Film

otion pictures are so much a part of our lives that it's hard to imagine a world without them. We enjoy them in theaters, at home, in offices, in cars and buses, and on airplanes. We carry films with us in our laptops and iPods. We press the button, and our machines conjure up movies for our pleasure. For about 100 years, people have been trying to understand why this medium has so captivated us. Films communicate information and ideas, and they show us places and ways of life we might not otherwise know. Important as these benefits are, though, something more is at stake. Films offer us ways of seeing and feel- ing that we find deeply gratifying. They take us through experiences. The expe- riences are often driven by stories, with characters we come to care about, but a film might also develop an idea or explore visual qualities or sound textures. A film takes us on a journey, offering a patterned experience that engages our minds and emotions. It doesn't happen by accident. Films are clesigrtecl to have effects on viewers. Late in the l9th century, moving pictures emerged as a public amusement. They succeeded because they spoke to the imaginative needs of a broad-based audience. All the traditions that emerged-telling fictional stories, recording actual events, animating objects or pictures, experimenting with pure form-aimed to give view- ers experiences they couldn't get from other media. The men and women who made fihns discovered that they could control aspects of cinema to give their audience richer, more engaging experiences. Learning fl'om one another, expanding and re- fining the options available, filmmakers developed skills that became the basis of film as an art form. The popular origins of cinema suggest that sonle cornmon ways of talking won't help us rnuch in understanding film. Take the distinction between art and en- tertuirtrnent. Some people would say that blockbusters playing at the multiplex are merely "entertainment," whereas films for a