Epic film is a style of film-making with large scale, sweeping scope and spectacle, often transporting the viewer to other settings. As Roger Ebert and others have noted, the usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply synonymous with big budget film-making. Like epics in the classical literary sense it is often focused on a heroic character. An epic’s ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other types of film such as the period piece or adventure film.