After a long exhausting day, some people turn to the smell of popcorn or delicious snacks in a dark room with a huge screen, which can turn out to be the most relaxing thing in the world. I count myself as one of those people.
Movies can entertain you, take your mind off almost everything, and even teach you things. Movies can be more than just something you see when you have nothing else to do and want to pass time, so let’s explore the magic of movies.
It has been a long road for movies to become the way as we know them today. The first public screening of something similar to a movie was shown by the Lumière brothers in Paris in 1895. It only showed a train in motion, but it was the first motion picture people have seen. Naturally, the first movies were in black and white, without sound, and only a minute long. It took quite a few years to make longer movies and even cut several shots together. The first film studios were built in 1897 and the first camera to take panning shots was created in 1898. At the beginning of the 1900’s, the first feature-length movie was made by an Australian production and actors began to receive credit for their work, which created a whole new profession.
Over the years, the industry was able to gradually make movies longer than just a couple of minutes, but they still had not found a way to give the actors their voices. Those movies were shown with a live orchestra in front the screen filling live sound effects along with what the character were saying shown on the screen between scenes. However, Warner produced the first sound movie, The Jazz Singer, which featured both dialogue and singing.
The world quickly embraced this new medium and used it first as mostly an informative tool. People previously received the news only through the radio, but now they were able to see them as well. Although television was invented, not many were able to afford one so most people went to the cinema to see the news and afterwards a short movie like A Trip to the Moon (1902), which is considered as the first science fiction movie ever made.
One of the first movies in colour was The Wizard of Oz (1939). The moment the film industry found out how to let they movie characters speak, they also let them sing and dance, thus creating iconic films such as Singing in the Rain. Movies have the purpose to show you how beautiful life can be so simply break out into a tap dance! On the other hand, it is nice to see a reality where dancing is the solution to everything and it sounds like a way better way to cope with all the negativism in the world and sometimes you really do want to follow their path and sing your way through the world!
We then saw the start of post-classical storytelling begin and in the 1970’s, more controversial movies were created with them filled with violence, such as Dirty Harry.
The movie industry evolved rapidly from then to today, and now they are always full of colour, fun, full of action and CGI, and to be even with you in the room thanks to 3D and 4D technology. They have come from informing humanity to also entertaining them. They always had an influence and have been important, just the purpose changed.
Today, we do not have the latest news show prior to the movie, but instead we get to see one movie trailer after another to know what will bring us to the cinema the next time we are there. Thankfully to its growth, we can choose from a wide range of genres for any and every kind of mood we are in.
Thanks to the invention of the internet and social media, people from all over the world can connect over a movie, celebrities, and genres, along with fandoms being formed. Movies have become something people started bonding over and have become a safe haven for them.
Unfortunately, everything has a sad side as well since many people have made fun of for being a nerd. However, these days it seems being a nerd or fan about things is almost seen as a positive thing rather than being offensive.
Movies have taught many of us something and have a meaningful space in our existence.
The Notebook shows you what real love can look like. You learn about faith in the Titanic with a blooming love story between Rose and Jack. The Step Up Franchise teaches you how people find themselves through music and dance, ow these two things can save someone’s life to build a better future for themselves. Star Wars gave many their first role model with Princess Leia, along with an actress who knows how to take the spotlight.
Spock from Star Trek shows that it is okay to be who you are. Call Me By Your Name explores the love between two men and tells that it is beautiful to feel free and follow your heart. A superhero movie can be everything for a little kid who needs someone to look up to and finds inspiration in his favourite hero and aspires to be like her or him. There is an emotional interview from Chadwick Boseman, who plays Black Panther, tells the story of two little boys who died of cancer who looked up to the character he played.
Movies can educate you about the all kinds of things, entertain and address things that society may not talked about, and they break those barriers and build a path for it to continue and live on. They can be so much more and it is amazing to travel, explore new worlds, and dive into someone else’s life and see how they are dealing with their problems.
So plan your next visit to the cinema, enjoy the magic of cinematography and relish how far the industry has grown. Relax and let yourself caught into the story and breathe in every second of the beauty of storytelling and everything involved within the creation of the story.
