There are literally thousands of elements that go into making a great movie. Some of these key ingredients are obvious to a person not involved in the industry, such as a good director and good actors. However, a lot of components are less acknowledged but still critical. Some of these rarely thought of elements of good movies are a good sound crew, good sets, and excellent lighting. Some films have hospital scenes, and in those scenes it is vital that a good amount of Hospital Lighting be incorporated so that the actors can be seen on screen. Also, sometimes when a film is taking place in a house it is vital that there be Cloud light panels to adjust the amount of light that comes through to the actual set. It’s not an accident that some of the best movies of the previous ten years have been the ones that have used those rarely thought of elements that go into making movies to their advantage.

There is essentially no argument that one of the best movies of the past few years was The Dark Knight, a movie dealing with the superhero Batman. The film was critically acclaimed and earned rave reviews from some of the most trusted and important critics in the country. The movie earned such excellent ratings in large part due to the brilliance of the people on screen. In what was a stunning choice to many people, Heath Ledger played the main antagonist in the movie, The Joker, and in the eyes of most observers even managed to outshine the movie’s star Christian Bale. Ledger, in fact, earned a posthumous Academy Award as the best supporting actor for his excellent depiction of the crazed villain. The story of the movie was also very intriguing, and brought up some critical points about today’s society. Bale’s Batman went so far as trying to patrol the entire city of Gotham in his bid to purge the city of crime, a gesture many critics and fans saw as a reference to former President Bush and his plans to tap phones in order to protect the country from terrorist activity.

Another critically acclaimed movie from the past ten years is one that lots of Americans initially thought would be a typical throw away summer action film. Gladiator, starring well known actor Russell Crowe, turned out to be a recipient of multiple Academy Awards and a brilliant work. The movie is about a former Roman general in search of vengeance after his family is killed at the hands of a nefarious and jealous Emperor. After narrowly escaping being killed himself, the former army leader is forced into slavery and thrown into gladiatorial bouts, where he eventually fights in front of the man who destroyed his family. The film can appeal to almost any audience member, as there is a rarely found good balance of drama with some of the side stories and violence and action within the main story.

Moving to less heavy topics of cinema, a comedy called Knocked Up was also one of the best of the past decade. The plot of the story is that an unmotivated man winds up having a baby with a career oriented woman who works in television. The plot moves along as the woman continues her pregnancy and deals with the reality of an unplanned pregnancy. Meanwhile, the other protagonist that got her pregnant starts to come to terms with being a mature adult and making himself a more serious man.

Few people realize how critical small things in movies can be. The plot and the actors aren’t the only elements that make a film great. The films, mentioned above all blend the obvious and subtle elements that make a great movie with brilliant results.