Film Once Meant a Thin Skin
Filming is recording moving pictures. The word film first meant a membrane, then the coating on a photographic strip, then cinema itself.
Filming is the act of recording moving images. Trace the noun back and the cinema disappears: Old English *filmen* meant a thin skin or membrane. Photography borrowed it for the light-sensitive coating on a strip, the strip took the name, and eventually so did the whole art form. Today most filming uses no film at all.
- Recording moving pictures. *Filming starts in March.*
- A thin layer or coating. *A film of oil on the water.*
- A cinema production. *A film about the war.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | film | They film here. |
| -ing | filming | Filming wrapped. |
| Noun | film | A short film. |
| Person | film-maker | An independent film-maker. |
| Related | footage | Raw footage. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Filming took eleven weeks in three countries.Filming as an uncountable process.
- There was a film of dust on everything.The oldest sense: a thin layer.
- No filming inside the gallery.The standard notice.
Stages of making a film
- Development — the script and the money
- Pre-production — casting, locations, planning
- Principal photography — the filming itself
- Post-production — editing, sound, effects
- Wrap — the moment filming finishes
From Old English *filmen*, membrane, related to *fell* in the sense of skin. The photographic sense dates from the 1840s and the cinema sense from the 1890s.
Film or movie?
The same thing. Film is standard in Britain and in serious criticism; movie is standard in American speech.
Is anything still shot on film?
Yes. Some directors prefer photochemical film for its look, and studios still release major productions shot on 35mm and 70mm.