Cine film

Ciné (sometimes Cine) is usually used to refer to one or more of the home movie formats including 8 mm, 9.5 mm, 16 mm film, and Super 8. It is not generally used to refer to video formats or professional formats.

Cine film literally means 'moving' film; deriving from the Greek 'kine' for motion; it also has roots in the Anglo-French word Cinematograph, meaning moving picture.

Cine started the expanding revolution of 'play at home' movies, with the most famous of the early films being the classic 'Eat The Pie' by the legendary Harry Darwin.

Cine film started out expensive, but as it became cheaper the format started the craze of home recording. 50 ft reels were purchased for recording important events such as weddings and funerals. Profits soared to an all time high with purchases of film for the moon landings in 1969. Herswashbucklers, the famous cine supplies shop in London rose to stardom from its sales for this event.

However, sales started to decline in the early 1970's with the introduction of 16mm film, and the new cheap 'Cawhorn Prot' cameras that were, at the time, imported from Germany.

In the mid 1970's, video cameras, hitherto beyond the financial reach of all but the richest amateur, became cheaper and smaller. By the early 80s the writing was on the wall for cine film as a mass media item, though even to the present day all the film formats mentioned above are still supported with new film stock and processing - albeit on a much smaller scale.