Filmmaking

How to spell filmmaking

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce filmmaking

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does filmmaking mean?

1. nounThe process or craft of producing motion pictures, from scripting and shooting through to editing.

Filmmaking in a sentence

• She studied filmmaking at a college in the city.

• Digital cameras have made filmmaking cheaper for independent artists.

Where does filmmaking come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a modern English compound built from two old native words. 'Film' descends from the Old English 'filmen', meaning a thin skin or membrane, the same sense seen when a film forms on the surface of milk. By the late nineteenth century 'film' had been applied to the thin coated strip used in photography, and from there to the moving pictures captured on it. 'Making' comes from the Old English verb 'macian', meaning to construct or bring into being, an ordinary Germanic word with relatives across the older Germanic languages. Joined together as 'filmmaking', the term simply names the craft of producing motion pictures, and it became common through the twentieth century as cinema grew into an industry. The spelling trap lives at the seam: 'film' ends in 'm' and 'making' begins with 'm', so the compound legitimately carries a double 'm' that writers often drop.

How the word is built

• film (thin coating; later a movie)
• make (to create)
• -ing (noun-forming suffix)