Portal:Film

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The Film Portal

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Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.

Film is an important art form; films entertain, educate, enlighten, and inspire audiences. The visual elements of cinema need no translation, giving the motion picture a universal power of communication. Films are also artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and in turn, affect them.

Traditional films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to a combination of physiological and psychological effects. One is known as persistence of vision — whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers also perceive motion due to psychological effects called beta movement and the phi phenomenon.

The origin of the name "film" comes from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, photo-play, flick, and most commonly, movie. Additional terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema, and the movies.

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Kung Fu Hustle is set in Shanghai
Kung Fu Hustle (Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: Gōngfu) is a 2004 Hong Kong martial arts film co-written, co-produced, directed by and starring Stephen Chow. The film is a humorous parody and a homage to the wuxia genre, and contains most of the characteristics of a typical wuxia movie with exaggerations, serious situations and comic plots. Set in 1930s Shanghai, it is a tale of redemption for the central character, portrayed by Chow, a petty criminal who is trying to join the city's most-powerful gang. The use of visual effects have been widely acclaimed and the cartoon style of the movie accompanied by traditional Chinese music is its most striking feature. Although the film features the return of a number of retired 1970s actors of Hong Kong action cinema, it is in stark contrast to recent martial arts films that have made an impact in the West, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. The film was released on 23 December 2004 after two years of production and received positive reviews from critics. It went on to become the highest grossing film in the history of Hong Kong, and the highest grossing foreign language film in the United States in 2005.

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Welcome sign to Cannes Film Festival
Credit: Tangi Bertin

The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1939, is one of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals, like Venice Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival.

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Rudolph Cartier (born Rudolph Katscher; April 17, 1904June 7, 1994) was an Austrian television director who worked predominantly in British television, exclusively for the BBC. He is best known for his 1950s collaborations with screenwriter Nigel Kneale, most notably the Quatermass serials and their 1954 adaptation of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. After studying architecture and then drama, Cartier's initial career was as a screenwriter and then film director in Berlin, working for UFA Studios. After a brief spell in the United States he moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and began working for BBC Television in 1952. He went on to produce and direct over 120 productions in the next 24 years, ending his television career with the play Loyalties in 1976. Active in both dramatic programming and opera, Cartier won the equivalent of a BAFTA in 1957 for his work in the former, and one of his operatic productions was given an award at the 1962 Salzburg Festival. The British Film Institute's "Screenonline" website describes him as "a true pioneer of television," while the critic Peter Black once wrote that: "Nobody was within a mile of Rudolph Cartier in the trick of making a picture on a TV screen seem as wide and as deep as CinemaScope."

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Schwarzenegger in December 2008
Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American actor who has appeared in multiple film roles. Schwarzenegger began his acting career primarily with small roles in film and television. For his first film role, he was credited as "Arnold Strong", but was credited with his birth name thereafter. Schwarzenegger has acted in over thirty films, and has also ventured into directing and producing. He has appeared mainly in sword-and-sorcery, action, and comedy films. Schwarzenegger has been a primary character in two film franchises: as Conan in the Conan series and as Terminator in the Terminator series. Other notable roles include Ben Richards in The Running Man, Douglas Quaid in Total Recall, and Harry Tasker in True Lies. Although Schwarzenegger's acting career has been put on hold due to his position as Governor of California, he has made several cameos in various films. Upcoming cameos include the 2009 film Terminator Salvation and the 2010 film The Expendables. Schwarzenegger has received several awards and nominations for his work in films. In Stay Hungry, one of his first roles, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture. He has also been nominated for various awards for his work in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Junior, and True Lies. According to Box Office Mojo, a box office revenue tracking website, films which Schwarzenegger has acted in have grossed a total of more than $1.6 billion domestically, with an average of $70 million per film.

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Theatre Row, New York City
Since actors need to get training someplace, in New York they tend to get it in the theater. In L.A., the only place they can get it is in TV. And the series are—as valuable as they are for sheer experience—deadening emotionally. Especially if you’re in a hit. After a year in a role, you’re not really discovering anything new.

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Featured lists: BAFTA Award for Best FilmGolden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion PictureGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Original ScoreList of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language FilmList of Harry Potter films cast membersList of films that received the Golden Film

Featured topics: Star Wars episodes

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Film

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 • List of US box office bombs • Lists of film source material • List of open content films

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