film
a story that is told using sound and moving pictures, shown at a cinema or on television SYN movie American English
Let's watch a film.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
film
noun
1 (British) (American movie) a story shown in moving pictures that you see on television or at the cinema:
Let's go and see a film.
2 the thin plastic that you use in a camera for taking photographs:
I bought a roll of black and white film.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
film
I. film1 S1 W1 /fɪlm/ BrE AmE noun
[Language: Old English; Origin: filmen 'thin skin']
1. [countable] a story that is told using sound and moving pictures, shown at a cinema or on television SYN movie American English:
Have you seen any good films recently?
film about
a film about a young dancer
2. [uncountable] moving pictures of real events that are shown on television or at a cinema:
newsreel film
the race to be first with film footage (=pictures) of news events
3. [uncountable] the work of making films, considered as an art or a business:
I’m interested in photography and film.
the film industry
a background in film and animation
4. [uncountable and countable] the thin plastic used in a camera for taking photographs or recording moving pictures:
I shot five rolls of film on vacation.
record/capture/preserve something on film
The whole incident was recorded on film.
5. [singular] a very thin layer of liquid, powder etc on the surface of something
film of
a film of oil on the surface of the water
⇨ clingfilm
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ watch a film He stayed in and watched a film on TV.
▪ see a film We saw a good film last night at the cinema.
▪ appear in a film She once appeared in a film with Al Pacino.
▪ star in a film (=be one of the main characters in a film) Robert Mitchum starred in a film called 'River of No Return' with Marilyn Monroe.
▪ direct a film The film was directed by Jean-Luc Godard.
▪ edit a film The film was edited using the latest digital technology.
▪ make/shoot a film Sutton has been making a film for Australian television.
▪ show/screen a film The film is being shown in cinemas all across the country.
▪ distribute a film Warner Bros became the first major studio to distribute its films over the Internet.
▪ a film stars/features somebody The film starred Brad Pitt.
▪ a film is released/comes out (=it is made available for people to see) The film is due to come out in May.
▪ a film is showing (also a film is on British English) (=it is being shown at a cinema) The film is on at the Odeon Cinema.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + film
▪ a horror/adventure/war film He likes watching horror films.
▪ a cowboy/gangster etc film John Wayne was best-known for his roles in cowboy films.
▪ a feature film (=a full-length film shown in the cinema) Shane Meadows’ first feature film was 'TwentyFourSeven'.
▪ a documentary film He has just completed a documentary film about Thomas Jefferson.
▪ an independent film (=a film made by a small film company) Young directors began making small independent films.
▪ a foreign-language film (=a film in a language that is not the audience’s native language) Foreign-language films seldom do well at the box office.
▪ a low-budget film He’s currently producing his own low-budget film.
▪ a big-budget film a big-budget film aimed at the mass market
▪ a silent film (=made in the time before films had sound) a star of silent films
■ film + NOUN
▪ the film industry Scorsese is a highly respected figure in the film industry.
▪ a film company/studio (=a company that produces films) a European film company trying to compete with the major Hollywood studios
▪ a film studio (=a special building where films are made) Many of the scenes were shot in a film studio.
▪ a film actor/star John Voight, the American film star, is perhaps best known for his Oscar winning performance in 'Midnight Cowboy'.
▪ a film director This year’s festival includes a tribute to the French film director Bertrand Tavernier.
▪ a film producer (=someone who controls the preparation of a film) British film producer Alexander Korda decided to make a movie about Vienna.
▪ a film maker (=someone who makes films, especially as a director) He is one of several exciting young film makers.
▪ a film soundtrack (=the recorded music for a film) The film’s soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone.
▪ film music In 'La Strada', Nino Rota demonstrates the poetic power of film music.
▪ a film festival The Berlin Film Festival attracted more than 400 films from around the world.
▪ a film premiere (=the first showing of a film) Film premieres tend to be glamorous occasions.
