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).
Welcome back from the break, everyone.
If you think being a movie critic is the job for you, hang on,
because, yes, film critics see movies for free,
but the job requires you to have the ability to think critically,
which is more than just saying:
Yeah, that movie was funny.
Looking at our Word Bank, we find two more important words.
First, the word:
screening,
as in:
The movie screening will be held this weekend.
And the verb form of the word:
file.
Charlene will file the story after she has finished the interview.
Now what does the process of film critiquing look like?
Let’s learn how it happens as we pick up the reading on the... top right side of
page fifty-four.
Getting Paid to Watch Movies.
How do they do it?
Most of the time, critics are invited to see films at press screenings held by
the studios.
These screenings are generally held a week or two before the film opens to give
critics time to file their reviews before the film’s release.
However, it’s been an increasingly common practice for studios to NOT screen a
movie in advance,
which is usually a pretty good sign that the movie is really bad.
If there is no screening, the critic has to go see the movie on the morning it
opens and then publish or review as quickly as possible.
OK.
Welcome back.
Well, before the break, uh, Justin Chang was explaining to us what a film critic
does.
He said that a film critic writes uh, analytically and critically about movies.
And so... the next question for Justin to answer is:
How do they do it?
How... how do they live this life and uh... critique movies uh, in writing?
Well, he says that most of the time, critics are invited to see films at press
screenings.
Now let’s stop there for just a minute.
And the word press, we often think of that as a verb.
If you press something together, uh, you’re kind of putting it together.
But here the press is another word for the media.
So media screenings.
And that word screening, you see the word screen in there and you probably know
that word as a noun.
A screen.
But here we’re talking about a screening is a preview of a movie.
It’s a showing of the movie.
So s press screening is when all of the media come to watch this movie and all
the critics,
and then they’re able to give their opinion about this movie for the public to
hear.
So critics are invited to see these films before everyone else at these press
screenings or at these press viewings.
And these are held by the studios.
Now these screenings are generally held a week or two before the film opens.
And here we’re talking about a week or two before the film opens to the public.
And this gives critics time to file their reviews before the film’s release.
Let’s look at that word:
file.
If you are filing something and you work for a newspaper or a magazine,
you are sending that article or that news report out to a publication for other
people to see.
They’re filing their reviews before the film’s release.
That means they want other people to know what this movie is like,
so people in the public can decide for themselves if they should see the movie
or not.
OK.
Now did you know how do movie critics do their job?
Well, let’s watch this and find out.
A good film critique could mean millions of dollars in revenue for a movie
studio.
A negative critique could mean millions of dollars LOST.
Knowing this, film studios work hard to persuade film critics that their movie
is good.
One way they do this is by sending film critics a press kit,
which is basically a package containing the film’s background information,
flattering photos, and, often, a small gift.
So these critics write reviews,
and then they file them and send them to publications,
and the publications print their reviews,
and then they are out there for the public to read and to decide for themselves:
Should I go see this movie or should I not?
But there has been an increasingly common practice come about, Chip, with movie
critics.
What’s that?
OK.
Well, it’s been increasingly common for studios to NOT uh, screen or to... to
not show the press a movie in advance.
And when you see that phrase:
in advance,
that means before something. And here we’re talking about before um... before
they show it to the public.
So that means normally, we’re showing these uh, press screenings one or two
weeks before we show the public.
But here it’s been increasingly common to not do that.
Which as our article says is a pretty good sign that the movie is really bad.
So if the studio has not had a screening, they might even be a little bit
embarrassed by the movie that they have produced.
So it is becoming more and more common for critics to not have to go to these
screenings and then write movie reviews,
because some movies that come out just aren’t worth writing about.
And if... if they... if a movie doesn’t show a screening in advance of the
public viewing,
then the critic has to go to see the movie on the morning it opens.
So as soon as it opens to the public, the critic must be the first one there.
And then what do they do, Chelsea?
Well, then they have to write and publish a review as quickly as possible.
That means they would have to write it quickly enough to get it in that day’s
newspaper or magazine,
so that the public could have a chance to read it before the movie was released
that... evening.
Now that sounds like a pretty high-stress situation to me.
It’s one that I don’t think I would want to be in.
Right.
You would have to work very quickly to get your critique and your analysis of
the movie out there to the public in order for it to do any good.
You would.
Now I have a question here.
These movie critics, they put their opinions out for everybody to hear on
movies.
And a lot of times, people listen to them and they take their word,
and they either go see a movie or they don’t because of what a critic has said.
Should we listen to movie critics?
I mean we can all form our own opinions on movies.
Certainly.
And actually, um, I often... uh... I... I do take the... the judgments of the
critics very seriously.
If... if the majority of critics say that a movie is... is very good and it...
that it does the things that it’s trying to do,
um, then it sounds like a movie that I will want to see.
And if... if the majority of critics don’t like a movie, they say that it
doesn’t do the things that it tries to do,
uh, I take that seriously.
OK.
And there are, of course, times when I’ve gone to a movie and it’s had very good
reviews from the critics and I walked out and not like it at all.
And then there’ve been other movies that I’ve seen that got very bad reviews
from the critics,
and I went and really enjoyed and liked the movie.
So their opinion does not always aligned with your own opinion.
But they are professional.
They do know what they are doing.
So it might be worth listening to a critic.
Well, right now we’re going to go to a skit.
We’ll be back to talk more with Justin Chang tomorrow.
We’ll see you then.
Hey, Max.
Where are you going?
Oh, I’m going to the movies.
See? I got tickets.
You go to the movies a lot.
How can you afford it?
Going to movies is my job.
Your job?
You mean you get paid to go to the movies?
That’s right.
I’m a movie critic.
Oh, you’re so lucky.
I want a job like that too.
Well, it’s not that easy.
Oh, sure it is.
You watch a movie and say if it’s good or bad.
There’s much more than that.
You need significant knowledge of film history.
I know a lot about movies.
Ah, but can you place individual films in their historical and cultural context?
Historical or cultural context?
Excuse me?
And let me emphasize that a good critic must also be a good writer.
A good writer.
Oh, no.
Oh, oh, oh, yes.
It’s not simply saying whether a movie is good or bad.
You need to capture the essence of watching the film.
Oh.
Becoming a movie critic takes more than I thought.
(Backgroud Noise).
Hi, everyone.
I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
And you don’t want to miss what comes next.
Stay tuned.
Thank you, Michelle.
Getting paid to watch movies sounds like a great job.
But as we’re discovering, there is some real work involved.
Justin Chang is our expert this month.
He’s a professional movie critic and he’s sharing with us what it takes to do
what he does.
We’re finding out that good writing skills are very important.
We’ve got a couple more questions to ask Mr. Chang.
But because we’re out of time, then we have to wait until tomorrow.
Friends, if you have a comment or question about our lessons, please write us at
letters@studioclassroom.com.
And if you can, send along a picture.
We enjoy getting to know you.
Tomorrow we’ll begin by asking our expert the question:
How does someone become a movie critic?
Until then, I hope all of you have a wonderful day.
Bye-bye, everyone.
(Music).