A View of Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is one of the most famous streets in the world, and its name is still symbol of glamorous. Visitors wising to recapture the Golden Age of film should go to Mann’s Chinese theatre and the Walk of Fame.
There are many places connected with the history of cinema and theatre here. The Hollywood Galaxy houses is a six-screen movie complex and the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, which has film, television and recording memorabilia and provides a wide variety of interactive displays that allow visitors to explore entertainment industry technologies.
Mann’s Chinese theatre hosts many film premieres. The exterior of the building is an ornate mixture of Chinese temples, lions and dragons and pagodas. One of its attractions is the famous cement forecourt containing hand and footprints of numerous screen legends, including John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Jack Nicholson, to name a few. Since its opening in May 1927, millions of movie patrons and visitors to Hollywood have been drawn to the theatre.
The Hollywood Wax Museum has life-size models of film stars, musicians and public figures. Clint Eastwood, Madonna, Michael Jackson and about 200 figures more are on display here.
Step onto the sidewalk anywhere on famed Hollywood Boulevard and you'll certainly see a number of stars... The Walk of Fame was inaugurated in 1960 when 2,500 blank stars were placed along the main thoroughfare. Since that time, more than 2,300 have been decorated with the names of famous personalities who've left their mark in the fields of radio, television, motion pictures, recording, and live performance. A small symbol on each star indicates for which field the person is being honored. Marilyn Monroe’s star has a camera symbol which indicates her career as a film actress.
Where can we find an effigy of a pop star?
Why can we see camera symbol on Marilyn Monroe’s star?
Why is it interesting to visit the Hollywood Galaxy Houses?
What special facts about Hollywood Boulevard do you know? (Find in the Internet).
The Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The theatre's original name was the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow.
The company was founded on 17 March 1776 by Prince Urusov and Michael Maddox. Initially, it held performances in a private home, but it acquired the Petrovka Theatre and on 30 December 1780 it began producing plays and operas, thus establishing what was to become the Bolshoi Theatre. With the destruction by fire of the Petrovka Theatre on 8 October 1805, it was replaced on 13 April 1808 with the opening of New Arbat Imperial Theatre, but, as a consequence of the French invasion of Moscow in 1812, fire destroyed that theatre.
The current theatre was built on Theatre Square between 1821 and 1824. It was designed by architect Andrei Mikhailov (who had also built the nearby Maly Theatre in 1824) and it opened on 18 January 1825 as the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre with a performance of Fernando Sor's ballet, Cendrillon. Initially, it presented only Russian works, but foreign composers entered the repertoire around 1840.
At that time, all Russian theatres were imperial property. Moscow and St. Petersburg each had only two theatres, one intended for opera and ballet (these were known as the Bolshoi Theatres), and one for plays (tragedies and comedies). Because opera and ballet were considered nobler than drama, the opera houses were named "Grand Theatres" ("Bolshoi" is Russian for "large" or "grand") and the drama theatres were called the "Smaller Theatre" ("Maly" is Russian for "small", "lesser", or "little").
The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world. It is by far the world's biggest ballet company, having more than 200 dancers. The theatre is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a world-famous leading school of ballet. It has a branch at the Bolshoi Theatre School in Joinville, Brazil.
The main building of the theatre, rebuilt and renovated several times during its history, is a landmark of Moscow and Russia (its iconic neoclassical facade is depicted on the Russian 100-ruble banknote). On 28 October 2011, the Bolshoi was re-opened after an extensive six-year renovation. An official cost for the renovation is 21 billion rubles ($688 million). The renovation included restoring acoustics to the original quality (which had been lost during the Soviet Era), as well as restoring the original Imperial decor of the Bolshoi.
Now Muscowites and guests of the city can enjoy visiting the Bolshoy, one of the best theatres in the world.
Where is the Bolshoy theatre? Do you know how to get there from your home?
What dates are connected with the history of the Bolshoy?
What do you know about the company of the Bolshoy?
What events in the life of the city are connected with the Bolshoy theatre?
Have you ever been to the Bolshoy? Tell us about your impressions.
Cinema
In England the cinema is usually called “the pictures”. In America the word “the movies” is often used. Cinema-going is a favourite pastime in Britain. People go to the cinema once or twice a week. Cinema-going is more popular in industrial towns in the North of England and Scotland than in the South. However, especially if it is cold and wet outside, many people like to stay at home to watch TV.