▪ a film crew/unit (=a group of people working together to make a film) The film crew are making a documentary about village life.
▪ a film camera The company produces digital film cameras.
▪ a film buff (=someone who is interested in films and knows a lot about them) Film buffs will enjoy reading 'The 100 Best Movies of All Time'.
▪ a film critic The review was written by 'The Daily Telegraph’s' film critic.
▪ a film school He graduated from film school in 1998.
▪ film studies She’s studying for a diploma in film studies.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ film especially British English, movie especially American English a series of images that tell a story and are shown in a cinema or on television: What’s your favourite movie? | It won the award for best foreign film. | a made-for-TV movie
▪ motion picture formal (also picture) a film – used especially by people who make films or by critics: a major Hollywood motion picture | Tell us about your latest picture.
▪ blockbuster informal a very successful film: Steven Spielberg’s latest Hollywood blockbuster
▪ flick informal a film – a very informal use: an action flick
▪ documentary a film that gives detailed information and facts about a particular subject: a documentary on the rain forest
▪ feature film a film made to be shown in cinemas: The book was later made into a full-length feature film starring Sean Penn.
▪ comedy a film intended to make people laugh: Monroe appeared in a number of comedies.
▪ romantic comedy (also romcom British English informal) a film about two people who are in love, which is intended to make the people who watch it feel happy: ‘Notting Hill’ is a romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
▪ thriller an exciting film, especially about murder or serious crimes: ‘The Birds’ is a classic Hitchcock thriller.
▪ film noir a film that shows strong feelings of fear or evil and whose characters are often immoral, or these films in general: ‘The Big Sleep’ is a classic Hollywood film noir.
▪ action film/movie a film that has lots of fighting, explosions etc: Stallone’s latest action movie
▪ horror film/movie a frightening film about ghosts, murders etc: She loves watching old horror movies.
▪ western a film with cowboys in it: John Wayne is famous for making westerns.
▪ science fiction film/movie (also sci-fi film/movie informal) a film about imaginary events in the future or in outer space: ‘2001’ is probably the most famous sci-fi movie ever made.
▪ gangster film/movie a film about violent criminals
▪ silent film/movie an old film without any sound: The 1920s were the golden age of silent movies.
▪ an independent film/movie a film made by a small film company
▪ animated film/movie/cartoon a film with characters that are drawn or made using a computer: One of his first animated films was ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’.
▪ anime /ˈænɪmeɪ, -mə/ a type of Japanese animated film, which often has a science fiction story: Miyazaki’s anime film ‘Spirited Away’ became an international success. | an anime character
▪ CGI the use of computers to create characters and images in a film: The film uses CGI. | Disney’s latest CGI movie
▪ short a short film, usually shown before a longer movie in the cinema: an animated short
▪ trailer a series of short scenes from a film or programme, shown in order to advertise it in a cinema, on television etc: We had to sit through all the trailers.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
film
film [film films filmed filming] noun, verb [fɪlm] [fɪlm]
noun
MOVING PICTURES
1. countable (especially BrE) (NAmE usually movie) a series of moving pictures recorded with sound that tells a story, shown on television or at the cinema/movie theater
• Let's go to the cinema— there's a good film on this week.
• Let's stay in and watch a film.
• a horror/documentary/feature film
• a silent film (= one recorded without sound)
• an international film festival
• The film was shot on location in France.
• a film crew/critic/director/producer
• the film version of the novel
• to make/shoot a film
2. uncountable (especially BrE) (NAmE usually the movies plural) (BrE also the cin·ema) the art or business of making films/movies
• to study film and photography
• the minister responsible for film and the theatre
• the film industry
compare cinema
3. uncountable moving pictures of real events, shown for example on television
Syn: footage
• television news film of the riots
• The accident was captured/caught on film.
IN CAMERAS
4. uncountable, countable thin plastic that is sensitive to light, used for taking photographs and making films/movies; a roll of this plastic, used in cameras
• a roll of film
• a 35mm film
• She put a new film in her camera.
