Movie or film?

[dadkins]

Reading the review of Wall-E, it is said to be a direct to digital transfer:

"As is the case with digitally created movies, no film was used in the transfer process and as a result, we are treated to pristine and flawless video performance."

No film was used. Cool!

Why is it constantly referred to as a film when no film was used?

Shouldn't the terminology of describing a digital motion picture be something other than... film?

[kiskiboy97]

My widget dictionary offers the following as a definition of "film:"

noun
a motion picture; a movie : a horror film | [as adj. ] a film director.
• movies considered as an art or industry : a critical overview of feminist writing on film.

By that definition the term is correct.

[Sussudio]

not trying to be cocky or anything like that, but i have a fair amount of friends high up in hollywood and they all generally say that from a commercial standpoint, a film becomes a movie once it is shown on a commercial screen (be it tv, theater, etc), because a screen is the vessel for which the movie business exists.

[Gremal]

While the two have different connotations, they are often used as synonyms.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by Gremal

While the two have different connotations, they are often used as synonyms.

I can accept that!
But as I keep being told, this is supposed to be a professional site.
Professionals try to be... professional

Thanks Gremel!


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No biggie, call 'em what y'all want!
I'm going to watch one of my movies!
Mine aren't films, they're discs.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by DoYouBlu

not trying to be cocky or anything like that, but i have a fair amount of friends high up in hollywood and they all generally say that from a commercial standpoint, a film becomes a movie once it is shown on a commercial screen (be it tv, theater, etc), because a screen is the vessel for which the movie business exists.

So, because someone calls it a brick we should all call it a brick?
Movie can be on a strip of film, a DVD, a Blu-ray Disc, a hard disk, and even on a flash memory chip.

So, should I call my downloaded (LEGAL) movies films?
Should I call the movies I have on flash memory films?
Should I call the movies I have on Blu-ray Discs films?

Especially on the "items" where film was never involved, the term film is wrong.

[Sussudio]

Originally Posted by dadkins

So, because someone calls it a brick we should all call it a brick?
Movie can be on a strip of film, a DVD, a Blu-ray Disc, a hard disk, and even on a flash memory chip.

So, should I call my downloaded (LEGAL) movies films?
Should I call the movies I have on flash memory films?
Should I call the movies I have on Blu-ray Discs films?

Especially on the "items" where film was never involved, the term film is wrong.

i was just throwing out the standpoint from some people in the biz, wasn't trying to say that means everyone has to use that definition. anyone can call it whatever they like, and i myself generally use the words interchangeably. they are just words after all, using it one way over the other isn't a crime.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by DoYouBlu

i was just throwing out the standpoint from some people in the biz, wasn't trying to say that means everyone has to use that definition. anyone can call it whatever they like, and i myself generally use the words interchangeably. they are just words after all, using it one way over the other isn't a crime.

Never said it was, did I?
It's just that if there is no film involved, one should not refer to it as a film.
If we are watching digital discs, they aren't film either.

It's like... I got here on my motorcycle but saying I drove a car.
There is a difference, right?

[kiskiboy97]

Wall-E is "a motion picture; a movie"

I'm not sure what the issue is here.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by kiskiboy97

My widget dictionary offers the following as a definition of "film:"

noun
a motion picture; a movie : a horror film | [as adj. ] a film director.
• movies considered as an art or industry : a critical overview of feminist writing on film.

By that definition the term is correct.

film

noun 1. a thin layer or coating: a film of grease on a plate.
2. a thin sheet of any material: a film of ice.
3. a thin skin or membrane.
4. a delicate web of filaments or fine threads.
5. a thin haze, blur, or mist.
6. Photography. a. a cellulose nitrate or cellulose acetate composition made in thin sheets or strips and coated with a sensitive emulsion for taking photographs.
b. a strip or roll of this.
c. the coating of emulsion on such a sheet or strip or on a photographic plate.

7. Movies. a. a strip of transparent material, usually cellulose triacetate, covered with a photographic emulsion and perforated along one or both edges, intended for the recording and reproduction of images.
b. a similar perforated strip covered with an iron oxide emulsion (magfilm), intended for the recording and reproduction of both images and sound.
c. motion picture.

8. Often, films, a. motion pictures collectively.
b. the motion-picture industry, or its productions, operations, etc.
c. motion pictures, as a genre of art or entertainment: experimental film.

movie

noun 1. motion picture.
2. motion-picture theater (often prec. by the): The movie is next-door to the hardware store.
3. movies, a. motion pictures, as an industry (usually prec. by the): The movies have had to raise prices.
b. motion pictures, as a genre of art or entertainment: gangster movies.
c. the exhibition of a motion picture: an evening at the movies.

motion picture

noun 1. a sequence of consecutive pictures of objects photographed in motion by a specially designed camera (motion-picture camera) and thrown on a screen by a projector (motion-picture projector) in such rapid succession as to give the illusion of natural movement.
2. a play, event, or the like, presented in this form.
3. motion pictures, the art, technique, or business of producing motion pictures.

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Bastardizing the English language is no excuse.
This is 2008, we should call it what it is - a movie!
Since this is Blu-ray.com, and the reviews are done on/about an actual disc, film should not be what *we* call it.
Video? Sure
Movie? Sure
Film? not really

I'm off to go watch a Blu-ray Disc - a video, aka a movie.
No film is going to be involved.

[jw]

Nothing better than some and a good flick
I cant even believe this is even a topic more less that its become a debate. Its his reflective terminology he uses to express his opinion of the movie in his review. Does it change how the review is perceived? I don't think so, yet I am not the one that it bothers.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by jwbbud

Nothing better than some and a good flick
I cant even believe this is even a topic more less that its become a debate. Its his reflective terminology he uses to express his opinion of the movie in his review. Does it change how the review is perceived? I don't think so, yet I am not the one that it bothers.

That's fine!
I took English in school.
A film is a film.
A movie is a movie.
A disc is a disc.

YMMV.

[dadkins]

Let me pose this...
If you go to a theater and they are actually running a film projector, would it be right to call that a video?

As I sit here watching Speed Racer Blu-ray, I cannot honestly accept calling it a film.

Sorry.