STEP 1. FILMS AND THEIR POPULARITY
It goes without saying that cinema plays an important part in our
life and society remaining one of the most available and popular forms
of art. A great number of people find either going to the cinema or
just watching a movie at home an exciting way of spending leisure time.
Why?
The first reason is that films provide good relaxation for people of
all ages and interests. In actual fact, if something funny, romantic
or thrilling is on the screen, we can escape our own lives, forget
about our everyday cares and feel the heroes’ distress and happiness,
in other words, we share others’ emotions. Thus, in a motion picture we
are bound to find something entertaining and exciting.
In the second place, it is a well-known fact that through films we
learn a lot of different things, get acquainted with foreign countries’
cultures, increase our knowledge of history, as well as of technology,
science and other fields of human activity. Besides, very often films
teach us good moral lessons, therefore they prove to be very
instructive.
The next point is that on the screen we can see famous people, those
who are known all over the world. It is true that the younger
generation greatly admires celebrated film stars, and consider them as
role models. For instance, seeing Angelina Jolly acting in a film most
girls try to imitate her in clothes, speech or bearing.
Finally, it should be noted that any film is a piece of art. If
everything, from its costume design to music, is done perfectly, this
film is bound to become a masterpiece and will be giving its audience
aesthetic pleasure forever.
Do the following tasks to the text (reading comprehension,
vocabulary exercises, word-building tasks, grammar tasks).
STEP 2. CONTENTS OF A FILM
I. Match the following characteristics of a film with their
definition and translation:
scene |
the main male character of a film |
действие, развитие событий |
title |
a situation represented in a film |
сюжет |
plot (storyline) |
things which are happening in a
film |
концовка, развязка |
ending |
the main female character of a film |
герой |
script |
the name of a film |
сценарий |
the action |
a written text of a film |
изображать |
hero |
the story of a film, a series of
events |
героиня |
heroine |
to show, tell about something in a
film |
снимать |
to depict |
to use a camera to record a film |
показывать |
to shoot |
the last part of a film |
выпускать |
to produce |
to bring a film before the public |
играть роль |
to show |
to make it possible for someone to
see a film |
выступать в главных ролях |
to play the part of |
to be the main actor in a film |
заголовок, название |
to star |
to act as |
сцена |
II. Translate the Russian expressions into English
A typical film has a (название) and a (сюжет) that is a (история)
told about in it. Such a (сюжет) consists of events and different
(сцен), (изображающие) various (ситуации). On the whole, all things that
happen in a film are called (развитием событий).A film can have
different settings that is where (события, действия) take place
according to the (сценарий). Actors and actresses (играют роль) of these
or those (героев и героинь). A lot depends on their (игры):
(следовательно) if it is brilliant, their roles produce a deep
impression on (зрителей) (а также) evoke strong emotions in them. The
(актеры) who (выступают в главных ролях) in highly-financed and
successful films (blockbusters) are (обречены) to become popular and
famous. When a film is (выпускают), it is (показывают) in cinemas and
then it sells out on DVDs. The first performance is called a first
night or premiere [′premieə].
III. GUESS THE TITLE (a game)
The class is divided into teams. The teacher gives the first team a
sheet of paper with the title of a famous film written on it. The
second team try to guess the title. They ask the first one questions
about this film, using in each of them the following words and
expressions:
scene, hero, heroine, ending, script, plot, action, the first
night, shoot, produce, depict, play the part of, star, successful,
highly-financed
Each member of the second team (in turn) gives only one full answer
(consisting of one sentence) to this or that question, e.g.
- Where was the film produced?
- This movie was produced in the USA.
Each question equals to one point. Questions and answers must be
correct. Each wrong question or answer adds 1 point to this or that
team. The game lasts until any member of the first team guesses the
title of the film. Then the roles change, the first team try to guess
the title given to the second one by the teacher. The team with fewer
points scored wins the game.
*The same game can be played in pairs.
* The list of words can be varied by the teacher.