• to have a film developed
THIN LAYER
5. countable, usually singular ~ (of sth) a thin layer of sth, usually on the surface of sth else
Syn: coat, Syn: coating, Syn: layer
• Everything was covered in a film of dust.
Word Origin:
Old English filmen ‘membrane’, of West Germanic origin.
Culture:
Hollywood
Hollywood, more than any other place in the world, represents the excitement and glamour of the film industry. The world’s major film companies have studios in Hollywood and many famous film/movie stars live in its fashionable and expensive Beverly Hills district. But Hollywood is also Tinseltown, where money can buy an expensive lifestyle but the pressure to succeed can ruin lives, as in the case of Marilyn Monroe and River Phoenix. Both the British and Americans have mixed feelings about Hollywood: they are fascinated by the excitement of the film world and by the lives of the stars, but also see Hollywood as a symbol of trashy, commercial culture.
Hollywood is now surrounded by Los Angeles. In 1908, when film companies began moving west from New York, it was a small, unknown community. The companies were attracted to California by its fine weather, which allowed them to film outside for most of the year, but they also wanted to avoid having to pay money to a group of studios led by Thomas Edison which were trying to establish a monopoly. Most of the companies were run by people from Jewish families who had come to America from Europe. By the 1920s, companies such as Universal and United Artists had set up studios around Hollywood. During this period Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks1, and John Barrymore became famous in silent films (= films without sound). Mack Sennett, a Canadian, began making comedy films, including those featuring the Keystone Kops, in which Charlie Chaplin and ‚Fatty’ Arbuckle became stars. D W Griffith directed expensive ‚epic’ films like Birth of a Nation, and William S Hart made westerns popular. Hollywood also created its first sex symbol, Theda Bara (1890–1955).
The 1920s saw big changes. The first film in Technicolor was produced in 1922. Warner Brothers was formed in 1923 and four years later produced Hollywood’s first talkie (= film with spoken words), Jazz Singer. Huge numbers of Americans were now attracted to the movies. Stars like Pickford and Chaplin reached the height of their fame, and new stars were discovered, such as Rudolph Valentino, Laurel and Hardy and Buster Keaton.
The 1930s and 1940s were Hollywood’s ‚Golden Age’ and films became popular around the world. Hollywood even made successes out of America’s worst times: Prohibition led to the gangster films of Edward G Robinson and James Cagney, and the Great Depression to films like Grapes of Wrath. World War II featured in successful films like Casablanca. The great Hollywood studios, MGM, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures, controlled the careers of actors. Famous directors of the time included Orson Welles and John Ford and screen stars included Clark Gable, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Errol Flynn, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum.
New words were invented to keep up with Hollywood’s development: cliffhanger, tear jerker, spine-chiller and western describe types of film. Villains became baddies or bad guys. As equipment became more sophisticated more people were needed to manage it. New jobs, still seen on lists of film credits today, included gaffer (= chief electrician) and best boy, his chief assistant.
In the 1950s large numbers of people abandoned the movies in order to watch television. The film industry needed something new to attract them back. This led to the development of Cinerama and 3-D films, which gave the audience the feeling of being part of the action. These proved too expensive but the wide screen of CinemaScope soon became standard throughout the world. The stars of the 1950s, including Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, James Dean and Steve McQueen, also kept the film industry alive.
In the 1960s many companies began making films in other countries where costs were lower, and people said Hollywood would never again be the centre of the film industry. But the skills, equipment and money were still there, and Hollywood became important again in the 1980s. The old studios were bought by new media companies: 20th Century Fox was bought by Rupert Murdoch, and Columbia by the Sony Corporation. New energy came from independent directors and producers like Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford and Martin Scorsese. Rising stars included Meryl Streep, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Costner and Tom Hanks.
