“One of the most captivating things about film is telling stories that resonate with people from all walks of life. Movies can transport audiences to foreign locales, explore challenging topics and offer multiple perspectives. From cerebral documentaries to pulse-quickening thrillers to heart-rending dramas, films embody the passions and creativity of their makers. They all offer a different perspective on screen. The art of filmmaking is constantly changing; directors continually explore the boundaries of both narrative and visual storytelling.

Cinema magic isn’t just about the stories that are told; it’s about the skill with which they’re brought to life. And beyond the actors, a great deal of work is put in behind the scenes, by directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, and others to complete the film. Making a film is an involved process, with detailed attention paid at every point from planning set and screen in preproduction to developing the screenplay, casting, post production editing screen and sound. Understanding the behind-the-scenes process breeds more respect for the medium and brings to light the skill and commitment required to create lasting works of art.

Another distinctive feature regarding the film industry is its genres. The galaxy of genres is quite diverse, from the nail-biting action of superhero blockbusters to the dark introspection of indie dramas, and there’s something for everyone’s taste. The horror genre allows us to explore our ugliest fears, comedies give us the giggles and the warm fuzzies, science fiction enables us to envision a utopian future filled with wondrous images. This category explores the nuances of each genre, examining how they resonate with different kinds of viewers and contribute to sacred canon of cinema.

Beyond the screen, cinematic experiences also shape social movements and influence fashion, music and culture. Some amazing movies have not only a significant social impact, shifting conversations and spurring change. After all, classics such as “Casablanca” and “The Godfather” have achieved cultural touchstone status while the emperor continues to have new clothes as movies push boundaries and force conversations about equality, diversity and representation. How movies hold up a mirror to the world around us and make us rethink that world matters as much as numbers on a ledger.

Most of the options are dealt with, however, until the digital age and the emerging of computer-generated imagination and virtual reality, film was revolutionized through advancements in technology. Technological improvements have reworked a method to visually represent a narrative making dramas and movies visually superb and complex. Narrative possibilities have opened up, thanks to special effects, animation and high-definition images, making for a more immersive experience than ever. We examine these technical developments in depth in our analysis of film, including how they will impact the industry moving forward.

The Development of Storytelling and Film

We have come a long way in cinema from black and white productions and silent films. The arrival of sound in motion pictures, starting in 1927 with “The Jazz Singer,” promised a revolution — if not one as great as the one that had occurred when the medium first seen the light of day. Synchronicity helped us reconsider not only the story-context but also the technical make-up of our visual language. You could express emotion and plot through dialogue and didn’t just have to rely on individuals using body language.

Sound contributed to the all-important cinematic experience, but as a visual medium evolved the need for more complex plots and character development emerged. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Hollywood’s Golden Age was dominated by great film studios like MGM, Warner Bros. and Paramount emerged as dominant players in the worldwide film business. And all-time-great films like “Gone with the Wind,” “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane” brought the rules of story-telling to a new level with art direction, innovative cinematography and mesmerizing acting.

Many genres started to solidify and shift during this period. With Westerns, noir pictures and musicals dominating the screen, and new epics testing our patience, the actual filmmakers began to play with goofy themes and narrative schemes. Innovators such as Orson Welles changed the game with tools such as deep-focus cinematography and a non-linear style code; Alfred Hitchcock became one of the first film “personalities” with his trademark psychological thrillers and “you’ll need to change your pants” tension.

The evolution of cinema didn’t stop there. In the 1960s and 1970s, New Hollywood brought a more experimental, auteur-driven approach to filmmaking. Directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick weren’t only interested in telling stories; they were interested in pushing the limits of the medium of film itself. Clarion call movies came from filmmakers like Martin Scorsese (“Taxi Driver”), Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather”) and Stanley Kubrick (“2001: A Space Odyssey”), who challenged audiences to sit down with something that was doing the work of more layered storytelling, wrestling with ideas from existentialist philosophy to political corruption to personal identity in a scale and complexity never before attempted.