STEP 3. LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Record (mp3, 426 kb)
Tasks
STEP 4. GENRES OF FILMS
I. Speak about different genres of films and their
characteristic features. Discuss in class all the possible
characteristics that might belong to this or that genre, count them and
define which genre is ‘the richest’ in this term
• a comedy
• a musical
• a horror film
|
|
• specific heroes such as pirates,
sailors, travellers
• be funny and humorous
|
• an action
• a thriller
|
• is characterized by
|
• amuse and entertain an audience
by jokes and comic situations in which its heroes find themselves
|
• a detective
• a drama
|
• tends to
|
• keeps us in suspense
• full of romantic scenes
|
• a historical film
• an adventurous film
|
• s distinguished by
|
• an exciting storyline
• a complicated plot which is stuffed with events
|
• a soap opera
• a documentary film
|
• is intended to
|
• a happy ending
• the plot based on biographies
|
• a fantasy |
• in …we can find / enjoy
|
• varied settings
• depict car crashes and chases, explosions, shootouts, fights
|
|
• is |
• tell about searching for a lost
city or hidden treasure
|
|
• is known to have / be |
• depict historical events
• show a lot of blood
• visual and sound effects
• have themes about something supernatural, e.g. vampires
• evoke fear and terror in a viewer
• sometimes depict tragedies of life
• magic forms as a basic element of its plot, theme or setting
• surprising plot twists (повороты сюжета)
• be enjoyed by a female audience
• tell a story about finding out who has committed or is
responsible for a crime
• be shown on TV for a long time
• full of dances and songs
• tell about different myths and legends
• a mystery which is hard to solve
• tells us real stories about people, animals, events
• evoke strong feelings of sorrow and sympathy for its heroes
• consist of many series
• heroes and heroines who perform their songs as if before a
live audience
• scenes which bring tears to our eyes
• have scenes of violence
• depict conflicts which may happen in real life
• love stories which pull at our heartstrings (растрогать до
глубины души)
• heroes who fight against something unknown and terrifying
• raise our spirits (поднимает настроение)
• make us feel happy (радовать)
|
II. Define if it is true or false
- In a comedy we are bound to find heroes who fight against
something unknown
- The plot of a historical film is stuffed with love stories
- A documentary is full of dances and songs
- A soap opera tends to be shown on TV for a long time
- A drama is characterized by a happy ending
- A thriller typically depicts historical events
- An action consists of many series
- An adventurous film often tells us stories based on real life
- A comedy can never keep us in suspense
- A soap opera has a too complicated plot
- A horror film amuses a viewer by jokes and funny scenes
- A musical always evokes the feeling of terror in a viewer
- A detective has a mystery as a basic part of its plot
- A horror is intended to make us feel happy
III. Fill in the blank circles with possible descriptions of a film’s scenes, plot, heroes and
with expressions you would use to characterise your emotions after
seeing this or that film (based on the table "genres of
films”).
IV. QUIZ "A FILM BUFF”
Think about 10-15 films you like (better not very well-known), find
the English equivalents of their titles (www.google.ru or www.imdb.com)
and prepare a list of questions following the principles:
- the questions are based on the table above;
- in each question you must ask about one different film from your
list;
- give 4 alternatives to each question.
e.g. "A lot like love” tells about:
A: scenes of violence B: a mystery which is hard to solve C: a
love story which may happen in real life D: myths and legends
Play the game in class or in pairs and count the total number of
points each of you will score. Define who is a film buff in your class.
V.Speak about those film genres whichyou enjoy/do not enjoy
• I find …interesting / adorable/
sweet/ boring/ fantastic/rubbish
• Watching … gives/never gives me a lot of
/much pleasure
• I enjoy…/ it’s not the kind of film I like
|
• a comedy
• a musical
• a horror film
• an action
• a thriller
• a detective
• a drama
• a historical film
• an adventurous film
• a soap opera
• a documentary film
• a fantasy |
Because
As
For the reason that
|
• I’m (never) interested in
• I can spend hours/cannot spend a minute
watching…
• It does/doesn’t evoke strong emotions in me
to…
• I (never) tend to be impressed by…
• It is (not) the best entertainment for me to
(watch)… |
historical events
comic situations
surprising plot twists
learn more about history
be kept in suspense
romantic/ dramatic/ funny/amusing scenes
…etc (see the table on film genres) |
STEP 5
I.Write short argumentative paragraphs about those film
genres which
a) provide good relaxation for us
b)
help us to increase knowledge and learn a lot of things
Use the following:
• In (through) historical (adventurous, comedy etc) films we can
• With the help of …. we can ( are able to)
• Historical (adventurous, comedy etc) films provide ….
