How do movies create the illusion of movement? LOOKING AT MOVIES: by Richard Barsam & Dan Monahan, NY: W. W. Norton & Company 2009. 3rd Edition

Certainly in
the earlier days of film, the illusion of movement was conveyed by a background that presented
images that moved.  For example, when the actors were in an automobile that was supposedly
traveling down streets or a highway, there was a background scene that had been previously
filmed which displayed other automobiles moving along as buildings passed in sight.  Sometimes
these images were projected behind the actors in the car seat through the automobile's rear
window.  If the automobile were being pursued by another, then the picture went to an automobile
approaching from behind, a film that had previously been shot, as well.  Another method of
creating the illusion of movement has been the prior filming of the sky which has clouds moving;
in fact, this method is sometimes used in contemporary films. 

In modern
action films, of course, computer-generated images create the illusion of movement as action
figures "fly" through the air in combat, etc.  Of course, with animation, action and
movement are entirely computer generated.  In order to convey movement, the background screen is
blank and the animal or figure is moved slightly with this action repeated over and over,
shooting the image twelve frames per second, reaches the designated point. The movie at the
theater is run twenty-four frames per second, giving the illusion of continuous movement as
special adapters improve the resolution of the film.