Unit 8 Arts

VOCABULARY

I Who are these people?

1 The person in charge of an orchestra

2 A singer who performs in a group

3 Someone who makes sculptures

4 A picture that you draw yourself

5 Art that represents objects rather than people or places

6 The lyrics are the part of the song which

7 Is Dan in the ……………………… of the play? I can’t see his

name in the list of actors in the programme.

II Choose the correct alternatives to complete the text.

1)

Last night, we went to the cinema to see that film that

everyone’s talking about. I thought it was going to be

wonderful, but I was (1) disappointed/disappointing by the

acting. I took my younger sister, which was a mistake as she

found it quite (2) frightened/frightening. Mike had told me

that it was a great film, which is (3) surprised/surprising as

he usually recommends very good films. I was

(4) bored/boring after the first half hour and I hadn’t looked

at how long it was. It was three hours long! I thought it was

never going to end. At the end, I was so (5) tired/tiring that I

nearly fell asleep. I wouldn't recommend that you go and see

it!

2)

Last night, we went to the cinema to see that film that

everyone’s talking about. I thought it was going to be

wonderful, but I was (1) disappointed/disappointing by the

acting. I took my younger sister, which was a mistake as she

found it quite (2) frightened/frightening. Mike had told me

that it was a great film, which is (3) surprised/surprising as

he usually recommends very good films. I was

(4) bored/boring after the first half hour and I hadn’t looked

at how long it was. It was three hours long! I thought it was

never going to end. At the end, I was so (5) tired/tiring that I

nearly fell asleep. I wouldn't recommend that you go and see

it!

3)

Last night, we went to the cinema to see that film that

everyone’s talking about. I thought it was going to be

wonderful, but I was (1) disappointed/disappointing by the

acting. I took my younger sister, which was a mistake as she

found it quite (2) frightened/frightening. Mike had told me

that it was a great film, which is (3) surprised/surprising as

he usually recommends very good films. I was

(4) bored/boring after the first half hour and I hadn’t looked

at how long it was. It was three hours long! I thought it was

never going to end. At the end, I was so (5) tired/tiring that I

nearly fell asleep. I wouldn't recommend that you go and see

it!

4)

Last night, we went to the cinema to see that film that

everyone’s talking about. I thought it was going to be

wonderful, but I was (1) disappointed/disappointing by the

acting. I took my younger sister, which was a mistake as she

found it quite (2) frightened/frightening. Mike had told me

that it was a great film, which is (3) surprised/surprising as

he usually recommends very good films. I was

(4) bored/boring after the first half hour and I hadn’t looked

at how long it was. It was three hours long! I thought it was

never going to end. At the end, I was so (5) tired/tiring that I

nearly fell asleep. I wouldn't recommend that you go and see

it!

5)

Last night, we went to the cinema to see that film that

everyone’s talking about. I thought it was going to be

wonderful, but I was (1) disappointed/disappointing by the

acting. I took my younger sister, which was a mistake as she

found it quite (2) frightened/frightening. Mike had told me

that it was a great film, which is (3) surprised/surprising as

he usually recommends very good films. I was

(4) bored/boring after the first half hour and I hadn’t looked

at how long it was. It was three hours long! I thought it was

never going to end. At the end, I was so (5) tired/tiring that I

nearly fell asleep. I wouldn't recommend that you go and see

it!

GRAMMAR

III Choose the correct sentences in the reported speech.

1 I've never written a play before.

2 I am writing a play

3 I may go to the USA next year.

4 What are you doing here?

6 Don't sing this song!

7 Is this your bag?

IV Read the opinions about a 3D film. Match the comments (1–6) to the people (A–D). You can choose the people more than once

A Jay

I’ve always been a film fan and I love all types of film, from horror to romantic comedy, from modern animations to black-and-white Hollywood classics. However, I’d never seen a 3D film until I went to see Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton. I know 3D films aren’t new – the technology has been around for a long time. In fact, my grandmother told me about her experience in the 1980s of going to see Jaws in 3D. She had to wear strange cardboard glasses with one red plastic lens and one green plastic lens! But anyway, Alice was my first experience of 3D and I have to say it was disappointing. I was expecting something dark and different from Tim Burton’s version of the classic Alice story, but actually, I thought the 3D treatment made the film seem childish – like a cartoon.

B Molly

I’m glad that my first 3D experience was Alice in Wonderland, because it showed me both the good and not so good aspects of 3D films. I went into the cinema with a great sense of expectation. Alice in Wonderland has always been one of my favourite books and I knew that the crazy world Alice finds herself in after falling down the rabbit hole, would be an ideal subject for 3D effects. I was right – the special effects created incredible, surreal scenes with a mixture of real actors and animations. The colours were brilliant and I felt I could reach out my hand and touch the people and objects, like I was right inside the world of the film itself. It was magical and really brought the book to life for me – I loved the whole experience!

C Karim

I thought Tim Burton’s interpretation of the story was a bit weird. In this version of Alice they extended Lewis Carroll’s original story to include a part about Alice’s life as a young teenager in the 'real' world of Victorian England. That part wasn’t in the

book and here I felt the 3D treatment was unnecessary. It was quite appropriate to the fantasy world where Alice finds herself after she falls down the rabbit hole, but not to the ‘real’ world of Victorian England. It would have been a nice contrast if only the scenes that took place in the fantasy had been in 3D. Actually the 3D glasses annoyed me because they made some of the film look very dark. For scenes where the characters were inside, I had to keep taking my glasses off to see what was going on!

D Jonas

I’m definitely in favour of 3D technology and I’ve seen some wonderful 3D films at the cinema – the hugely successful Avatar was probably my favourite. However, not all films work so well in 3D and I don’t think it should be used indiscriminately, only

if it really adds something to the story. I think in Alice in Wonderland it was appropriate as it really gave the audience a sense of entering into that world of dreams and fantasy where anything is possible, that Alice finds herself in Wonderland. The 3D treatment also worked well with the characters who were created from real actors then digitally enhanced. It was a very creative, unusual film.