Best Special Effects Best Original Score (music) Best Costumes / Wardrobe Best Title Sequences / Credits Best Short (film).. Special Award for Services to the Cinema Industry, the motion[r]
(1)Wordbuilder
Guy Wellman
HEINEMANN
(2)Reading 1
Spend some time trying to absorb the language of the theatre and stage contained in this text
Confessions of a would-be actor
After playing Joseph in a nativity play at the age of five and a half, -1 can still remember the three lines I had - my theatrical career really took off I was chosen to be the back end of the pantomime horse in our school end-of-term Chrismas show Success there, or rather lack of it - the horse's seams came apart soon after our first entrance - led to my being given the job of stagehand for all future
productions Even scenery falling over in the middle of an Italian light opera and
last-minute panic over the missing set for an ancient Greek tragedy failed to persuade our drama teacher that I would be less of a risk on stage than off (That, in fact, is not strictly true I did have a walk-on part once in a French bedroom farce - as an apparently dumb police constable - but to everyone's horror I tried to exit with the wrong character at the end of the wrong scene, stage left instead of
stage right.)
On leaving school, I joined an amateur dramatic society, full of enthusiasm but rather short on experience, technique and timing For some years, I was restricted to bit parts in sketches, satirical revues and one or two slapstick
comedies My finest hour came when I had to stand in for a member of the cast
who had been taken ill -1 was the general male understudy - and take the part of the villain in a Victorian melodrama; lots of overacting and asides to the
audience I had only a very short rehearsal beforehand and I thought my
performance was reasonably competent The producer, however, suggested that I
took up some less public hobby, like pottery or rug-making
Not deterred, I joined a repertory company as stage and costumes manager, also responsible for props and make-up And I was their prompter as well During my time with them I wrote a number of scripts, most of which were rejected, but one of which was accepted and performed It turned out to be the most terrible flop I didn't much acting there -just one part, if I remember rightly, in the chorus of a
musical, a revival of West Side Story Nobody 'discovered' me What I had always
wanted was to play the hero in something like Romeo and Juliet or to have a
leading part in an Oscar Wilde comedy of manners When I turned fifty, however,
I began to accept that it was probably not going to happen
You can imagine my surprise and delight, then, when some nights ago I learned that I had landed the title role in Shakespeare's classic play Macbeth with the Royal Shakespeare Company I couldn't believe my luck Macbeth: that superb monologue before Duncan's murder, the passages with the witches on the heath, that fantastic
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow speech in Act Five, Scene The dress
rehearsal, with co-stars Olivier and Glenda Jackson, was a dream And with the
(3)Entertainment
Practice 1
[1] On the right are some of the ways we classify films On the left are some film titles Match each title with the most appropriate kind of film from the column on the right,
1 Last Days of the Black Rock Gang a cartoon 2 Bridge over the Seine a western
3 John loves Mary loves Tom loves Judy a science fiction movie 4 Born to be a Star a disaster movie 5 Light Years from Yesterday a travelogue 6 The Blood of the Innocents in White a documentary 7 The London to Glasgow Express a war film
8 Avalanche a (Hollywood) musical 9 Goldilocks at the Teddy Bears' Picnic a horror film
10 Wildlife and the West a blue movie 11 Bonaparte and Alexander a thriller 12 Casablanca to Cape Town in 20 days a historical film 13 Life begins at Midnight in Amsterdam a romantic comedy
[2] In what situation might you say the following? Match each question with one of the situations on the right
1 What's on? You want to know whether the actors are any good. 2 Who's in it? You can't see a free seat anywhere.
3 What's it about? You need to know what time to get to the cinema. 4 Where's it on? You're thirsty.
5 What time does it start? You're leaving the cinema with a friend.
6 Where shall we sit? There are three cinemas in town and you don't know
which is showing the film you want to see
7 Where's the bar? You haven't a clue what to go and see.
8 What did you think of it? It might be a horror film and you wouldn't enjoy that.
[3] Here are some of the categories for the annual Academy Award Winners Each winner gets an Oscar Look back over the past few years - not just this year - and note down who you would give your awards to for as many as you can of the categories below If you don't know the name of the person involved, then just give the name of the film If you are working in a group, compare and discuss your notes with a partner
Best film Best Actor Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Director
Best Original Screenplay (script) Best Screen Adaptation
Best Cinematic Photography Best Editing
Best Special Effects Best Original Score (music) Best Costumes / Wardrobe Best Title Sequences / Credits Best Short (film)
Special Award for Services to the Cinema Industry, the motion picture business,
(4)Game
There are, of course, more aspects to film-making than those listed above Match each person (1 - 5) with what they would say (a - e)
1 Director 2 Producer 3 Continuity Girl
4 Clapperboard Man
5 Cameraman
a Can't you get on with the shooting? This is costing me money
b Scene 24 Take 25!
с Your make-up's thicker and you're wearing a different dress
d Clear the set! This is supposed to be a film studio! Get those damned extras out
of here! Action! Cut! e Rolling!
Reading 2
Finally in this unit - leaving aside nightclubs and floor shows, variety shows
and puppet shows, music-hall and carnivals, fairgrounds and fashion parades, a song about the circus:
The whole thing's fake The sawdust's like cake
The tent itself's unsafe, and it tilts
The singer's songs don't rhyme The band can't keep in time And the chap can never climb on to his stilts
But the one saving grace in this fifthrate place -The only act that's guaranteed to please —
The only reason that I go to this rotten awful show
Is that tiny little girl on the trapeze.
The juggler drops the balls The tightrope walker falls And performing fleas are always such a pain
The fire-eater's bald And the audience are appalled As the lion-tamer's mauled yet again
The clowns aren't funny It's a total waste of money I don't know why they have shows like these
The only thing worth seeing in the whole performance being That young twenty-year-old girl on the trapeze
The ventriloquist moves his lips The acrobat always trips And the conjuror's got no tricks left up his sleeve
The high-diver's head is like a square loaf of bread I wouldn't be seen dead in there, believe me
If it wasn't for the fact that there's this super little act That gets me going weak at the knees,
I think you know the reason why I come back every season:
It's that middle-aged girl on the trapeze
The ringmaster stutters The comedian mutters And the strong-man splutters in despair
(5)Entertainment
The Russian sword-swallowers have lost all their followers;
So many knives they've borrowed stay below
And the disappearing rabbits with their rather special habits, Keep appearing just as rapidly as they go
So even now, I must confess, the thing I like the best -I don't know if there's anyone who agrees —
I've really just come back for that one threeminute act -It's that elderly artist on the trapeze
Practice 2
[1] Write or discuss the answers to these questions
1 Which clip from a particular film would you never tire of seeing?
2 What trailers have you seen recently that really made you want to go and see the film?
3 Can you think of any scenes from films you think should have been cut? Or can you think of any entire film you think should have been banned?
4 Which of these features you, in general, like a film to have:
a a happy ending? f larger than life or true-to-life characters? b a complicated plot or a g (in the case of foreign films) subtitles or
simple storyline? dubbed dialogue?
с lots of action? h lots of close-up shots of people's faces? d a political or social message? і long sequences of desert, jungle, etc? e totally naturalistic dialogue? j a fair number of stars or a cast of 'unknowns':
5 What can the cinema offer that the theatre can't - and vice versa?
6 Which plays have you seen which you have also seen the film of? How did the two versions compare?
7 Would you let your ten-year-old son go off to Hollywood to be in a film, with or without you there?
[2] Write a favourable review for a play you have seen [3] Write an unfavourable review for a film you didn't like