Speak about a film director and his films (an actor/actress) that you like most of all and his/her roles in the films.

Films are nothing more than a series of still pictures passing before our eyes so rapidly that we think they are moving. It is an optical trick. That illusion of movement was first noted in 1824 by an English physician Peter Mark Roget but the invention of the motion picture doesn’t belong only to one person. There were representatives of different nations and countries. Thomas Alva Edison was among them, and in 1896 he demonstrated a projecting kinetoscope. The cinematograph based on it was invented by the brothers Lumiere, and they became the first producers of very short films. The first films lasted a minute and showed the realities of life such as workers leaving a factory.

At first the commercial potential of film was not realized and only in 1906 the first picture palaces appeared in Britain; the USA followed in its steps but there were no special buildings. They were converted stores. People paid a nickel (a five cent coin) to see about an hour’s worth of film. There were a lot of technical problems and they often resulted in public rage.

Step by step the film industry was developing, and making films turned into a blend of art and technique. The USA became the pioneer in this sphere and in 1912 the first feature film was released. It lasted 90 minutes and told a story. At the same time the theatre owners became aware that the public would be attracted by better equipped and more comfortable theatres. There was one more serious drawback of the films – they were silent. The actors had to play unnaturally.

Mary Pickford was the first adress who showed that a simple and natural style was more effective on the screen than dramatic arm-waving. Charlie Chaplin with his clumsy ways and baggy pants became the most famous actor due to his comedies. Hollywood, on the west coast of the USA, became the centre of the film industry because the climate and the surroundings suited to the business. In the midtwenties the first sound pictures and animated cartoons appeared. But the most famous cartoons were made by Walt Disney and his studio.

The Russian films The Battleship Potemkin /1925/ and October /1928/ became the landmarks of the new art and are still considered masterpieces of the cinema. The producer of both was Sergei Eisenstein.

In 1927 the sound track was developed and since 1930 most films were made with sound. They got the name of “talkies”. The first colour film was The Wizard of Oz /1939/.

After World War II the film industry continued to develop successfully, and every year we witness more and more elaborate tricks, effects and new styles of acting. Special effects have an important place in films. Now many of them can be electronically produced and controlled: among the names that make every film fan give out a cry of joy are Steven Speilberg and Federico Fellini, Anjey Waida and Nikita Mikhalkov.

Every film begins with a script that includes instructions for the production team and the script for the actors. The producer is responsible for the whole administration of the film, that means control of the finances and hiring the cast and the technical crew. But there is too much work and the producer has several assistants. There is one more detail – films are not shot in the order of the script but in the convenient and economical order. The director is the person who controls the actual making of the film. The assistant director takes care of the daily shooting arrangements. No film can be shot without the camera crew that includes camera operators and lightning technicians. After the film has been shot, sound technicians record the sound and add sound effects such as gunshots, music, etc. Then the film is developed and printed. There comes the moment when the editor begins his work. Only edited film can be recorded and printed. That is why the world famous awards at the festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Moscow or New York are given not only to the actors.

2. to be a success/a flop

3. nothing is very original about the film

4. the theme of the film is . . .

5. the film is an amusing comedy/tragedy/a screen version of . . .

6. the film makes people think because . . .

7. Y. plays the starring role in . . .

8. an all-star cast

9. the performance of the actors is super/poor

10. В. is the scriptwriter

11. the camerawork is above/beneath the usual standard

12. the music of the film is by . . . (the film contains a lot of music)

13. I enjoyed/was bored with the film

14. the film won . . . Oscar(s)/the first prise at the  . . . festival