What were the forerunners of films called?

The forerunners of films were called "motion pictures" or "moving pictures," which included early forms of visual entertainment like the zoetrope, phenakistoscope, and magic lantern shows. These devices created the illusion of motion through a series of sequential images. The invention of the motion picture camera in the late 19th century, along with early cinema exhibitions, laid the groundwork for the development of modern films.