Cinemas in England are usually large and more comfortable than the theatres. Often there is a restaurant, so that it is possible to spend an afternoon and evening there (if you have enough money, of course). Behind the cinema screen there is a stage, so that the building can be used for concerts and other performances.
British cinema-goers see mainly English and American films, though many of the foreign films are often shown in London and in the South of the country.
In our country cinema-going is not so popular now as it was earlier. People prefer to stay at home and to watch TV or video.
I like to watch films very much. I prefer thrillers, comedies and horror movies, but I do not like tragedies and melodramas very much, and I hate soap operas, although they are becoming very popular in our country. My favourite film is ... with ... starring. It is really wonderful from the beginning to the end. There are a lot of films which are worth seeing, but this one is the best one to my mind.
How do Britons name cinema?
What kind of films are popular in Britain?
Tell about British cinema.
Jazz
I think that the question “What is jazz?” is a highly subjective one. Ask 100 different people "What is jazz?" and you're likely to get 100 different answers. But personally I think that jazz is American classical music. It is an American way of playing music which takes all of the unique elements of their culture. And no music that has been created in this country so exactly gives the ideals of individualism and gives one an opportunity to express oneself in such a special way as jazz does.
It's no secret that jazz music started in the black ghettos of New Orleans at the end of the 19th century. In the 1920s jazz moved up river to Chicago and New York. In the 1960s musicians began incorporating R&B, rock and new electric instruments into their jazz. Everything exploded and suddenly jazz was all over the place.
And at present, it seems that there are almost as many names for jazz as there are jazz groups. For example there are contemporary jazz, mainstream jazz, smooth jazz, alternative jazz, acid jazz, avant-garde jazz, Latin jazz, fusion, etc.
So perhaps a better question is: What do you like? From Jelly Roll Morton to Lee Morgan, from James P. Johnson to John Zorn, the answer is out there, preserved on record for our learning and listening pleasure. Yes, experiencing all the different styles of jazz is a daunting task, but the rewards are great; and the more you listen, the more you'll find similarities within the styles. What's more, jazz elements can be heard outside of its own genre - in rock, R&B, Latin music, African music - the list is endless.
Yet, one thing is sure: Jazz remains America's only original living art form. Today, its influence envelops the globe. It's expressive. It's enriching. Call it what you like - jazz is here to stay.
Why do people like jazz music?
What do you know about the history of jazz?
What modern styles are closely connected with jazz?
The Russian Ballet
Not very long ago when people mentioned ballet, they thought of Russian ballet. In fact ballet came to Russia relatively late. It brought traditions from many other countries, mainly from France and Italy. Actually Tsar Nicholas I was ready to spend great sums of money on the dance companies, so ballet got recognition in the capital at St. Petersburg and in Moscow.
The Russian ballet dates back to 1847. It was the year when Marius Petipa, a young French dancer, arrived in St. Petersburg. He found there a well-trained company, which consisted mainly of the employees of the Imperial household. They were not spoilt by the attention and glamour, because they were the Tsar's servants. The Tsar wanted to see choreographies that had been seen in the times of the Sun King. That is there was combination of romantic stories with a luxury and pomp.
Under leadership of Petipa the Russian ballet became extremely popular in the world. Within thirty years Petipa created over forty full-length ballets, arranged dances for thirty-five operas and recast seventeen ballet productions by other European masters.
Petipa's version of Giselle we still can see today. In the Russian ballet of the nineteenth century everything was in harmony: the music, which was written mainly by Ludwig Minkus, the staging, the scenery, the costumes and choreography.
At the beginning of the 21st century ballet was still important in the cultural life of Russia, but gradually the romantic haze was cleared away. The world changed and it was taken a different view. The problems of love, hate, good, evil, were expressed in more complex ways.
Why is Russian ballet so popular?
What do you know about Marius Petipa?
Is it popular form of art? Why?
What films about ballet have you seen?
