电影是一种表演艺术、视觉艺术及听觉艺术，利用胶卷、录像带或数字媒体将影像和声音捕捉起来，再加上后期的编辑工作而成。

关于对电影中运动的感知，普遍接受的原因在于：电影中看起来连续的画面，是由一帧帧单独的照片构成的，但是由于这些帧的照片接替的速度很快，人的肉眼无法察觉出来它们是彼此独立的图像。这是由视觉暂留（英语：persistence of vision）造成的。视觉暂留使得图像离开后，仍能在眼睛保留「视像」约十分之一秒。因此我们的大脑感觉到图像是「运动」的。（1824年英国的罗格特在伦敦公布的“视觉暂留”理论。）

A film, also called a movie, motion picture 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.