ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Fictional film

When we watch a movie, we are watching something that is not real, but something that has been made up in someone's imagination. Think of it as a really big storybook, but instead of reading it, we get to watch it on a big screen.

The people in the movie are not really the characters they are playing, but actors who have been hired to pretend to be someone else. They wear costumes and makeup to look like the character they are playing.

The story of the movie is also made up. Sometimes it is based on a book, but other times it is completely original. The director of the movie is the person who decides how the story will be told and what the actors will do.

Most movies are made with special cameras that can capture everything that is happening and turn it into a movie that we can watch. The camera is like a really big eye that can see everything that is happening on the set.

When the movie is finished, it is shown in a big movie theater or on TV. We get to sit down and watch the characters as they go on their adventure, and we get to see all the exciting things that happen along the way.

So, a fictional film is a made-up story that we get to watch on a big screen, with actors playing characters who are not real, but who help us get lost in the story and go on an adventure.
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