The term talkies, i.e. talking pictures, I was surprised to learn was not coined in 1927 after the release of The Jazz Singer, but in 1913. The term is now obsolete whereas motion picture, meaning moving pictures on a screen, has existed since 1896, although it's become more dated. Movie, its shortened and more modern version, dated possibly from 1908, is still very much in vogue in the US.
The Online Etymology Dictionary says that film (the more popular BrEng equivalent for movie) was
First used of "motion pictures" in 1905.
British speakers will say:
Have you seen the new James Bond film?
We watched a film about prison life.
The film was made on location in India.
American speakers, if I'm not mistaken, will use film in sentence number two, and movie in the others. Movie is connected more with entertainment, whereas film is considered more of an art form, an undergraduate will take Film & Media Studies, not Movies & Media Studies.
My questions:
- I'd like to know when the term talkies as in "talking pictures" died out. When was it no longer considered a novelty and people reverted back to saying motion pictures/movies?
- Why the term, film, was adopted by British speakers and most European countries when motion pictures is arguably the authentic expression and therefore, the more accurate term.
- Lastly, which term is more common: 3D film or 3D movie? (The latter does sound odd to my ears.)
No comments:
Post a Comment