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“As valuable for the longtime writer as for the first-timer.” — Mike Rich, screenwriter, Finding Forrester“Cynthia is a wonderful screenwriter and a wonderful teacher for both new and established writers.” — Dave Wirtschafter, President of World Wide Motion Pictures, William Morris Agency“Prepare to be inspired!” — Michael Colleary & Mike Werb, screenwriters, Face/Off and The Mask“Thorough, accessible, informative, and entertaining.” — Linda Seger, script consulta (more…)

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Amazing is that scene of creativity, with an intense allure, posing as a fine-tuned mirror-image of life expressions; entertaining, by immersing us in an imaginary world to fulfil our fantasies of love, action, passion, desires, and thrills; arousing our emotions with its complementing music which blending seamlessly to a point we are lost in its reverie; also, explicitly communicating to educate; all in the name of the concept called motion picture.

Motion picture, as the name implies, simply means picture in motion (moving picture), however with an immense artistic depth. The “deceptive” motion is achieved by still pictures succeeding themselves one after the other in a well defined sequence to create an illusion of movement. The “trick” involves a human flaw known as persistence of vision, whereby the human eye is unable to detect, distinctively, the rapid change of pictures, though we see the transition as seamless, thus bringing the pictures “alive”.

This perception is brought about with the aid of a camera that arrest this images on a roll of film or creation of the images by animation or special effect , which, subsequently, is processed and printed to include necessary audio material to fully develop it. Afterward, it is run through a projector for display.

Motion picture, also known as movie, cinema or film has a fascinating history in science, despite the fact that it is essentially an art. The phenomenon, persistence of vision (which is its foundation), was established by scientist after performing an experiment involving setting a series of individual pictures into motion giving the illusion of movement. In the 1830s, a device zoetrope was invented.

It produces the effect of pictures in motion due to its cylindrical form, thus setting the movement of pictures in a circular manner when they aligned in accord to its shape. In 1870s-1890s, Emile Reynaud developed projecting version using a reflector and a lens to enlarge the image. This made the device applicable in theatres and allowed for public viewing.

This discovery paved way for conception of devices by inventors such as Eadweard Muybridge , who created the zoopraxiscope; Ettiene-Jules Marey , who invented the chronophotographic camera; George Eastman, developed celluloid, a synthetic plastic material coated with gelatin emulsion that helped to augment the quality of photography. In 1891-following the path of Muybridge, Marey and Eastman-legendary American inventor, Thomas

Alva Edison and British scientist William K.L. Dickson invented a motion picture camera known as Kinetograph, and a viewing machine, Kinetoscope. In 1895, the Lumiere brothers (Auguste and louise Lumiere) further developed the work of Edison and Dickson to create an advanced, lightweight camera called Cinematographe.

In the 19th century, films were essentially a visual art without audio; otherwise known as Silent Films.At the turn of the 20th century they had taken a narrative form, whereby scenes are arranged in sequence to tell a story. At this point it also included audio material, like music, to completely convey the message in it; to make it real.

Film development in Europe and America was advancing at an impressive rate, but its progress was interrupted in Europe by the break-out of World War One while the film industry in the United States flourished with the emergence of Hollywood. In 1921 “natural color” was introduced into cinema to bring about a more realistic effect.

Motion picture has been well explored and exploited, consequently yielding in various forms. The most common are feature films; others include animated films, documentaries, experimental films, industrial films, and educational films. Feature films, which are mostly shown in cinema depicts fiction, either entirely imagined or adapted from true events. It is portrayed by actors who pretend to be characters in the story.

Famous feature film include: Titanic, The Last Samurai, Lord Of The Ring, Kill Bill, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and an array of others. Animated films are very similar to Feature films, being narrative (story-like), however they are depicted by artistic drawings or digital imagery, which tend ti simulate life. Common Animated movies include: Shrek, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Lion King, Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians, and others.

Documentaries are quite different from the two types stated above. They are factual, and are meant to enlighten us on subject it encompasses, either on the environment or human activities. Popular documentaries are Nanook Of The North, The Silent World, Hoop Dreams, and so on.

Experimental films are series of images, either literal or abstract, viewed in series, however not necessary in a narrative format. It includes Eraserhead, A Movie, and Privilege. Industrial films are more or less an advertisement made by companies to promote there goods and services. Educational films are intended to be used in learning institution to educate and instruct on subjects varying from music, history, driving and cooking.

It is noteworthy that the creation of a film entails quite much of skills, money and time.. There are quite a number of people involve in its production, carrying out important roles and function both on scene and behind the scene. Prominent roles include: Producer, Screenwriter, Director, Unit Production Manager, Casting Director, Actors, Stunt people, Animal Actors”, Director of Photography, Designers, Assistant Director, Film and Sound Editor, and Music Composer.