Now, more than ever, Hollywood leads the world’s film industry, producing the most expensive and successful films ever made, such as Jurassic Park (1993), Forrest Gump, Independence Day (1996), Titanic, Gladiator (2000) and Troy (2004). Companies like MGM own their own movie theaters in the US and elsewhere. Studios make extra profits from selling films to television companies and from selling videos and DVDs. The Oscars, presented by Hollywood’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, are the most valued prizes in the industry.
Thesaurus:
film noun
1. C (especially BrE)
• I watched a film on TV.
DVD • • video • |especially AmE movie •
in a film/video/movie
make/produce/direct a film/video/movie
see/watch a film/DVD/video/movie
Film or movie? In British English movie can suggest that a film is just entertainment without any artistic value; in American English film can suggest that a film has artistic value:
• an art film
¤ an art movie
2. U
• a film and photography course
especially BrE cinema • |especially AmE movies •
work in film/cinema/movies
the film/cinema/movie industry
Collocations:
Cinema/the movies
Watching
go to/take sb to (see) a film/movie
go to/sit in (BrE) the cinema/(NAmE) the (movie) theater
rent a film/movie/DVD
download a film/movie/video
burn/copy/rip a DVD
see/watch a film/movie/DVD/video/preview/trailer
Showing
show/screen a film/movie
promote/distribute/review a film/movie
(BrE) be on at the cinema
be released on/come out on/be out on DVD
captivate/delight/grip/thrill the audience
do well/badly at the box office
get a lot of/live up to the hype
Film-making
write/co-write a film/movie/script/screenplay
direct/produce/make/shoot/edit a film/movie/sequel/video
make a romantic comedy/a thriller/an action movie
do/work on a sequel/remake
film/shoot the opening scene/an action sequence/footage (of sth)
compose/create/do/write the soundtrack
cut/edit (out) a scene/sequence
Acting
have/get/do an audition
get/have/play a leading/starring/supporting role
play a character/James Bond/the bad guy
act in/appear in/star in a film/movie/remake
do/perform/attempt a stunt
work in/make it big in Hollywood
forge/carve/make/pursue a career in Hollywood
Describing films
the camera pulls back/pans over sth/zooms in (on sth)
the camera focuses on sth/lingers on sth
shoot sb/show sb in extreme close-up
use odd/unusual camera angles
be filmed/shot on location/in a studio
be set/take place in London/in the '60s
have a happy ending/plot twist
Example Bank:
• Fast film is best for action shots.
• Fast film would be best for such action shots.
• He spliced the two lengths of film together.
• He was killed when a film stunt went wrong.
• His film credits as director include ‘Mood Music’ and ‘Lies’.
• His film credits= the films he has made as director include ‘Mood Music’ and ‘Lies’.
• I get my film developed locally.
• I get my films developed at a local shop.
• In the darkroom they found that only half the film had been exposed.
• She makes children's films.
• She thought the film far too violent to show to children.
• The books were covered in a thin film of dust.
• The film came out last week.
• The film contains explicit scenes of violence.
• The film depicts immense courage amid the horrors of war.
• The film has plenty of what film people call ‘bankability’.
• The film manages to capture the mood of the times.
• The film opens with a bird's-eye shot of London.
• The film stars Nicole Kidman as a nightclub singer.
• The film was finally released after weeks of protest by religious groups.
• The film was heavily edited for screening on television.
• The film was shot on location in Kenya.
• The news always contains several film reports.
• The scramble for the film rights to her next novel has already begun.
• There is a great car chase in the film.
• There was a fine film of sweat on her forehead.
• There's an interesting film on at the local cinema.
• They built a massive film set of an airport.
• They captured the incident on film.
• They've just started shooting a film of the novel.
• This film tells the remarkable story of a disabled actor.
• Tyrannical Hollywood film moguls ruled their stars' lives.
• We stayed for the film credits to see who the music was by.
• We went to an awful film last night.
