Fine art has been defined since the seventeenth century as art forms developed primarily for aesthetic purposes, or visual arts.
With the growing focus on electronic media today, some forms of film and videos are becoming considered more of a fine art medium. Fine art videos can range from videos designed to be pieces of fine art, to videos that discuss pieces of fine art. One example of this is the fine arts human video. The human videos are fine arts videos that record a type of theater, consisting of music, modern dance, interpretive dance, American Sign Language, pantomime, and classic mime. The fine arts videos are created when a song or medley is played over loudspeakers, and actors use rhythmic movement, of the forms listed above, to communicate emotions. The fine arts videos are created in a form similar to a music video. The videos generally have no sets and limited costumes, and can be performed on a wide variety of stages. While some props are used at times, many competitive venues will not allow props in an effort to encourage further creativity on the part of the performers. These new fine arts videos are recorded and often available to view online, but are also permeating culture in their live performance state. For example, these human videos are performed at Fine Arts Festivals and church ministry groups in many Protestant denominations.
The term fine arts videos can also refer to videos posted as educational tools for those going into fine arts. Many artists create videos discussing their methods, or ways to gain inspiration for their art. This can range from documentaries from famous artists to videos made by up and coming artists. Many fine arts students create these fine arts videos for the students that will follow them, as tutorials for beginning work with new materials or mediums.