节目资讯
刊物:娱乐时尚
日期:2009-09-29
难易度:High
关键字:critically, in question, screening, file, ask the
(Music).
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Well, in this month’s Ask the Expert feature, Studio Classroom asks Justin Chang
about being a movie critic.
Chang, who studied at the University of Southern California, is a film critic
and an editor for the Hollywood trade publication Variety.
He, like other movie critics, has a great job because he gets paid to watch
movies.
Let’s visit the Word Bank,
where we find our first word:
critically.
Shane read the report critically and decided it was incorrect.
Next is the idiom:
in question:
as in,
The book in question has sold over one million copies.
OK. What does it take to be a professional movie critic?
Let’s turn to page fifty-four and find out.
Getting Paid to Watch Movies.
What does it take to be a professional movie critic?
What do movie critics do?
I would say that a movie critic is someone who writes critically and
analytically about films and measures a film’s artistic virtues.
To do this effectively,
a critic must have significant knowledge of film history and be able to place an
individual film in its historical or cultural context.
I think it’s important to emphasize that a good movie critic must also be a good
writer.
Film criticism is more than simply saying whether a movie is good or bad.
It’s about writing in a way that captures the experience of watching the film in
question.
Hi, friends.
I’m Chip.
And I’m Chelsea.
Thanks for joining us today for our Ask the Expert article.
Today we are going to be introduced to a man named Justin Chang,
and he is a very special guy because he gets paid to watch movies.
That sounds like a pretty cool job to me.
So we’re going to find out:
What exactly does it take to be a professional movie critic?
And this month, Studio Classroom is talking to Justin Chang about being a
professional movie critic,
or what it’s like to get paid to watch and critique movies or to judge movies.
And so our article starts off by saying that uh... by asking Justin:
What do movie critics do?
And in this answer, we learn uh, what a critic is.
He answers how, Chelsea?
Well, he says:
I would say that a movie critic is someone who writes critically and
analytically about films and measures a film’s artistic virtues.
Now we have some big words in there.
Let’s back up a little bit to that word:
critically.
If you do something critically, you do it in such a way to find problems or
mistakes.
I know as a teacher I used to always tell my students to think critically -
think in such a way that you’re able to find mistakes and find problems.
That’s right.
Because not everything that you hear or read on the Internet is true.
So you think critically about ideas and others things.
So here uh, he watches... Justin watches movies critically and uh, analytically.
So he’s analyzing the different parts of the movie.
And all of this is to find out the film’s artistic value.
Now many people consider film to be an art.
I happen to be one of those people.
So its artistic virtue would basically be its value, its... its value in art.
So he watches movies for that purpose.
And so to do this effectively, what does Justin Chang have to do?
Well, first of all, he says that a critic must have significant knowledge of
film history.
So the history of film making and the history of movies.
And secondly, uh, a film critic must be able to place an individual film in its
historical or cultural context.
So when you play something in context, what are you doing, Chelsea?
So if you’re putting something into context - in this case, we’re talking about
movies,
you’re putting it into its place in history or within the culture.
So it sounds to me like being a movie critic is a lot harder than just saying I
like this movie.
I think it’s good or I think it’s bad.
It takes a lot more work than that.
And Justin goes on to say:
He thinks it’s important to emphasize that a good movie critic must also be
what, Chip?
Well, he says they must be a good writer.
And actually, the very first thing that Justin said to us was that a movie
critic is someone who writes critically and analytically.
So they are writing about their opinions and they’re writing their views of
whether or not a movie is good or bad.
Chang goes on to restate the idea that I just mentioned a couple of minutes ago,
and that is that film criticism is more than simply saying whether a movie is
good or bad.
If it was that easy, all of us could be film critics.
But it’s not.
Instead, it’s about writing in a way that captures the experience of watching
the film that is in question.
So if you capture something, Chip, what does that mean?
Well, actually, literally, uh, when we talk about capturing something, you might
actually talk about uh, catching, uh, like catching an animal,
which would mean that you’re uh, grabbing and holding an animal.
But here when we use this figuratively, we’re saying ”capture an experience”.
Or if you’re... if you like to take pictures, maybe you try to capture a moment.
And if you capture a moment, uh, what does that mean exactly, Chelsea?
It means that you are grasping onto that moment and you are preserving it.
Uh, it will be there to stay for a long time.
If you want to capture a moment, that means you want that moment to last.
And we often do that with photographs or with films.
So for Justin Chang, he is actually trying to write in such a way that captures
the experience of watching the film.
He has to write in such a way that when other people read his film review,
it will make them either want to go see the movie or maybe not want to go see...
the movie.
Right.
And here, our artical says uh, not just any film but the film in question.
So uh, whenever you see that phrase:
in question,
you know that we’re talking about the film under consideration or the film that
is being questioned,
or the film that, in this case, is being critiqued.
Uh, another sentence using that the phrase ”in question” might be:
The suspect in question is probably the one who committed the crime.
The... the suspect or the person who is under consideration probably committed
the crime.
Well, we have a lot more to learn from Justin Chang about what it means to be a
professional movie critic.
But right now we are going to go to the Chat Room.
And then we’ll take a break.
But stay with us because we will be right back.
Hi, friends.
Welcome to another edition of Chat Room.
I’m Ken.
And I’m Doris.
We’re all very glad to have you join us for our chat today.
So what’s the topic today, Ken?
Well, our lesson today is about professional movie critics.
I’m wondering about this word:
critic.
A critic is someone who criticizes, right?
That is right.
Mmhm.
So what happens when a critic reviews a really good movie, um, and then he
cannot find anything wrong with it?
How can he criticize?
Well, that’s a good question, Ken.
We need to be aware of the kind of critic we’re talking about.
When we use critic in the general sense, we are referring to someone who always
finds fault with things.
But critics can also refer to people whose job is to write their own opinions
about the books, the movies, the plays,
like the professional movie critics in our lesson today.
I see.
So movie critics can either criticize or praise a movie?
Absolutely.
(Chinese).
Doris, what about what critics write?
We also call it a critic, right?
Well, no, Ken, you’re thinking of a critique.
C-R-I-T-I-Q-U-E.
A critic writes critiques.
Oh, critique.
Mmhm.
That’s right.
Now there’s also criticism that’s intended to be helpful.
We call it constructive criticism.
Oh, I get it.
Constructive comes from construction,
so being constructive is like helping someone build something.
That’s right.
And when you give constructive criticism, you give someone advice on how to make
improvements.
(Chinese).
Well, it’s time for a break. But don’t go far. Because Studio Classroom will be
right back.