What is a Movie?

A movie is a type of visual art that uses images and sound to tell stories or teach people something. It can be fun or sad, scary or funny, and it often has a plot that follows a certain order of events. A movie can also have creative elements like music, lighting and set (man-made places in the studios where movies are made) that add to its effect. Some movies are more ‘arty’ than others, which is why they don’t appeal to the big movie companies and become popular ‘underground’ with word of mouth advertising and a small group of followers.

Some movies have a specific genre, such as dramas, which tell stories about relationships between people. Romantic comedies, or Rom-Coms, are stories about two people falling in love and doing funny things together. Horror movies scare the audience, using music, lighting and sets to add to the feeling of fear. Sci-Fi movies use science to tell a story and usually have machines that cannot be built in real life. Movies can be age appropriate, meaning that they are safe for children to watch.

Director’s have a unique vision that they seek to implement into their movies, such as how Sir Alfred Hitchcock used suspense in his thriller classic Psycho. Filmmakers look for ways to add creative elements into their movies, such as music, costumes, sound effects, color, camera movements and angles. When a movie has an effective uniform vision, it can be enjoyable and memorable.