Movies & Film

For "The Incredibles," CGI masters at Pixar tackled the Holy Grail of computer animation: realistic humans. See what the creative team told us about producing this mega hit.

By Gerri Miller

It's 1993. One morning your co-worker asks if you like Quentin Tarantino. You respond "Is he the new guy in accounting?" -- because "Pulp Fiction" didn't win at the Cannes Film Festival until 1994.

By Stephanie Watson

Have you ever noticed how much Will Smith and Renee Zellweger resemble fish? Neither did we until Dreamworks "fishified" the actors into Oscar and Angie for the animated movie "Shark Tale.”

By Gerri Miller

Paparazzi go to great lengths to close the distance between famous people and their fans, often producing images that expose just how "real" larger-than-life celebrities really are. But how far are they willing to go to get the shot?

By Robert Valdes & Cristen Conger

Monsters, monkeys and freaks oh my! Step behind the scenes and onto the back lots of Hollywood with two of the movie industry's most prolific and talented creature effects artists, Matt Rose and Chad Waters. In this exclusive interview, HowStuffWorks

By Elizabeth Nixon

Big changes are brewing in the movie industry: Emerging digital technology is about to revolutionize studios as well as your local movie theater. Find out why Hollywood's going digital!

By Tom Harris

Some of the arguably greatest movie scenes of all time were filmed using Steadicams. These ingenious camera stabilizer systems allow filmmakers to produce moving, hand-held shots with no shakes at all. Can amateurs also take advantage of these super smooth stabilizers?

By Tom Harris & John Perritano

The article How IMAX Works says the camera weighs over 200 pounds -- so how did they create the IMAX films in the space shuttle or the one on Mt. Everest? There is no way people lugged a 200-pound camera to the top of Mt. Everest!

If you've ever seen an IMAX movie, you know it's not a typical film. It sometimes takes years to produce, resulting in an incredible unmatched viewing experience. Find out all about this amazing movie-making technology!

By Marshall Brain

All those old monster movies may not scare many of us anymore, but they certainly captivated the audiences in their time. Animatronics have brought countless monsters to life, and the technology is only getting better. Go inside the belly of the beast.

By Jeff Tyson

Now that all those gigantic blockbuster movies are out of the way, let's relax and enjoy some late-summer films. Check out our movie guide.

The film "The Perfect Storm" is one of the most ambitious projects Industrial Light & Magic has undertaken. The computer-generated effects in the film are absolutely amazing! Go behind the scenes and learn how ILM works!

By Jeff Tyson

Some pairs argue over where to sit when they go to the movies. Some people just don't care. In most theaters, however, there is indeed a best place to sit, and we'll let you in on the secret.

When you watch a movie on your TV you're not always seeing the same movie that played in the theater. A lot of formatting goes into fitting a movie onto a TV screen. Learn about the changes a movie goes through so you can watch it at home.

By Tom Harris

You have probably seen advertisements in your local paper for movies playing at a theater near you. Sometimes the ad will say "Held over" or "Special engagement." What exactly does that mean? And why is popcorn so expensive?

By Jeff Tyson

Spielberg has said that sound is the major technological achievement of contemporary film. Indeed, much has changed since the first 'talkies,' when a musical score and a few bits of dialogue first made cinematic history.

By Jeff Tyson

When you see the THX logo splashed across a movie screen, and hear the trademark Deep Note, you know that you are in for an audio feast. But what does that logo mean? Find out what THX is and why it improves your movie experience.

By Jeff Tyson

On every movie package and shown on every screen are the ratings: G, PG, PG-13, R, and so on. What do these ratings mean for the viewer and how are they decided? Learn about the MPAA and the movie ratings system.

When you sit down in a movie theater the screen is the center of attention. But have you ever walked up close and looked at it? Discover the intricacies of a movie screen and learn how to find the best seat in the house.

By Jeff Tyson

When you see a movie in the theater, do you notice the projector? Without it, you'd be staring at a blank screen. Enter the projection booth and learn what it takes to show a movie.

By Jeff Tyson

A movie like "The Patriot" contains an amazing range of visual effects -- Centropolis FX created everything from new towns to virtual soldiers for this movie! Go behind the scenes and learn exactly how CFX makes the imaginary look completely real!

By Marshall Brain

When filming a movie, the sound and the images are recorded and stored separately with different devices. After filming the challenge is to synchronize those two recordings. Learn how a clapperboard is used in movie production.

The phrase "optical soundtrack" sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it's the secret to how sound is recorded on motion picture film.

A "Star Wars" lightsaber is a special effect that looks so real, it's easy to believe it really exists. How do the filmmakers create a lightsaber?

Love it or hate it, most of the classic black-and-white movies have been "colorized," mainly so that they can be shown on television in color. How does the colorization process work?