My favourite singer

Mу favourite singer is Michael Jackson. I like his songs very much because they are full of energy and very melodic. I also like the way he dances. There were nine children in Michael's family. They lived in a small four-house. Today he lives in a house which has seventeen rooms downstairs IJid sixteen rooms upstaires. It stands in 2,700 acres of ground. Besides the house there are guest houses, a golf course, a swimming pool, tennis courts, stables, gardens, lakes, forests and a zoo.

A lot of strange stories are told about Jackson. It's difficult to decide whether they are true or not. Michael never gives interviews and is rarely seen in public, except on stage. Certainly his behaviour may seem eccentric. In public he often wears a face mask to protect himself from germs, he sleeps inside an oxygen capsule, which he believes will help him to live longer. But his manager says that Jackson isn't eccentric. He is just shy. Michael sang in public for the first time when he was five. Since that time he has always been in the public eye. And since that time he has been working like a grown-up.

There were times when he came home from school and he only had time to put his books and get ready for the studio. He often sang until late at night, even if it was past his bedtime. There was a park across the street from the studio, and Michael looked at the kids playing games. And he just stared at them in wonder — he couldn't imagine such freedom, such a carefree life.

Now he says about himself that in the crowd he is afraid, on stage he is safe. Off stage he feels happiest with animals and children. He is well-known for his childish tastes. It's not a secret that his favourite hero is Peter Pan. Michael has been called "the child who never grew up", but I think he is a grown-up who was never allowed to be a child.

Whether he is crazy, childish, eccentric or just shy, he is no fool. He has created a brilliantly successful image, he makes a lot of money and spends it on the things he wants. Who wouldn't like to do the same?

Questions

1. What role does music play in your life?

2. What kind of music do you like?

3. How often do you listen to music?

4. Do you like Michael Jackson's songs?

5. Do you think mat his behaviour is eccentric?

6. Why is Michael Jackson often compared to Peter Pan?

7. Do you think his childhood was happy?

8. When does Michael feel happiest?

9. Are all the stories printed about Michael Jackson true? 10. Do you like the way Michael dances?

THE BIRTH OF THE "SEVENTH ART"

Can you imagine life without films or television, cinema's little sister? Today we can watch television 24 hours a day, we can go to the cinema or put a cassette into our video when we want. We can even make video films ourselves.

But imagine the surprise and the shock that people felt when they saw the first films in 1895! There was no sound, no colour and the films were very short: they lasted from 60 to 90 seconds! Besides, they did not tell a story. They were glimpses of real life: a military parade, a running horse, a boxing match, the ocean... One of the first films showed a train coming towards the camera. The audience panicked and ran away! The frightened people were sure that the train was coming into the theatre.

The early films were shown in music halls, theatres, cafes and even shops. Travelling protectionists brought the films to smaller cities and country towns.

The cinema was the perfect popular entertainment. It was not expensive and, at first, the audience consisted mainly of workers. The rich and intellectual classes ignored it. They didn't think it was art.

Gradually films became longer and started to tell stories. Edwin Porter was one of the first directors who made such a film in 1903. It was The Great Train Robbery, the first Western in the history of the cinema. This 11-minute film became a sensational hit.

As soon as the films learned to tell stories, they began to film the classics.

Silent films had orchestras or pianists. Later, printed titles were invented.

Film-makers soon learned how to use special effects. The first known special effect was created in 1895 by Alfred Clark in The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. It was a simple trick: the camera was stopped and the actress replaced with a doll.

In 1911 the first studio was opened in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Filmmakers soon realised that the place was perfect for shooting nearly any film — it had mountains, desert and ocean. Soon nearly all important American studios were in Hollywood. The next thirty years became Hollywood's greatest years.

The era of the talking film began in 1927 with the enormous success of Warner Brothers' The Jazz Singer. The film mostly told its story with titles, but it had three songs and a short dialogue. There were long queues in front of the Warner Theatre in New York... The silent film was dead within a year.

The first colour films were made in the 1930s. The introduction of colour was less revolutionary than the introduction of sound. The silent film soon disappeared, but the black-and-white films are made even today.

The most important aspect of the cinema was that, for the price of a ticket, people could dream for a few hours. The little boy who went to a Saturday matinee in Manchester or Marseilles could imagine he was a courageous cowboy. The mother in Birmingham or Berlin could imagine she was Scarlett O'Hara in the arms of Rhett Butler.

Today, no one disputes cinema's place as the "seventh art". It has provided as many great artists as literature, the theatre, and any of the other arts.

Questions

1. In 1895 the French Lumiere brothers showed their first films in public. Were they different from modern films?

2. Where were the early films shown?

3. Why did the rich and intellectual classes ignore the cinema?

4. Why did The Great Train Robbery become a sensational hit?

5. When was the first special effect created?

6. When did the first studio open in Hollywood?

7. Why did film-makers like Hollywood?

8. Have you ever seen a silent film? Did you like it?

9. When did the era of the talking film begin?

10. Was the introduction of colour as revolutionary as the introduction of sound?

11. Do you agree that the cinema is "the seventh art"? Why?

12. Do you often go to the cinema?

13. What films do you like to see?

14. Who are your favourite actors?

15. Who are your favourite film directors?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14