A movie, also known as a motion picture, video or digital movie, is a film created by artists for the purpose of conveying ideas, emotions, thoughts, landscapes, beauty, or dramatic atmosphere through the medium of moving pictures. The term “moviemaking” comes from the French word “mime” and refers to the art of making movies. Movies are used to entertain, teach, inform, or promote products, socialize, or entertain. Motion pictures can be portrayed through films, televisions, films, and even on hand-held video games.

Movie directors, producers, actors, and technicians produce motion pictures and arrange them into a storyline that can be shown in a movie theater for the viewing of the general public. A motion picture may be produced for advertising, entertainment, educational, historical, documentary, or social purposes. Motion pictures are made for VHS ( videoconductor video-cassettes), DVD, or LCD (liquid crystal displays) and are available in standard definition, high definition, or as digital downloads. Some DVDs include both standard and high definition versions. A modern day movie theater chain is likely to have several formats of its selection, such as traditional DVD, the new Blu-ray, the ultra-modern I-Box, or even 3D versions of its popular motion pictures.

One can find a large variety of motion pictures in the form of home videos, cult films, independent films, and Hollywood movies. In modern times, many movies are often classified by the type of content, such as romance, comedy, horror, thriller, action, and so forth. Independent movies are movies that have been directed and produced by a small group of people, usually with artistic differences, who self-distribute the movies. Cute comedy movies are often classified under this category, while thrillers and action movies are often classified as horror films. Many movies are oftentimes classified as the same genre, such as science fiction, action, horror, and comedy, while they share certain plot elements.