The role of the producer is like a “power house” to the entire making of the movie; primarily he sources for fund, find the appropriate film crew, and help in the marketing of the completed film. However there are positions related to this role, such as an executive producer, who is a representative of a film institution involved in financing the making of the movie; associate producer can also be someone who contributes to the film production in money, time, influence, or any other capacity that is germane to the movie production.

Screenwriters are the initiators of movies; they imagine the story or adapt it as motion picture from a novel, drama or musical. The written screen play is then presented to the appropriate personalities to be approved for production. An ideal screen play is framed with an outline, which summarises all; also contains subplots which narrates and explore vital parts of the story to yield a more comprehensive outlook. It is detailed, comprising of vivid description of places, characters’ physical and psychological appearance, dialogue and action. The script can further describe the making of scenery and how it is to be presented to the camera.

The director ultimately envisions the written story in the most appalling way and directs the movie crew about the processes involved, to bring his vision to “reality”. However, there is a misconception that the director’s role is the sole task in the making of a film, but it is reliant on other crew member’s function for a good production; one which is worth mentioning is that of the assistant director(s).

The unit production manager assists the producer in the capacity of scheduling, budgeting, organizing the crew members and seek permit for location to be used outside the studio. The casting director not only selects the actors but is also involve in the negotiation of their contract deal. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the selecting of actors for the protagonist role is mainly the decision of the director and producer.

Actors are considered vital to the making of a motion picture, they make us believe in love, bravery, passion, eternity, mortality, compassion, desire, sorrow, and morality in the name of pretense that is hard to differentiate from reality. They are the heart of the movie bringing the characters alive in the most fascinating way by the mastery of their art, theatrical skills.

The stunt people do the possible impossible bringing the viewers to a state of awesome “disbelief”. They jump of a moving train, fight on motorbike, and fall from a skyscraper. They are trained to protect the actors in movie parts that are life-threatening. In movies whose stories involve animals, trained animal actors fit into such role, and with the help of their trainers they perform the extraordinary, e.g. Babe.

The transition of the story in terms of light, shade, composition by the camera is the function of the director of photography and the camera operator. It is essential in every sense of it because it visually describes the film, which is-not need mentioning-very important. The designer, also known as the art director is in charge of the artistic outlook of the film. He oversees much, from the film locations representing appropriately the described places in the script to the appearance of the actors in designed costumes and make-up, vividly detailed to make believe.

Film production at the first shot is “crude” and is needed to be processed as a finished product for perceptible viewing. This job falls in the hands of the editor for both visual and audio component of the film. This process which can be done daily as the film is being shot, enable for correction of observable errors, whereby there is a retake of scene shot and change or addition of audio element when necessary.

Music accompany the actions of the movie to arouse our emotions and translate what has not been said or clearly depicted by pictorial means, to increase the dramatic nature of the film. This is the affair of the music composer. There are other roles, whose duties are applicable to the making of the movie depending on the budget and purpose at hand. It may include a gaffer, dance teacher, historian, karate instructor, and so on.

Filming is a complexity that can only be achieved in step-by-step process. The process include: Development, Preproduction, Production and Postproduction. In the development phase, the initial tasks are done, involving the approval of the script by the producer, who go ahead to hire a director, other chief members of the crew (including actors in lead roles), budget and source for funds, and prepares the shooting schedule. This is advanced into the preproduction process, where the script is further worked on and edited, necessary hands are hired to complete the crew, shooting locations are planned alongside the whole schedule.

The overall outlook of the film is projected at this stage, and it is meticulously planned for by the producer, director, assistant director, unit production manager, designer and editor. At this juncture, the production can begin proper, with the scenes being shot in a sequence. However, other factors can influence this sequential shot, such as weather, availability of appropriate personnel, fund and schedule.

The director primarily guides the film crew through this particular process. Afterward there is the editing, involving the director, producer, and editor; refining the takes into a finished product. This is usually done daily to achieve a scrupulous film-making. The postproduction-which comes after the whole production process-is the finalize editing, and detected errors are corrected to emerge a movie ready for public viewing.

After all the film production process, comes the dissemination of the movie to the final consumers. This involves primarily the producer and distributor. The producer either leases out or subcontracts the movie to the distributor and the revenue is shared in accord to the deal made. The distributor makes copies of the ready-made film available for bidding to cinemas, movie houses, and theaters. He also makes the availability of the movie on VHS tapes, laser discs, video disc, and DVD . Before the movie is viewed by the general public, it undergoes the rating process which qualifies it suitable for viewers according to age.