Two primary issues within the discipline that seem at odds with each other are the specificity of the cinematic medium and the interdisciplinary nature of its study. Specificity refers to that which makes the medium of film distinct as an aesthetic form or mode of communication. At the same time, cinema represents a combination of other art forms as well as commercial, artistic, and social interests, and thus must also be considered from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Theories of an artistic medium often begin by trying to define their object; for example, “How does cinema differ from painting or photography?” All use pictorial imagery, but film differs from painting because it is composed of photographic images captured with a camera, and it differs from photography in that its images are displayed to give the illusion of motion. As a storytelling medium, cinema borrows from the novel; yet the way it associates images with emotions resembles poetry. Like music, film is a time-based performance. Each of these comparisons can and has been extended.

These questions of film’s medium specificity and interdisciplinarity are especially important today as recent technological developments – from videotape playback and virtual reality to computer-generated imagery (CGI), digital cinematography, and digital projection – raise profound questions about the inherent nature of the cinematic medium.