flourished as new artistic means were tested. Furthermore, this period had an increased
influence of politics on film. In 1910's, German movies were used movies to spread current
nation alist ideology. In the 1920's, in Italy and Russia, cinemas were used as a propaganda tool by
the fascist and communist regimes. In the U.S., movie companies lost their independence and were
engulfed by giant companies. As a result, most movies lacked inte llectual qualities or displayed racial
tendencies. This was, however, the golden age of silent films, culminating in D.W. Griffith's epic
The Birth of a Nation (1915), a three hour feature film about the Civil War. The decline of Europe
coincided with the gradual rising of the american movie industry due to the extremely efficient

organization of Hollywood studios. Thus, a multitude of genres were born: comedies with Charlie
Chaplin, adventure films with Douglas Fairbanks, or melodramas with Greta Garbo.
https://editiadedimineata.ro/istoria -si-evolutia -filmului -a-saptea -arta-partea -i/
Over time the silent movie was replaced by the sound movie, a motion pictu re with synchronized
sound, or sound technologically coupled to image. The first known public exhibition of projected
sound movies took place in Paris in 1900, but sound motion pictures were made commercially
practical decades later. The primary steps in t he commercialization of sound cinema were taken in
the mid to late 1920s. At first, the sound movies known as "talking pictures", were exclusively shorts.
The earliest feature -length movies with recorded sound included only music and effects. The first
feature film originally presented as a talking picture was released in October 1927. Called The Jazz
Singer, this movie was major hit. And by the early 1930's, the talking pictures were a global
phenomenon. In the United States, they helped secure Hollywood's position as one of the world's
most powerful cultural/commercial centers of cinematic influence. In Europe, the new development
was treated with suspicion by many filmmakers and critics, who worried that a focus on dialogue
would subvert the unique aesthe tic virtues of soundless cinema. In East Asia, the popular film
tradition integrated silent movie and live vocal performance, but soon sound became the key element
that led to the rapid expansion of India's national film industry, for example. The early ci nema of
Brazil, for example, featured fitas cantatas: filmed operettas with singers performing behind the
screen. In Japan, films had not only live music but also the benshi, a live narrator who provided
commentary and character voices. The benshi became a central element in Japanese film, as well as
providing translation for foreign (mostly American) movies. The popularity of the benshi was one
reason why silent films persisted well into the 1930s in Japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_film#Notes .
Vlad Strukov, "A Journey through Time: Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark and Theories of
Memisis" in Lúcia Nagib and Cecília Mello, eds. Realism and the Audiovisual Media (NY: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2009), 129 -30.
Thomas Elsaesser, Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative (London: British Film Institute, 1990),
14. ISBN 0851702457
Foster, Diana (November 19, 2014). "The History of Silent Movies and Subtitles". Video Caption
Corporation. Retrieved February 24, 2019.

2.2. Tipology or Movie genres
Movie genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of movies.
Genres provide a convenient way for scriptwriters and film -makers to produce, cast and structure
their narratives within a manageable, well -defined framework. The main movie genres are:
action movies (include high energy, big -budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues,
battles, fights, escapes, destructive natural/man -made crises, non -stop mo tion, spectacular rhythm

