节目资讯
刊物:娱乐时尚
日期:2010-03-09
难易度:Medium
关键字:feature film, explosion, be loaded with, convincin
(Music).
Welcome back from the break, everyone.
With our expert John Han leading the way, we’re going behind the scenes and
seeing how visual effects are really done.
It seems silly to have to say it,
but when you go to the movies, you can’t believe everything you see, even if the
movie is a comedy or drama.
Why is that?
Because often what we’re watching on the big screen has been ”touched up” with
visual effects.
Let’s let our expert explain further as we resume the reading on line 4 over on
page 23.
Making Movie Magic.
This could mean changing the color of the sky to a more beautiful color or
making an actress look 10 years younger or ten pounds skinnier.
What do you think are the best visual effects scenes of all time?
People say this industry was born with Star Wars.
But besides that I would say scenes in the first Jurassic Park film.
The scene where T-Rex attacks the Jeep is so frighteningly real; it looks real
even 20 years later.
It looked so convincing that as a kid, the only thing you could think of was
”Wow, that’s a scary dinosaur.”.
Welcome back.
We have just learned that nearly every feature film you go see in a theater will
be loaded with visual effects.
Now those visual effects may not always be obvious.
Sometimes they’re going to be much more subtle, but they are still present.
And John goes on to give us a couple of examples of those type of visual effects
that might not be noticeable, but that are still there.
OK, he says that this could mean changing the color of the sky to a more
beautiful color.
Maybe making the sky look a little bit more bright blue.
Or making an actress look 10 years younger or 10 pounds skinnier.
Now that sounds like a good idea.
Wow! That’s something they can do with computer animation and just with these
visual effects is they can really change the look of a person.
That’s pretty interesting that’s considered a visual effect.
That really is.
And actually, I wonder if we’ve got some people around here that could make me
look like I have bigger muscles.
Maybe, you think?
Maybe.
Some bigger arms, maybe?
We’ll need to check and see who takes care of visual effects here at Studio
Classroom.
Right.
But for John, he goes on to explain that these visual effects are always
present, whether they are subtle, whether they are not noticeable, or whether
they are noticeable.
Uh, things like the aircraft carrier coming in on a wave and smashing or wiping
out the White House - both examples of visual effects.
OK, so we go on to ask John ”What do you think are the best visual effects
scenes of all time?”.
Now, before we hear his answer to that question, let’s take a deeper look at
that question with Liz in Grammar on the Go.
Hi, there, friends, how are you doing today?
My name is Liz.
And it’s time for Grammar on the Go.
Our article today is about creating visual effects for movies and TV shows,
which is why I’m at a movie theater.
I’m like many others - I love movies with lots of special effects.
Anyhow, here’s today’s Grammar Tip sentence:
What do you think are the best visual effects scenes of all time?
Notice how the question ends with the phrase ”of all time”.
It just means from the very beginning when something started until now.
So today’s sentence just means:
Of all the visual effects scenes that have ever been created, what do you think
are the best ones?
Use this phrase ”of all time” when you want to talk about how something is the
best or worst in its category.
For example, many people would say that Casa Blanca is the best romantic movie
ever made.
So, you can say, ”Casa Blanca is the best romantic movie of all time.”.
Or, if you want to find out who was the most influential person ever, you could
ask, ”Who is the most influential person of all time?”.
Well, friends, if you’d like to see some more example sentences, check out
today’s Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
You’ll definitely find some more example sentences there.
That’s all the time we have for today.
Please join me again next time.
Until then, this is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, Liz.
So we have asked John Han already what is his favorite personal visual effect
that he has worked on.
But now we’re asking him:
In general, what would you say are some of the best visual effects out there,
uh, from all time in movie history?
And I like his answer.
He starts off by saying ”People say this industry was born with Star Wars.”.
And Chip, Star Wars is a movie or movies that we both grew up with it.
It was made in the 1970s and ’80s.
And there are several films, uh, in the Star Wars original trilogy - three
movies.
And it took place in outer space... and all sorts of neat visual effects.
Right. So, because the setting of these movies... or... many times the setting
was out in outer space.