The Irish Music
Ireland is strong and rich in music. The Irish people love to sing, to dance and to make music of all kinds. The harp has always been a very important musical instrument in Ireland. In the wars between the Irish and the English, it was like a national flag for the Irish. In the seventeenth century it became more than that. One very famous harper was O'Carloan. He was born in Westmeath in about 1670. When O'Carloan was about sixteen years old his eyes failed and he became blind. With the help of a kind, rich lady he learned to play the harp. He also wrote poetry and music for the harp. People have saved a lot of his music and harpers still play O'Carloan's beautiful songs.
When they hear the word "nocturne", people usually think of Chopin. Chopin's nocturnes are famous but the first nocturnes came from an Irishman. He was John Field. He was a pupil in London of the great piano player, composer and teacher Clementi. He was one of the really great pianists. We can't hear him today because there were no record of music in his time.
Ireland also has its great pop and rock musicians. A very successful group is U2. It started in Dublin in 1979. U2 is a rock group. It knows the young people of Ireland and the things that they feel and want. They speak for young Irish people but they are famous all over the world. Today there are many Irish musicians. A lot of them are internationally famous, and that is wonderful for a country with only five million people.
What do you know about modern Irish music?
What do you know about O'Carloan?
Why is Chopin’s music connected with Ireland?
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Photography
Photography is very popular today, but there is a question, if it is art or nor. Let’s discuss it.
Some people think that it is art, others that it is separate branch. On the one hand, photography and art are closely connected. Many painters used photographs in their works. Also, photography and painting have the same aim: People use them to document the life to show the world, the way painter or photographer see it. On the other hand, photography is the modern science. It is different from art, because it mostly documents the events and the world. Photographers can’t transfer their thoughts and imagination to the photographs, and painters can do it, they can create their own world.
As for me, I think that photography can be considered as the part of the art. Of course, it is a new way of transferring artist’s imagination, but it is still art, and it is closely connected with it. They have the same aims, they just realize it in different ways.
Why is photography popular?
Can we name photography the part of the art?
Why do people like to take pictures?
Cinematograph
Cinematograph is one of the wonders of the modern world. In 1895 the Lumiere brothers gave the world's first real cinema show in Paris to an audience of thirty-three spectators. The first film they showed was "The Arrival of a train at a Station". Moving pictures seemed so real that the audience was frightened to death by the train rushing at them from the screen. Cinematograph is really an art of our time. Everyone can find something to his liking in the broad variety of its genres. For example: horror films, thriller films, popular science films, mystery films, documentaries, and animated cartoons. Besides films may be color or black-and-white, full-length or short, sound or silent, dubbed or have subtitles.
Cinema has got an important role in the life of any society. Cinema has become a part of the modern way of life. There is no denying that cinema is an important part of our culture.
Modern cinema halls are comfortable. There are many rows with convenient seats in the hall. It’s possible for everyone to see the screen clearly. The quality of the sound has changed a lot. At the present time we can enjoy the Dolby Digital surround sound. In most cinemas you can buy a snack or a drink. The most popular of these are popcorn and coca-cola
We can’t imagine our everyday life without TV. Every day, every single evening most of people are watching TV. You can watch whatever you like: news, show, films or anything else. There are so many different channels: news, discovery, sport, music, fashion and others.
What do you know about Lumiere brothers?
What was the name of the first film? When and where was it shown?
What genres of the films do you know?
How can you describe modern cinema halls?
What kind of programmes can you see on TV?
The history of photography
The history of photography has roots in remote antiquity with the discovery of the principle of the camera obscura and the observation that some substances are visibly altered by exposure to light. As far as is known, nobody thought of bringing these two phenomena together to capture camera images in permanent form until around 1800, when Thomas Wedgwood made the first reliably documented although unsuccessful attempt. In the mid-1820s, Nicéphore Niépce succeeded, but several days of exposure in the camera were required and the earliest results were very crude. Niépce's associate Louis Daguerre went on to develop the daguerreotype process, the first publicly announced photographic process, which required only minutes of exposure in the camera and produced clear, finely detailed results. It was commercially introduced in 1839, a date generally accepted as the birth year of practical photography.
The metal-based daguerreotype process soon had some competition from the paper-based calotype negative and salt print processes invented by Henry Fox Talbot. Subsequent innovations reduced the required camera exposure time from minutes to seconds and eventually to a small fraction of a second; introduced new photographic media which were more economical, sensitive or convenient, including roll films for casual use by amateurs; and made it possible to take pictures in natural color as well as in black-and-white.
