The Difference Between Movie and Film

A movie is a moving picture presentation of moving images. Typically, it’s a short, usually feature length, short video item intended for wide circulation to movie theaters. Most movies are shot on the soundtrack and have music to accompany the picture itself; most have some sort of storyline. Generally, when you buy a movie ticket you’re buying not only a movie ticket but also a ticket to see the movie as well.

Movies today have a vast number of genres. Action movies often tell stories of crime, while adventure and science fiction thrillers tell stories of alien invasion, alternate dimensions and time travel. There are also comedies and dramas, which tell stories of love, family conflicts and the like. Fantasy movies often take place on fictional places such as fantasy islands, other-dimensional realms and other realms where reality and fiction overlap. For this reason, some of the top selling movie franchises around today are animated action, fantasy and sci-fi films.

Eventful Experiences. Many of the most memorable movie experiences occur during out-of-the-box experiences. When two movie goers decide to see a movie together in different movie theaters, one may be anticipating a classic horror film or perhaps a comedic comedy; however, what they get is an experience that combines the two! Out-of-the-box events are what make moviegoing experiences truly memorable, regardless of genre.

Word Film. When two movie goers enter the theater, they immediately have the moviepallet in their hands. Movie pallets hold many of the supplies needed in a movie: popcorn, drink mix, candy, room-service, etc. The term word film comes from the fact that movie theatres put the movie into a very large wooden “frame” that resembles a traditional movie projector. The result is an incredibly heavy object that requires a person to hold onto for the entire duration of the showing. This connotation makes the term movie vs. word film a synonym for a great time!

Culturally Specific. One of the biggest problems with these two terms is that they tend to be extremely culturally specific. Two movie goers in the same theater can literally be talking about completely different things! Although there are exceptions, the vast majority of movies that I have seen tend to use the two terms interchangeably with little if any meaning. The vast majority of popular films today tend to tell a story in the main characters’ point of view, while creating a secondary plotline that is largely focused on something the audience has not yet been told about the characters in advance. While there are movies that fall under both concepts, they are wildly different from one another and can be difficult to compare and contrast when comparing the two terms.

Movie Comparison. The most accurate way to compare two terms, in my opinion, is to look at the differences between presenting a story in the form of a motion picture and telling a story through another medium. In other words, two movies can be the exact same concept, but because one is presented as a motion picture while another is told through some sort of non-traditional medium, the two terms have a lot of difference in meaning. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to grade them both as to which is more deserving of the “motion picture” designation.