Uh, you know, they can’t really take a camera team or a camera crew, and do
filming out in outer space.
So they needed to incorporate and use a lot of visual effects.
And so that... Some say that the industry - the visual effects industry - was
born with the Star Wars movies.
And I can see why he says this.
Star Wars has some very memorable visual effects.
There were, as I said, three of the original movies.
And then, in the early part of the 21st century, they started making prequels to
Star Wars.
Many of you have probably seen those.
And those, too, are full... they are loaded with outstanding visual effects.
But besides Star Wars, he would also say there’s another movie that demonstrates
outstanding visual effects.
Right, he would say the scenes in the first Jurassic Park film.
And if you remember, uh, Jurassic Park... in those movies, we’re talking about
that... uh, the movies with a lot of dinosaurs.
And again, obviously, it’s very difficult to film real-life dinosaurs today,
because dinosaurs don’t exist anymore.
They died off and they... they no longer live on Earth.
So you can’t really get real footage or real film of real dinosaurs.
And that’s where visual effects come in.
If the whole movie’s about dinosaurs, you’re going to need some good visual
effects.
And if you’re going to have a whole movie about dinosaurs, you are going to need
some visual effects.
John goes on to recall one of his favorite visual effects scenes from the movie.
He talks about the scene where T-Rex... and T-Rex is that very, very large
dinosaur that’s very scary... T-Rex attacks the Jeep.
And John says it is so frighteningly real.
That means that it is so real, it is so scary, that you just have to believe
that it’s happening at that moment.
And he goes on to say that it looks real even 20 years later.
Right, it looks real even today.
Uh, because often, uh, in an older movie that uses older techniques for their
visual effects,
you know, after a time - after ten or twenty years you watch that movie again,
and... the things are obviously... they... they just look a little fake, or they
don’t look very real.
They don’t look as real as you thought they looked 20 years ago.
Right.
But this... uh... visual effects scene is different.
Even 20 years later, it still looks real; it’s still very scary.
And John says that it looks so convincing that as a kid, the only thing you
could think of was ”Wow, that’s a scary dinosaur.”.
I agree.
That was a scary dinosaur.
It had me convinced as well.
So Chip, if something is convincing, what does that mean?
That means it causes you to believe that it’s true, or it causes you to believe
something very strongly.
So this was convincing, and it made him, and maybe you also, believe that it was
real.
Well, that’s all we have today.
I hope you’ve learned a lot about visual effects from John Han.
We hope you’ve learned something.
Before we go today, let’s watch a skit.
This movie was a mega blockbuster.
I can see why.
The visual effects look so, so real.
Well, of course they do.
Visual effects are supposed to look real.
You know, lots of movies are loaded with effects.
I know, I know.
I see robots and explosions all the time.
Yeah, but I’m talking about visual effects that aren’t so obvious.
Like... like what?
Well, like changing the color of the sky to make it more romantic.
Oh... Well, that’s sweet.
Uh huh.
And... making the actors more attractive.
Hey! Isn’t that cheating?
Huh, maybe.
But it makes the movies better.
So... tell me, what movie do you think has the best visual effects?
Oh... It’s so hard to choose.
Ooh, Ooh ! How about Star Wars?
Oh, yeah, the visual effects industry was born with Stare Wars.
Yeah.
Hmm... But... Oh, I know.
I like the scenes from Jurassic Park; all those scary dinosaurs...
Those visual effects were really convincing.
Convincing?
Uh-huh.
Didn’t the dinosaurs look real?
Well, yeah, I thought they were real.
Haha... You were tricked by the dinosaurs! Hahahaha...
Hi, everyone, I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
And now it’s time for us to say goodbye.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, Michelle.
We appreciate those tips.
Now, I know there are a lot of movie fans out there.
Our expert John Han just told us what he thought was the best visual effect
movie scene of all time.
Do you agree or disagree with his choice?
Perhaps you have a different visual effect scene that you think is better.
Why not take a moment and talk about it with your classmate or friend?
Remember, speaking English just a few minutes a day will help your ability jump
by leaps and bounds.
I promise.
Friends, please join us tomorrow as we head to America’s attic.
Until then, havea great day !