and pacing. The main character is ussualy an adventurous, often two -dimensional 'good -guy' who is
battling 'bad guys')
adventure movies (present exciting stories, new experiences, exotic locations and can include
serialized and his torical spectacles, searches or expeditions for lost continents, treasure hunts,
disaster films, or searches for the unknown)
comedy movies (have light -hearted plots designed to amuse and provoke laughter by exaggerating
the situation, the language, the ac tion, the relationships and the characters)
crime movies (are developed around the actions of criminals, particularly mobsters, bankrobbers,
underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their
way through life , and who are often counteracted by a detective -protagonist)
drama movies (have a serious, plot -driven presentation, portraying realistic characters, settings, life
situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction)
historical movies ( include costume/historical dramas, medieval/war films, period pictures often
covered by a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. They also take a
historical/imagined event and/or a mythic/legendary/heroic figure a nd add an extravagant setting,
period costumes, grandeur, spectacle, dramatic scope, etc.)
horror movies (are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden fears, often in a terrifying, shocking
finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same tim e in a cathartic experience)
musicals ( represent cinematic movies that emphasize full -scale scores or song and dance routines in
a significant way being centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography)
science fiction movies (are quasi -scientific, visionary, imaginative and completed with heroes, aliens,
distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark, shadowy villains,
futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters, etc .)
war movies (acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting on
land, sea, or in the air and providind the primary plot or background for the action of the movie)
western movies (are a major defining genre of the American film industry which represent a eulogy
to the early days of the expansive American frontier and are one of the oldest, most enduring genres
with very recognizable plots, elements, and characters – cowboys, Indians, six -guns, horses, dusty
towns a nd trails, , etc.) https://www.filmsite.org/genres.html#genres
Movie genres include sub -genres which are more specific sub -classes of the larger category of
movies, with their own distinct ive subject matter, style, formulas, and iconography. Some of the
prominent sub -genres are:
biopics (a sub -genre of the larger drama and epic film genres, reached popularity in the 1930's but
are still prominent to this day because they depict the life of an important historical personage/group
from the past or present era)
chick flicks (include formulated romantic comedies with mis -matched lovers or female relationships,
movies about family crises and emotional carthasis and fantasy -action adventures, some times with

foul-mouthed and empowered females and female bonding situations involving families, mothers,
daughters, children, women, and women's issues)
courtroom dramas (contain fascinating thematic elements in film – murder, betrayal, deception,
perjury and sex featuring unexpected twists and surprise testimony, unusual motives, moral
dilemmas, crusading lawyers and wrongly -accused victims)
detective -mystery films (focus on the unsolved crime, usually the murder or disappearance of one or
more of the char acters, or a theft, the central character – the detective/hero meeting various adventures
and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal or the solution to the crime)
disaster films (provide all -star casts and interlocking stories, with suspenseful action and impending
crises in aboard imperiled airliners, trains, dirigibles, sinking or wrecked ocean -liners, or in towering
burning skyscrapers, crowded stadiums or earthquake zones)
fantasy films (take the audience to dark netherworld place s or dimension with mythical creatures,
where events are unlikely to occur in real life transcending the bounds of human possibility and
physical laws, sometimes taking the form of fairy tales that often have elements of magic, myth,
wonder, folklore and t he extraordinary and assuming epic proportions. Heroic fantasies follow a
hero-character who overcomes various obstacles on a quest and may appeal to both children and
adults, depending upon the particular film)
film noir (is not a genre, but rather the mo od, style or tone of various American films that evolved in
the 1940's, and lasted in a classic period until about 1960. This movie is usually featuring a cynical,
loner hero (anti -hero) and femme fatale, in a black and white location with primary moods of
melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral
corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia)
guy movies (are often packed with sophomoric humor, action, cartoon violence, competition, mean –
spirited putdowns and gra tuitous nudity and sex being the counterpart for the chick flick)
melodramas (are characterized by a plot to appeal to the emotions of the audience presenting an
unrealistic, pathos -filled tales of romance or domestic situations with stereotypical characte rs that
would directly appeal to feminine audiences)
road movies (present an episodic journey on the open road or undiscovered trail, to search for escape
or to engage in a quest for some kind of goal – a distinct destination, the attainment of love, freed om,
mobility, redemption, the finding or rediscovering of onself, coming -of-age, etc.)
romantic movies (are love stories, or affairs of the heart that center on passion, emotion, and the
romantic, affectionate involvement of the main characters, usually a leading man and woman, and
the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage)
sports movies (have a sports setting, event and/or athlete that are central and predominant in the
story)
super -heroes movies (are based on an original comic -strip or comic book character where a fictional
super -heroes with extraordinary powers struggles against an arch -nemesis or super -villain)

supernatural movies (have themes including gods or goddesses, ghosts, apparitions, spirits, miracles,
and other similar ide as or depictions of extraordinary phenomena)
thrillers (are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations known to promote intense
excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra -heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety,
and nerve -wracking tension)
zombie movies (have their origins in the earliest films within the horror genre that were about the
raising of the dead, such as the Frankenstein films)

