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Film

A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession. The process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. A film is created by photographing actual scenes with a motion picture camera; by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques; by means of CGI and computer animation; or by a combination of some or all of these techniques and other visual effects.

( Severny, Andrei (2013-09-05). “The Movie Theater of the Future Will Be In Your Mind”). 

First motion pictures

By the end of the 1880s, the introduction of lengths of celluloid photographic film and the invention of motion picture cameras, which could photograph an indefinitely long rapid sequence of images using only one lens, allowed several minutes of action to be captured and stored on a single compact reel of film. Some early films were made to be viewed by one person at a time through a “peep show” device such as the Kinetoscope. Others were intended for a projector, mechanically similar to the camera and sometimes actually the same machine, which was used to shine an intense light through the processed and printed film and into a projection lens so that these “moving pictures” could be shown tremendously enlarged on a screen for viewing by an entire audience.

The first public screenings of films at which admission was charged were made in 1895 by the American Woodville Latham and his sons, using films produced by their company, and by the – arguably better known – French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière with ten of their own productions.[citation needed] Private screenings had preceded these by several months, with Latham’s slightly predating the Lumière brothers’.[citation needed]Another opinion is that the first public exhibition of projected motion pictures in America was at Brooklyn Institute in New York City 9 May 1893.

Motion graphic design

Motion graphic design is a subset of graphic design in that it uses graphic design principles in a filmmaking or video production context (or other temporally evolving visual medium) through the use of animation or filmic techniques. Examples include the kinetic typography and graphics used in film and television opening sequences, and the spinning, three-dimensional station identification logos of some television channels. Although this art form has been around for decades, it has taken quantum leaps forward in recent years in terms of technical sophistication.

Technology

The elevation of this art form is largely due to technology improvements. Computer programs for the film and video industry have become vastly more powerful and more available. One of the leading programs used by motion graphic designers is Adobe After Effects, which allows them to create and modify graphics over time. Adobe After Effects is sometimes referred to as “Photoshop for film.” A relatively recent product in the market is Apple Inc. Motion, now a part of Final Cut Studio. Adobe Flash is widely used to create motion design for the web.

Modern motion graphics design involves several tools and processes. Software such as Maxon Cinema4D has integrated tools to create motion graphics, such as the native MoGraph plugin, or ICE of Softimage that can also be used for similar purposes. While techniques used are heavily dependent on the designer, trends are also defining which techniques are used and when.

A typical motion designer is a person trained in traditional graphic design who has learned to integrate the elements of time, sound and space into his/her existing skill set of design knowledge. Motion designers can also come from filmmaking or animation backgrounds.