Cinema

Cinema is considered the seventh art. And no wonder: he really is considered a human artistic manifestation. Having emerged as photography advanced, and consisting of the chaining of images that, when projected, create a sensation of movement, it is admitted that the first cinematographic exhibition took place in Paris, in 1895.

“Cinema” can be both interpreted as the art of creating sequences of images, the so-called “films”, with the intention of reproducing them later for some audience, and the name of the building where such films are shown. In this article, we will deal with cinema as an artistic manifestation.

As mentioned, this type of art consists of creating films, sequences of images recorded on some medium. These sequential images, when displayed at a certain speed, give the impression of movement.

Films, however, quickly began to resemble so-called theatrical plays, involving concepts such as scenography, editing, scripting, costumes, acting, etc., increasingly worked on, drawing the attention of artists who saw in this so-called seventh art a way to express — and a very lucrative market for entrepreneurs and investors.

When and where did the cinema appear?

Obviously, the history of cinema is related to the history of photography, since cinema was dependent on the evolution of the latter.

Photography does not have just one inventor or a specific date: it was the effort of several scientists throughout history, of different nationalities. However, it is considered that the first photographic record, as we understand it today, took place in 1826, being attributed to the Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.

Cinema, in itself, refers to the invention of the Lumière brothers, also French, at the end of the same century: the cinematograph, an improvement of the kinetoscope, invented by Thomas Edison, with which it was possible to record small sequences of images and display them. on some surface by means of projection.

Thanks to this apparatus, Auguste (1862-1954) and Louis Lumière (1864-1948) held the first cinematographic exhibition (at least as most historians consider it) on December 28, 1895, at the Grand Café, in Paris, where they showed ten films (between 40 and 50 seconds) and charged tickets to those present, thus marking the beginning of cinema.

Documentary cinema vs fictional cinema

Cinema, however, was not born as we know it today: the first recordings were made only for documentary purposes. The Lumière brothers themselves did not pursue a career in cinema, dedicating themselves more to science. The first film with a narrative and fictional bias would appear just a year later, with the production of the film The Cabbage Fairy (1896), by the pioneering filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché (1873-1968), considered the first filmmaker and screenwriter of fictional films.

From then on, cinema began to develop, including the addition of so-called “special effects”, as in the famous film A Trip to the Moon (1902), by Georges Méliès, which even attended the first exhibition promoted by the Lumière brothers.

types of cinema

There are a few subcategories of cinema. The main ones are:

• Silent cinema , not having a soundtrack corresponding to the recording;
• Feature film , name given to the film that has more than 70 minutes (in Brazil), 40 or 80 (in the USA, depending on the regulatory institution), 80 (in the United Kingdom), 58 minutes and 29 seconds (in France);
• Short film , name given to a film that is shorter in duration than a feature film (see numbers above);
• Documentary , name given to a non-fiction film whose focus is the portrayal of some reality;
• Animation , when frames (images) are produced artificially, by drawing, painting, computerized animation, etc.;
• 3D film , when the film causes a sense of depth/three-dimensionality in the viewer;
• Serial , when the story is depicted in sequential episodes.

movie genres

Genres, on the other hand, are diverse. Check out some of the most famous ones:

• Action;
• Animation;
• Adventure;
• Chanchada;
• Catastrophe cinema;
• Action comedy;
• Dramatic comedy;
• Romantic comedy;
• Comedy;
• Cult;
• Documentary;
• Drama;
• Erotic;
• Espionage;
• Fantasy;
• Western;
• Science fiction;
• War;
• Musical;
• Noir;
• Police officer;
• Pornochanchada;
• Romance;
• Series;
• Thriller;
• Horror;
• Trash.

Professionals involved in film

The main professionals involved in the production of a film are the following:

• Actor/actress , responsible for interpreting a dramatic action in front of the cameras;
• Film director , responsible for supervising, directing and, frequently, executing the filming;
• Editor , responsible for editing the film, putting together the recorded scenes and editing them to form, in the end, the finished film;
• Producer , responsible for working in the business area of ​​the process, raising funds, investments, sponsorships, hiring, etc.
• Screenwriter , responsible for writing the film’s script, creating a story from scratch or adapting an existing one;
• Director of photography , responsible for adapting the script to the video, opting for a technical or more artistic standard;
• Sound director , responsible for creating the entire sound part of the film;
• Art director , responsible for the entire visual conception of the film, taking care of everything from make-up and costume designers to visual effects and post-production producers;
• Costume designer , responsible for designing and taking care of the costumes of those who will appear in the film.