• a film about Nelson Mandela
• a film about Queen Victoria
• a film based on the novel by Charles Potter
• a film dealing with old age
• a film entitled ‘Bitter Moon’
• a film from Spanish director Luis Eduardo Aute
• a film recording the first powered flight
• a film with an all-star cast
• a roll of 35 millimetre film
• film taken by security cameras
• the ‘Star Wars’ film series
• the film classic ‘Fantasia’
• the film version of the best-selling novel
• He directed his first feature film in 1994.
• Let's go to the cinema— there's a good film on this week.
• Let's stay in and watch a film.
• She wants to study film and photography.
• The film of water left by the tide shimmered in the sun.
• The leaves were still covered with a film of dew.
• There was a film of soot everywhere.
• a film crew/critic/director/producer
• a horror/documentary film
• a silent film
• an international film festival
Derived Word: filming
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
film / fɪlm / noun [ C or U ] ( US movie ) (MOVING PICTURES)
A1 a series of moving pictures, usually shown in a cinema or on television and often telling a story:
What's your favourite film?
We took the children to (see) a film.
She had a long career in films/film (= the business of making films) .
a film star/critic
the film industry
a film-maker
Her last film was shot (= made) on location in South America.
I hate people talking while I'm watching a film.
Would you like to go and see a film tonight?
film / fɪlm / noun [ C or U ] (MATERIAL)
(a length of) dark plastic-like material that can record images as photographs or as a moving picture:
a roll of film
a 24 exposure/16 mm/high-speed film
A passer-by recorded the incident on film.
I'm getting my film developed at the chemist's.
film / fɪlm / noun [ C ] (LAYER)
C2 a thin layer of something on a surface:
a film of dust/oil/grease
a film of smoke
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
film
[fɪ̱lm]
♦
films, filming, filmed
1) N-COUNT A film consists of moving pictures that have been recorded so that they can be shown at the cinema or on television. A film tells a story, or shows a real situation. [mainly BRIT]
Everything about the film was good. Good acting, good story, good fun.
...a government health film about the dangers of smoking.
Syn:
movie(in AM, use movie)
2) VERB If you film something, you use a camera to take moving pictures which can be shown on a screen or on television.
[V n] He had filmed her life story...
Considering the restrictions under which she filmed, I think she did a commendable job.
3) N-UNCOUNT Film of something is moving pictures of a real event that are shown on television or on a screen.
They have seen news film of families queueing in Russia to buy a loaf of bread.
Syn:
footage
4) N-VAR A film is also the narrow roll of plastic that is used in a camera to take photographs.
The photographers had already shot a dozen rolls of film.
5) N-UNCOUNT, also N in pl The making of cinema films, considered as a form of art or a business, can be referred to as film or films. [mainly BRIT]
Film is a business with limited opportunities for actresses...
She wanted to set up her own company to invest in films.
6) N-COUNT: usu sing, usu with supp A film of powder, liquid, or oil is a very thin layer of it.
The sea is coated with a film of raw sewage.
7) N-UNCOUNT: usu adj N Plastic film is a very thin sheet of plastic used to wrap and cover things. [BRIT]
→ See also clingfilm
Cover with plastic film and refrigerate for 24 hours.(in AM, use plastic wrap, Saran wrap)
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1film /ˈfɪlm/ noun, pl films
1 [noncount] : a special material that is used for taking photographs
• Have you bought any film for the camera?
• We haven't had the film developed yet.
• We shot four rolls of film on our trip. [=we filled four rolls of film with pictures]
2 a : movie
[count]
• He's interested in making films about war.
• film critics/reviewers/criticism
• We'll start the film at 10:00.
[noncount]
• The accident was captured on film. [=was recorded by a movie or video camera]
b [noncount] : the process, art, or business of making movies
• He studied film in college.
• her career in film
3 [count] : a thin layer on or over the surface of something
• the protective film over a shark's eye
• A film of ice covered the sidewalk.