The commercial introduction of computer-based electronic digital cameras in the 1990s soon revolutionized photography. During the first decade of the 21st century, traditional film-based photochemical methods were increasingly marginalized as the practical advantages of the new technology became widely appreciated and the image quality of moderately priced digital cameras was continually improved.
What was in the beginning of the photography era?
What methods and part of the photo-making process do you know?
Can you tell us about the advantages of the digital camera?
Camera operator: good choice!
Camera operators record images for film, television, commercials and music videos. They use film or digital video cameras, following instructions from the production’s director or the director of photography.
Their work includes setting up equipment, planning shots, and sorting out technical and lighting issues.
If you have good practical skills, can interpret instructions to visualise shots and have a keen interest in the moving image and photography, this could be a great job for you.
You would usually get into this type of work by becoming an assistant and learning your craft on the job. College courses can be a good way to get some of the technical skills you will need.
As a camera operator, it would be your job to record moving images for film, television, commercials, music videos or corporate productions. You would operate film, videotape or digital video cameras, usually under instructions from the director or director of photography.
Your work could involve:
· setting up and positioning camera equipment
· planning and rehearsing shots
· following a camera script and taking cues from the director or floor manager (in TV studio recording)
· choosing the most suitable lenses and camera angles
· solving practical or technical problems such as lighting
· working closely with other technical departments such as lighting and sound.
You may be the only camera operator and use a portable single camera, or you could be part of a TV studio camera team. On feature films and TV drama productions you may be part of a large crew with a specific role, such as:
· second assistant camera (clapper loader) – loading and unloading film, counting the takes and helping the camera crew
· first assistant camera (focus puller) – judging and adjusting the focus on each shot
· grip – building and operating any cranes and pulleys needed to move a camera during shooting.
You would usually specialise in either film or television work, as the equipment and techniques can differ, however with the advent of digital cameras and HD technology, camera professionals are finding it easier to work across all sectors ensuring more stable employment.
Your hours could often be long and irregular, and may include shift work and nights depending on the production. You may also need to be flexible and work at short notice, particularly for news programmes.
Why have you choosen this profession?
What equipment do you work with?
What does your work involve?
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Mass Media
Mass media is communication—whether written, broadcast, or spoken—that reaches a large audience. This includes television, radio, advertising, movies, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and so forth.
Mass media is a significant force in modern culture, particularly in America. Sociologists refer to this as a mediated culture where media reflects and creates the culture. Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources including TV, billboards, and magazines, to name a few. These messages promote not only products, but moods, attitudes, and a sense of what is and is not important. Mass media makes possible the concept of celebrity: without the ability of movies, magazines, and news media to reach across thousands of miles, people could not become famous. In fact, only political and business leaders, as well as the few notorious outlaws, were famous in the past. Only in recent times have actors, singers, and other social elites become celebrities or “stars.”
What do we name «media»?
What do you know about the concept of the celebrity?
The current level of media saturation has not always existed. As recently as the 1960s and 1970s, television, for example, consisted of primarily three networks, public broadcasting, and a few local independent stations. These channels aimed their programming primarily at two parent, middle class families. Even so, some middle class households did not even own a television. Today, one can find a television in the poorest of homes, and multiple TVs in most middle class homes. Not only has availability increased, but programming is increasingly diverse with shows aimed to please all ages, incomes, backgrounds, and attitudes. This widespread availability and exposure makes television the primary focus of most mass‐media discussions. More recently, the Internet has increased its role exponentially as more businesses and households “sign on.” Although TV and the Internet have dominated the mass media, movies and magazines—particularly those lining the aisles at grocery checkout stands—also play a powerful role in culture, as do other forms of media.
When was the beginning of the media epoch?
Are «television» and «media» synonyms?
Media in our life
1)Watching a good film with children helps us in upbringing. I think taste can be formed through the movies because there are a lot of films about nature, animals, and kind people. And I like serious films where serious problems of our life are raised up.
Children mesmerized for hours before a television set watching cartoons seeing for the fifth time because it is interesting. And I enjoy seeing cartoons too.