The concept of movie genres also refers to recurring/repeating and similar, familia r or instantly –
recognizable patterns, styles, themes, syntax, templates, paradigms, motifs, rules or generic
conventions that include:
a characteristic setting or period (modern day, historical or fictional, urban/rural, etc.) with various
stereotypes, pro ps, or icons: horror, sci -fi, sports, war, westerns
the recurring use of stock characters (or characterizations): comedy, crime, horror, sci -fi, sports,
western
the use of representative content and subject matter (the storyline, themes, narrative or plot) resonant
with other films in the genre category: action, comedy, crime, horror, melodramas, musicals,
romance, sci -fi
the use of filming techniques and formats, including camera angles and shooting style, lighting, the
style of editing, color schemes, make -up and costuming, etc.
the use of music and audio to enhance or emphasize various characteristics, to advance the plot, or
to create a mood
Many films currently do not fit into one genre classification and are considered hybrids because they
straddle several film genres. There are many examples of present -day filmmakers reflecting familiar
elements of traditional or classical genres, while putting a unique twist on them.

2.3. The language of film
Film is considered to have its own language be cause the professionals involved in movie production
make their specific contribution to their own department, to the creation of a special language, the
cinematographic one. Therefore, cinematography is an independent language, which works
according to it s own rules and borrows elements from other arts: literature, painting, sculpture,
architecture, music and theater. James Monaco wrote "How to Read a Film", a classic text on film
theory, that addresses this topic. Director Ingmar Bergman famously admitted that russian filmmaker,
writer, and film theorist Andrei Tarkovsky must be the greatest director that ever lived because he
invented a new language, true to the nature of movies, that captures life as a reflection, as a dream."
According to the American f ilmmaker Martin Scorsese, movie language contains at least six

elements which supports its authenticity: words (script), movement, light, sound, time and the eye of
the viewer.
Words are related to intrigue, to dialogue, and thus, to the script. The number of plots and the number
of movies are almost identical. In most of them, we have one or more characters who want something,
who come across an obstacle and who then look for a way to overcome it. Most often, the story is
structured in three parts, known a s acts: in the first act (called exhibition), the characters and the
action are presented, in the second (climax), the action progresses, the characters develop and face
new obstacles, and in the third (outcome), the action which can be a happy or unhappy one comes to
an end. In addition to the story, most of the scripts also include dialogue. This is an essential element
in literature as well, but writers can describe in books whatever they want (from action to thoughts).
In movies, if they don't use backg round commentary, screenwriters need to find a way to convey a
lot of information not only through words but also through the actions of the characters. The reverse
of this situation is a significant problem in many movies. An example would be the villain' s speech,
in which the "negative character", who is about to kill the protagonist of the movie, begins to tell him
the reason for his actions. Another example would be when, at the beginning of a film, two brothers
address each other using the nicknames "b rother" or "sister". None of these characters speak in a
credible manner. The lines they say only serve to inform the viewer of the information he needs in
order to follow the plot. A good screenwriter or filmmaker will not make his characters talk like th at
to convey such information. He will manage to avoid unnatural speech and convey to the audience
that the characters know each other very well.
Once sound movies began to be widely preferred, the importance of verbal language in these movies
increased, g aining amazing importance today when they are created and marketed in a multitude of
languages. There are national movie industries all over the world, more or less developed and whose
ownership is influenced by an increasingly pressing issue today: financ ing. Especially since
contemporary movies end up with budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars if the magnitude of their
production demands it.
In addition to words, a movie also needs movement. The movement characterizes both the actors and
the camera. Acting is a key element in theater, but in a movie it has a different status. Movie actors
have more opportunities to play a scene well, thanks to the doubles. On the other hand, the
foreground, an element that does not exist in the theater, can capture ev ery nuance of an actor's
mimicry, requiring more attention.
The light is also essential for the camera, modern cinema beeing characterized by the use of
constantly moving cameras, even in relatively quiet scenes. Light can be used in many ways to create
a specific atmosphere.
Sound plays a key role in a movie and it's used to give us information about the location of a scene,
to create intrigue, to introduce the characters in the story or to create atmosphere. If the sound is a

