History of Film:The 2000's

The 2000’s have brought about a decade of change in the world of film. A change it had never experienced before. So much that a film from the ’90’s may seem to be from the stone age compared to today‘s modern films. One such change is the techniques used in film. While old techniques remained in tact, most films are done differently. Digital film making has become used by mainly all Hollywood studios as analog has completely faded away. The result is newer technology.

One such technology is High Definition, which was first used in the 2000 film, Space Cowboys. It involves a more realistic picture designed to enhance the film itself. The use of digital film making has also led to the change of appearance of people in film. The 2000 film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou used a technique to change the color appearance within the film. Animation, itself has even changed.

In 2001, Final Fantasy:The Spirit Within became the first computer generated film. Most animated films nowadays are done on computer resulting in hand-drawn films coming to a near extinction. Films such as Shrek, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles have been successful and has changed animation forever. Green screen animation has reached its peak of popularity. The 2004 film Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow became the first completely computer generated film by green screen.

The way people watched films has also changed. DVD sales have become the focal point financially for studios. The popularity of DVDs have led to Blu Ray discs that contain plenty of space for special features and a better appearance to the picture quality of the films. However, some studios are seeing a loss in profit. One such reason is that rather than spending money on films, most people have gone the route of illegally downloading them from file-sharing websites. As a result, studios are beginning to see the prospect of the internet and have decided to sell films online via digital download.

Studios have also changed the type of films they’ve released to adjust to what viewers want. In this decade Horror has experienced a revival. After a dead period in the ‘90’s, Horror has returned to a mainstream genre with remakes or sequels of older horror series(Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre). In the process of the remakes/sequels, there have been original films that have found success and in the process have created their own series and out grossed the older generation(Saw).

Another genre with a revival has been the musical genre. After decades without much success, musicals have become a highly popular among critics and audiences alike. Some of these films include Chicago, winner of Best Picture of 2002, Moulin Rouge, and High School Musical. Documentaries have also come back to prominence as Fahrenheit 9/11 and Super Size Me have been successful and at times controversial. However, with a revival in one genre comes the birth of another.

Super Hero movies have been around since the 1940’s. However, in this decade they have reached full significance as films like Spider-Man, X-Men, The Dark Knight, and Ironman have all been successful in the box office. As a matter of fact, The Dark Knight holds the record for highest grossing opening weekend(159 million), most profit in a day(66.4 million), most money made at a midnight showing(18.5 million). The Super Hero genre will not be going away as Spider-Man 3 was the highest grossing film of 2007 and in the Summer of 2008, The Dark Knight, Hancock, and Ironman all accounted for 1 billion dollars.

The Comedy genre has somewhat changed. In the beginning of the decade children’s computer-animated comedies such as Shrek and Finding Nemo were commercial success among both adults and children. R-rated comedies such as The 40 Year Old Virgin, Clerks 2, and Pineapple Express has also experienced fanfare from teenagers and adults alike. One such genre despised by many film enthusiasts that has been popular also is the parody genre. In 2000, Scary Movie, a parody of Scream was released and was highly successful this led to a series of parodies that seem to come out every 4 days and each film has parodied a different genre. However, they have been subject to criticism due to repetitive plots and jokes.


Epic novels have also found popularity. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels have been adopted into 3 highly successful films. The final one(Return of the King) is the highest grossing film of the decade and won Best Picture at the 2003 Academy Awards. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books have also been popular film adaptations and is the highest grossing series in film.

In the field of directing, Peter Jackson(Lord of the Rings and King Kong), Christopher Nolan(The Dark Knight), and Darren Aronofsky(Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler) have experienced a major rise due to their directoral styles and appear to be there for a long time. The new dramatic actor’s who have experienced success include Christian Bale(American Psycho and The Dark Knight) and Russell Crowe(Gladiator and Cinderella Man) while Seth Rogan and Will Ferrell have appeared to taken the “Kings of Comedy” title. Despite an ever-changing decade in film, some people have managed to keep going. Clint Eastwood, who has been acting since the 1950’s continues to have success in his 6th decade of film in both acting and directing. His recent film Gran Torino has earned him praise as a director and is considered by many to be the Best Actor in the World by many after 54 years in film. Mickey Rourke, an actor who many felt career was dead has returned to the spotlight with films like Sin City and The Wrestler and hopes to keep his comeback going. With the 2000’s coming to an end, we continue to see innovative and new technology everyday and one must wonder, what will the 2010’s bring.