The significance of mass media for human life cannot be overestimated. This is true because beyond the physical requirements of food and shelter everyone needs communication, entertainment and information. And it's mainly mass media that can satisfy all these requirements at the same time.
The mass media fall into 3 categories based on the technology by which they are produced - print, electronic and photographic.
The primary print media are books, magazines and newspapers. Among their distinguishing features we can name: binding, regularity, content and timeless. Books usually have stitched or glued binding, magazines - stapled, newspapers are usually unbound, but they are joined together by a fold line. Print media are usually regularly published except books which have only a single issue. And as far as timeliness is concerned there should be admitted such fact that books generally are not timely, for magazines timeliness is not an issue, it's not very important for them, but for newspapers timeliness is significant. And the most important peculiarity of print media messages is that they are in tangible form. They can be picked up physically and laid down, stored for later reference, etc. Even though newspapers may be used to wrap up the leftovers from dinner for tomorrow's garbage, there also is a permanency about the print media.
The primary electronic media are television, radio, sound recordings and the web. They flash their messages electronically. Pioneer work on electronic media began in the late 1800s, but they are mostly a 20-th-century development. Unlike print messages, television and radio messages disappear as soon as they are transmitted. Messages can be stored on tape and other means but usually they reach listeners and viewers in a nonconcrete form. TV is especially distinctive because it engages several senses at once with sound, sight and movement. But a real wonder is the newest mass media - the World Wide Web. It combines text, audio and visuals - both still and moving - in a global electronic network.
The technology of movies is based on the chemistry of photography. But it should be said that movies may not be longer a chemical medium. As a lot of video production, including some prime-time television, is shot on tape and stored digitally. Photography itself is also moving from chemistry to digital technology, and an end may be coming for darkrooms, hypo and fixer.
And in the end I'd like to say that it's great that there are various types of mass media as everyone has an opportunity to choose the most suitable and accessible way of achieving information about the world.
What is significance of mass media?
What categories of mass media do you know?
What is the difference between «media» and «information»?
2)The significance of mass media for human life cannot be overestimated. This is true because beyond the physical requirements of food and shelter everyone needs communication, entertainment and information. And it's mainly mass media that can satisfy all these requirements at the same time.
Mass media usually are thought of as sources of news and entertainment; they also carry messages of persuasion. Important, though often overlooked, is how mass media messages bind people into communities even into nations. So the main functions of mass media are:
• pervasiveness
• informationsource
• entertainmentsource
• persuasionforum
• binding influence
Mass media are pervasive in modern life. Through the mass media we learn almost everything we know about the world beyond our immediate environs. How would we know about international mews without the help of newspapers, television and other mass media? An informed and involved citizenry is possible in modern democracy only when the mass media work well. Also without the mass media our expressions would be limited to people within earshot and to we write letters, but the mass media make our audience larger.
Another important function of the mass media is that it serves as an information source. The heart of the media's informing function lies in messages called news because news is reports on things that people want or need to know. Advertising is also a part of the mass media's information function. The media especially newspapers are bulletin boards for trade and commerce; they also can provide full information such as classified advertisements.
The mass media can be wonderful entertainers bringing together huge audiences. No matter how many people saw Charlie Chaplin on the vaudeville stage, more people saw him in movie houses. Almost all mass media have an entertainment component. The thrust of the American movie industry is almost wholly entertainment although there can be a strong information and persuasive elements. Even the most serious newspapers have occasional humour columns. Most mass media are a mix of information and entertainment.
People form opinion from the information and interpretations to which they are exposed, which means that even news coverage has an element of persuasion. The most obvious of the media messages designed to persuade is advertising. Ads exhort the audience to action - to go out and buy toothpaste, cornflakes, automobiles, etc. Public relations usually also tries to persuade and shape attitudes by persuading the mass media audiences to see this or that fact in particular light.
The mass media bind communities together by giving messages that become a shared experience. A rural newspaper editor may not be thinking how his work creates a common identity among readers but it does. The town newspaper is something everyone in town has in common. The importance of mass media in binding people into nationhood is clear in every revolution and coup d'etat.
So in the conclusion I'd like to say that mass media play a great role in our modern society and it seems to me that our life would be dull and uninteresting without these sources of information, communication and entertainment.
What is mass media?
What is the role of mass media in the people’s life?
Does mass media only entertain?