The Influence of Film on Society and Culture

From the early days of cinema, movies have served both as a window into the issues of the time and, to some extent, the zeitgeist of the time. Cinema is a kind of mirror to society and its triumphs and failures and continuing struggles. Movies are often reflective of their times, aspiring to capture the hopes — and fears — of their eras, be it representations of the counterculture and disillusionment of the late 1960s and early ’70s most exemplified by Easy Rider” and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” or an uptick in depictions of technology and dystopian societies in movies like Blade Runner” and The Matrix”.

Film in culture is the mirror that reflects it and is also the construction that builds culture. Decade after decade, movies gave the vocabulary to public debate over everything from art to politics to gender to race. When racial segregation was still a hot-button issue in the United States, films like “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967) confronted matters such as interracial marriage. More recent movie pictures such as “Moonlight” and “Black Panther” — which focus on Black experiences and stories — have also challenged Hollywood’s longtime history of underrepresentation.

The same is true for the manner in which women appear in film. Unlike early Hollywood, when women were often cast as love interests and damsels in distress, in recent decades, stronger, more complex female characters have been on the rise. Movies that challenged gender-based stereotypes and included notable female roles included the likes of “Wonder Woman” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Hunger Games” franchises The 2010 award won by Kathryn Bigelow as the first female recipient of the Academy Award for best director (for “The Hurt Locker”) was further proof of progress in such categories in film;

And film can be such a great tool for interrogating and subverting social convention. Documentaries like “An Inconvenient Truth” about climate change and “13th” focusing on institutional racism in the American prison system have had the effect of making the public more mindful of pressing matters. And certainly, movies at this more elemental level are a vehicle for critical thinking about what surrounds us, not just something that provides entertainment.

Technological Developments in the Film Industry

From lighting techniques to CGI, the film industry has always been at the forefront of innovation in technology and has been growing for the purpose of improving the story and fascinating audiences. Then you take the theme, and view how things have changed over the years from an animator’s hand drawn work to CGI and special effects that produce beautiful visual effects, which would change how films are made and viewed in the world today. Beginning with pioneers like “Jurassic Park” in the early 1990s, filmmakers have relied on computer-generated imagery (CGI) to help them manifest creatures, environments and scenarios they otherwise couldn’t create using practical effects alone.

CGI had already gone far in movies like “Avatar” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, both of which enveloped viewers in completely artificial worlds. And with advances in computer graphics, films such as “The Irishman” and “Star Wars: Rogue One” are populated with aged-out and cosmetics-enhanced performers as well as otherworldly creatures and environments.

Apart from these, a major technological breakthrough in films is the motion capture technology. Movies such as the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong” and “Planet of the Apes” featured eerily convincing performances made possible by this technology, which tracks the movements of actors and transforms their performance into digital characters. Andy Serkis has led the way here as well, with his illustrious career — first as Gollum, and then as Caesar — demonstrating that motion capture is in itself acting, and is much more than a visual effect.

Technological progress has been a two-way street, and in addition to visual effects, sound technology also evolved, improving the way people experienced the movies. Surround sound has evolved into full-blown immersion via systems like Dolby Atmos and IMAX, both of which immerse you in the action on-screen. These techniques are enabling sound designers to create soundscapes increasingly elaborate and in which every explosion, whisper and musical note separates out with hair-raising precision and clarity, amplifying the movie’s emotional weight.

Finally, the emergence of streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ have transformed the way films are distributed and consumed. Where once going to the multiplex was the only way to watch movies, streaming services have let consumers watch an immense library of films without stepping outside. It has democratized cinema distribution, creating pathways for independent and foreign-language films to reach audiences worldwide that once would have been unimaginable.

One of the largest sectors of entertainment is the film industry, with award ceremonies, festivals and dedicated audiences who appreciate the art of filmmaking. The creme de la creme of this industry is showcased at events like the Cannes Film Festival and the Oscars, with prizes celebrating quality in writing, directing, acting and other technical expertise. These events bring together fans and filmmakers in a spirit of goodwill and respect for the art. If you track the film world, we have reviews of the biggest films and conversations with the talent, and the latest bites from major festivals.