• Seeing (watching) …we can…
•Therefore; because; thus; as well as; the main reason is
that;
• The table above.
Model: With the help of comedy
films, we can relax and forget about our everyday life for at least one
hour. The main reason is that they are funny and humorous as
well as they always amuse and entertain us by jokes and comic
situations in which its heroes find themselves. In them we can
enjoy happy endings. Thus, comedies are good relaxation
for us because they tend to raise our spirits as well as make
us feel happy.
II. Modern films have an evil influence on our
behaviour. Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Why?
Outline
1) Think about the introduction of the essay. Try to paraphrase the
topic assigned and introduce, thus, the main idea of the essay, the
thing you are going to discuss. Better, do it by expressing the main
arguments of the supposed opponents: a) There is no doubt that the
Lumiers’ invention gave people an absolutely new form of art, which in
the course of time became the most highly-admired one. However, some
people are convinced that such a passion for films nowadays may
cause serious problems for our society; b) (with the help of a
rhetorical question) A great number of people spend hours watching
movies, some even cannot live without films to see every day. Those
people really consider movies to be their best friends. Has anyone
noticed how greatly these ‘best friends’ change our behaviour?
2) Make up a list of your theses (key sentences, reasons) and
arguments (supporting sentences) both for and against the statement.
|
Thesis |
Argument |
1. |
Films tend to make us less active |
Spending so much time watching
movies is a passive activity; as a result, we become unhealthy both
physically and mentally. We stop using our imagination… |
2. |
Modern films make us more violent |
The more we see scenes of violence
on the screen, the less sensitive we become to them. Eventually,
violence does not seem wrong to us…. |
3. |
Seeing movies, indeed, is a good
kind of rest and relaxation to relieve our stress |
If something funny, romantic or
thrilling is on the screen, we can escape…(see the text) |
4. |
With the help of movies, we
increase our knowledge of the world and life, in general. |
Films prove to be instructive …
(see the text) |
5. |
Seeing films we sometimes try to
imitate our favourite actors in clothes, bearing and speech |
It is true that the younger
generation greatly admires celebrities…(see the text) |
3) Decide what point of view you will support ("for” or "against”).
In the second paragraph express your personal attitude and present
those reasons and arguments which suit your position chosen (As far
as I am concerned…; I personally (dis)agree that…; I am absolutely in
favour of…). Do not forget the logical composition: express
cause-and-effect relation correctly.
4) In the next paragraph present the reasons and arguments of your
supposed opponent (Nevertheless, some will criticize…; some argue
that…; on the other hand…). Express your disagreement with these
views by your counter arguments (e.g. Some people tend to think
that films make us less active because ….- I cannot agree with this
standpoint as more and more movies now popularize an active way of
life, depict different sports competitions as their themes or settings
and tell us about famous sportsmen, thus, inspiring us to do sports and
keep fit).
5) Think about the conclusion of the essay. There you should
"balance” the contrary arguments (try to group or systemize and
paraphrase them) expressing your "hope for the best”. Do not give new
information, do not support your theses once again. E.g. To sum it
up, I would argue that people will chose something else instead of
cinematography to amuse, distract them and enlarge their knowledge
although its evil influence on us is evident. However, I strongly
believe that we should pay more attention to what we watch and how
often we do it to prevent ourselves from the possible "side effects”.
STEP 6
Making projects on the topic ‘A Film to See”
Divided into groups (2-4 people in each), the pupils choose a film
they would present to the rest of the class. The aim of the
presentation is to make the audience interested in the movie. Thus, the
main requirements are:
1) to prepare a kind of advertisement (oral or oral + visual with
the "Power Point” or photos) to excite the interest of the listeners in
the film. Doing this the pupils should use the website www.imdb.com
(International Movie Database) where they will find the page of their
favourite film and afterwards open the page about users’ comments on
that film (only positive ones). All these comments are supposed to
serve as a language source for the advertisements;
2) to prepare some information about the cast (actors, actresses),
director, awards given to the film, plot (in brief), the date of the
premiere and whatever is curious and interesting about the film (use
the link "FAQ” on the page of the film at the same site).
After the presentation, it would be useful to carry out a pall
"which of the films presented I will watch by all means” |