Portal:Film

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Introduction

An animated sequence showing a horse galloping, with a jockey on its back

Sallie Gardner at a Gallop, made by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878, is sometimes cited as the earliest film.

A film, also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, theatrical film, or photoplay, is a series of still images that, when shown on a screen, create the illusion of moving images. (See the glossary of motion picture terms.)

This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed in rapid succession. The process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. A film is created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects.

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Richard III is a 1955 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play Richard III. The film also contains elements of Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 3. It was directed by Laurence Olivier, who also played Richard. The cast includes many noted Shakespearean actors of the time, including a quartet of acting knights. The film depicts Richard plotting and conspiring to grasp the throne from his brother, King Edward, played by Cedric Hardwicke. In the process, many are killed and betrayed, with Richard's evil leading to his own downfall. The prologue of the film states that history without its legends would be "a dry matter indeed", thus the film admits that it is not portraying the actual events of the time, but rather the legend. Many critics now consider Olivier's Richard III his best screen version of Shakespeare. As well, the British Film Institute has called Olivier's rendition of the play "definitive" and that it has done more to popularise Shakespeare than any other single piece of work.

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Credit: Bain News Service

Buster Keaton (born Joseph Frank Keaton, October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American silent film comic actor and filmmaker. His trademark was physical comedy with a stoic, deadpan expression on his face.

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Did you know...

...that Japanese producer Genjiro Arato exhibited his 1980 film Zigeunerweisen across Japan in a specially-built inflatable mobile dome after exhibitors refused to screen it, and the film went on to win 4 Japanese Academy Awards?

...that Mukh O Mukhosh (The face and the mask), directed by Abdul Jabbar Khan, is the first full-length Bengali language feature film to be produced in the erstwhile East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh?

...that Marzieh Meshkini's 2000 film The Day I Became a Woman depicts three stages in the lives of Iranian women, focusing on a nine year old girl, a married woman, and an elderly widow?

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Jackie Chan SBS (born April 7, 1954) is an Chinese actor, action choreographer, film director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, singer and stunt performer. Chan is one of the best-known names in kung fu and action films worldwide for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons and innovative stunts. He has appeared in over 100 films and has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A Cantopop star, he has released 20 albums since 1984 and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred.

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Christopher Walken is an Academy Award-winning American actor of stage and screen. Walken, a prolific actor, has spent more than 50 years on stage and screen, and has appeared in over 100 movie and television roles, including A View to a Kill, At Close Range, The Deer Hunter, King of New York, Batman Returns and Pulp Fiction, as well as music videos by recording artists such as Madonna. Walken's early career began primarily in theatre and television, where he often played small roles with limited appearances. During these early stages of his career, Walken was credited as "Ken Walken" and later as "Ronnie Walken," until finally settling on "Christopher Walken." Walken began acting in films by 1969, and after a series of increasingly larger roles, won an Academy Award in 1978 as Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Deer Hunter. Since then, Walken has become a highly sought-after actor, typically performing in numerous films every year. Walken has been a primary character in two film franchises: as Gabriel the fallen angel in The Prophecy series, and as Jacob Witting in the made-for-television films based on Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall novels. Other notable roles include Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone, Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction, and Frank Abagnale Sr. in Catch Me if You Can. He is also co-producer of his film New Rose Hotel and also sing songs in some of his film including Puss in Boots and Hairspray, he also tries to work a jig (dance) into his movies. Christopher Walken also stars in some TV-Series and theater plays. Walken produced, wrote and directed a short film named Popcorn Shrimp, he also starred in another short film named Engine Trouble in 2002. His upcoming projects are Five Dollars a Day and The Lonely Maiden. He has been rumored for the upcoming films The Dirt and Kevin Approaches. His another film, Citizen Brando is in in-production. Some of his films are unreleased like Jungle Juice (2001).

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Whereas money is a means to an end for a filmmaker, to the corporate mind money is the start. Right now, I think independent film is very confused, because there's excess pressure in the marketplace for entertainment to pay off. Entertainment has pervaded every system of information in our culture, and along with it comes the promise of money. So it's hard for artists not to keep half an eye on what works commercially as they go about realizing their visions. As a young filmmaker, you've got to deliver, and you've got to deliver fast these days; that wasn't the case twenty years ago.

— Robert Redford, 1997

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