Comedy is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement and most often work by exaggerating characteristics for humorous effect.[1] Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies, as slapstick comedy often relies on visual depictions, without requiring sound. When sound films became more prevalent during the 1920s, comedy films took another swing, as laughter could result from burlesquesituations but also dialogue.
Comedy, compared with other film genres, puts much more focus on individual stars, with many former stand-up comicstransitioning to the film industry due to their popularity. While many comic films are lighthearted stories with no intent other than to amuse, others contain political or social commentary (such as The King of Comedy and Wag the Dog).
Millions of people around the world shot home video and amateur movies using 8mm film stock during the 20th century, and many professional and amateur cinematographers continue to use 8mm film to this day. For the home movie and amateur crowd, digital video long ago replaced film as the preferred medium for capturing weddings and family milestones. Many families are now using 8mm to DVD transfer services to move their old home movies to a more robust and adaptable storage format