part of the action of the mov ie it is called diegetic sound. If the sound does not belong to the action
of the movie, as in the case of soundtracks, it is called non -diegetic sound.
Time is the essence of making movies. Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky said that the movie is
nothing more than a sculpture in time. And in order to obtain these sculptures, editing is required.
This ability to combine scenes into sequences is used by filmmakers to compress time and tell stories
that last longer than the movie. Thanks to the editing, prob ably the most defining element of a movie,
their action can relate a period that extends from a few days in the life of several characters to a few
years in the life of a single character or even thousands of years in the life of several beings.
Filmmakers have to be very creative to present the flow of time on screen. Traditional techniques
include scrolling through pages in a calendar or images as the four seasons pass.
The eye of the viewer, refers to our active contribution as we watch the movie. Many experts believe
that the movie is not complete until it's watched by viewers, because we offer it the final meaning,
our interpretation, influenced by our own experiences. The famous French filmmaker Jean Luc
Goddard once said that the film is neither in the camera nor on the screen. It is in the space between
them, where we, the spectators, are. In other words, we don't watch movies with the eyes of the
director, but with our own eyes.
http://www.fred.fm/ro/language -film-filmliteracy/

An example of the language is a sequence of back and forth images of one speaking actor's left
profile, followed by another speaking actor's right profile, then a repetition of this, which is a
languag e understood by the audience to indicate a conversation. This describes a visual story -telling
which places a viewer in a context of being psychologically present through the use of visual
composition and editing. Another example of cinematic language is h aving a shot that zooms in on
the forehead of an actor with an expression of silent reflection that cuts to a shot of a younger actor
who vaguely resembles the first actor, indicating that the first person is remembering a past self, an
edit of composition s that causes a time transition.

A research conducted on all movies released in North American cinemas (almost 8800) for fifteen
years between 2004 and 2019 shows that movies can have more than one language, and indeed, 31%
of the movies in this research did. Across all the movies considered, there are 168 unique languages,
although only fifteen featured in more than 100 movies. More than 80% of the movies featured
English as one of their main languages. Other popular languages included French (12% of mo vies),
Spanish (almost 9%), German, (over 5%) and Hindi (almost 5%) even if these languages were not
spoken throughout the entire movie that is mentioning them. We can talk about one or two lines in
those languages in the entire movie. It is interesting th at latin is the top 16 most frequently used non –
English languages spoken in movies in the researched time period, even if it's classed as a ‘dead

language’. Also represented were fictional languages such as Klingon (from the Star Trek universe),
Na’vi (fro m Avatar) and languages from The Lord of The Rings / Hobbit universe.
Considering another perspective, many of the top European languages are in decline, 16% of movies
featured at least some spoken French in 2013, whereas in 2017 it had fallen to just 6%. On the flip
side, a number of Asian languages are increasingly appearing in movies, with Mandarin, Korean and
Hindi all growing in usage.
It is also important the way languages differ between genres. The research shows that more that one
fifth of the one t housand movies featuring French were comedies. Of the most commonly -used
languages, Hindi has the highest proportion of comedies, accounting for over 40% of all movies
featuring Hindi. Those featuring Russian and Arabic are least likely to be comedies. Wh en we talk
about animations and horror films, japanese is the most popular language. More than 20% of all
movies featuring Japanese in american cinemas are animations. Surprisingly, Romance is more a
feature of movies with Italian than those with French. C onsidering sci -fi and war movies, over one
in ten films with Russian dialogue are science fiction movies. War movies make up a
disproportionately large share of the movies featuring dialogue in German, Arabic and Hebrew.