Definition: film

Film is an analog method for recording still photos and moving images. Following Daguerreotype photography (see image), still image film was invented by George Eastman in 1885, who founded Eastman Kodak Company three years later.

Film is a strip of plastic coated with an emulsion of light-sensitive silver halide crystals. In monochrome film, the crystals absorb the light. In the development process, they become silver and block the light to become the black areas on the negative. Color film has layers of color sensitive dyes starting on top: blue; yellow to prevent blue leakage; green-blue and red-blue. In development, the color dyes are retained and combine to form the colored image.

Still Filming in the 21st Century
Some Hollywood movies are still shot on plastic film; however, today, the terms "filming" or "to film" are used to mean shooting a movie no matter whether analog film or digital media is used.

A Comeback for Film Photography
Like vinyl records, film photography has made a resurgence in the 2020s. Similar to the philosophy of the phonograph record revival, many photographers believe analog film produces superior results because resolution is not based on the number of megapixels in a digital camera's sensor. However, it is a myth that analog film has infinite resolution. The fineness of the particles in the film's chemicals define the inherent resolution.

Old film cameras are commanding premium prices, and new 35mm cameras are being marketed. Film manufacturers that dropped their 35mm stock in the 2010s are reviving them, even introducing new 35mm selections. See film camera and 35mm film.

Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Not long after Eastman's invention, French inventor Louis Le Prince made a two-second silent "moving picture," considered to be the oldest surviving movie film.

In the Antique Shop

Kodak film, which is still being made, may some day be history. Years ago, signs such as this were everywhere, but this one was for sale in an antique shop.