A movie, also known as a motion picture, live-action film, or video-based film, is a complex work of visual art employing a collection of moving pictures that convey ideas, themes, emotions, beauty, or any other feeling through the visual means. Movie makers use a variety of techniques to create a movie. Movie making can be broadly divided into two major categories: story and character development. Story is the main subject matter of a movie. Character development covers the development of the personalities within the story, which may take several forms including storyline, climax, and resolution.
In the modern era, the theme has become less important than the technological tools through which the movie is made. As a result, story and character development have become secondary in the production process. The flexibility within the modern movie production has made it possible for the director and the producer to create a complex story with an unlimited number of characters that can be depicted on the screen. But the theme is still very important. Theme can be developed through a film’s pacing, visual style, the conflict between the characters, and throughout the script as the story progresses.
A theme could be built up through several distinct strands throughout the script in order to provide an overall central theme or to supply a thread that the audience will follow from beginning to end. A theme could be built up from one character to another, or it could be the common theme among the main characters. The plots of most movies follow a single theme from beginning to end, but depending on the intended target audience, a theme can be changed to fit a different age group or specific situation.
For example, during the 1950’s the United States became a much more popular destination for tourists than other countries. Consequently, a massive theme was built up around the central idea of a “V-Day” to celebrate the US being liberated from the grip of Fascism. Much of this was centered around themes of music and sports that resonated with the younger generation that was returning home after the war. Movie producers began to use these same ideas in order to create movies that were more family friendly for families that were coming to visit the US for the first time. One such theme was “GI Joe”, which centered on a GI Joe theme in which the main character was an Italian American GI who traveled across the country while saving his best friend from a group of terrorists.
Another theme was the Cold War that existed at the time. A number of movies were produced about the tensions that arose between Russia and the Western World during this period of time. These movies frequently featured a US President that was a staunch Cold War supporter. Film producers took advantage of the propaganda tactics that they knew the US had used in previous decades to make movies that promoted a positive and uniting message against Communism. A few of these movies that were made during the era were “The Deerhunter”, “Look at Me, I’m Going to Ponder” and “Trustworthy”.
A very popular theme throughout history has been the family. Whether it was a family that lived in the rural areas or one that lived in the big cities, everyone had a common bond that bound them together. Movies have utilized this theme throughout history to create movies that were very realistic and down to earth. Themes like these have proven to work well as entertainment in the 21st century. Think about the success of movies like “Catch Me If You Can” and “E.T.”