How does film change over time?
Movies today are often shot with much less light than their predecessors, allowing for more naturalistic effects. Take “Collateral,” for example, which was shot in the nighttime streets of LA with mostly natural light. Additionally, modern films are often much darker than films made in the gold age of Hollywood.
Technology within the film industry has advanced greatly over the last century, allowing movies to tell greater, more realistic stories than ever before. The cinema has evolved from black-and-white silent films edited by physically cutting film strips to 3D digital content spliced together on computers.
- 1894: First Projector Invented.
- 1915: The First Feature Length Movie.
- 1948: Uncle Sam Breaks Up the Monopolies.
- 1972: First VHS Tape Released.
- 2007: Netflix Opens its Streaming Service.
New cameras, filming techniques, visual effects, post-production collaboration, etc. all are evolving day by day to make filmmaking easier and more immersive. One of the biggest ones in the past decade that also created a lot of buzz was facial recreation, digital humans, and de-aging technologies.
Technology's greatest impact is perhaps felt in new cameras that allow cinematographers to shoot in a higher definition, letting viewers take in more of the amazing work in set design. Technology also drives entire segments of film now, enabling movies that were not possible before.
In Days of yore films have significant stories, pleasant tunes and extraordinary specialists worked for them. But now-a-days, although talented technicians are there, movies are lacking in consistent stories, music. In old films, the vast majority of them are story based with a perfect message and pleasant tunes.
Movies also change culture by influencing the beliefs, opinions, and behaviors of the people who see them. For example, a documentary about child abuse may move you to take action against child abuse in your community, whether by volunteering for an organization or donating money. This is how films change a culture.
Movies during the 1910s began changing throughout the decades because there was more varieties of shot angles and sizes. Movies also changed because the editing in movies were becoming more complex instead of the basic way movies were edited before. American History influenced movies because technology became better.
As a result of the introduction of television, the studios and companies sought to put audiences back in theaters. They used more techniques in presenting their films through widescreen and big-approach methods, such as Cinemascope, VistaVision, and Cinerama, as well as gimmicks like 3-D film.
The decade of the 1980s in Western cinema saw the return of studio-driven pictures, coming from the filmmaker-driven New Hollywood era of the 1970s. The period was when "high concept" films gained popularity, where films were expected to be easily marketable and understandable.
Does film genre change over time?
Genres may change over time by adding or omitting elements. Some elements have been dominant as long as story telling has existed, others are adaptations to changing social and cultural conditions.
Cinema as a reflection of culture
Cinema has also been used to reflect the societal values and beliefs of various cultures. Films like The Godfather (1972) and cinematic shows such as The Sopranos (1999-2007) have explored the themes of family, loyalty, and power in the Italian-American community.
The effect of early mass-communication media was to wear away regional differences and create a more homogenized, standardized culture. Film played a key role in this development, as viewers began to imitate the speech, dress, and behavior of their common heroes on the silver screen (Mintz, 2007).
The '70s marked a departure from the traditional studio system in Hollywood, with the emergence of the New Hollywood movement. This movement was characterized by a shift towards more unconventional and daring films that were edgier, riskier, and often explored controversial subject matter.
Hollywood movies became more cynical, violent, and sexually explicit, reflecting the changing values of the time. In ten original essays, American Cinema of the 1960s examines a range of films that characterized the decade, including Hollywood movies, documentaries, and independent and experimental films.
Using Film in Modern Movie-Making
While most movie theaters are no longer playing movies on film, many filmmakers still choose to shoot their movies on film. They choose this for a number of reasons - mainly for simplicity, efficiency, nostalgia, and the look of it.
Movies Can Also Inspire
For example, inspiring movies can cause you to think, have passion, and take action. Other forms of art like songs and poetry can have a similar effect. After watching an inspiring movie, you may feel like you want to improve yourself or humanity in a particular way.
Not only is film influential but it is a source of entertainment and escapism. Film combines music, stories and pictures all in one and it's a way to forget the real world for 120 minutes or so but at the same time can give audiences a reality check.
For more than a century, and across widely different cultures, film has been the primary medium for storytelling, for depicting and exploring the world, and for engaging and shaping the human senses and emotions, memory and imagination.