Cinema — B1 Vocabulary

B1 VOCABULARY · CINEMA

Two Seats

PICTURE

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"Beautiful to look at, empty inside." "The soundtrack is committed." "The soundtrack is shouting."

Kinds of film · people & things · *be directed by, be set in, be based on, be shot on location* · *be on*

Listening

Speaking

LEAD-IN

Three questions, quick answers

Ask your partner.

1. The last film you saw?

2. The film you've watched the most times in your life?

3. A famous film you've never seen and don't want to?

PICTURE

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VOCABULARY · B1

Which genre is being described?

1. Songs and dancing carry the story. ________

2. Cowboys, deserts, dramatic silences. ________

3. Explosions, car chases, one hero who never dies. ________

4. Designed to make you scream. ________

5. Love story + jokes. ________

6. Set in space or the future, usually with a warning . ________

7. Serious, emotional, often wins the awards. ________

8. Drawn or computer-generated — not only for children. ________

9. Keeps you tense until the final scene. ________

10. Set during a real conflict; violent and moving at once. ________

VOCABULARY · B2

People and things: match the word to the definition.

1. cast

2. star

3. extra

4. plot

5. scene

6. script

7. sequel

8. soundtrack

9. special effects

10. subtitles

11. review

12. audience

a) all the actors in a film

b) the most important actor

c) a person in the background of a crowd

d) the story

e) a part of the film happening in one place

f) the written words of the film

g) the film that continues an earlier film

h) the music

i) computer-created images

j) the translated dialogue at the bottom of the screen

k) an article giving an opinion of the film

l) the people watching in the cinema

BEFORE YOU LISTEN

Two Seats, One Screen

Two critics, Noor and Callum, review the same film on their podcast.

LISTEN FOR

1. What kind of film is it?

2. Do they agree about it?

PICTURE

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LISTENING

Tapescript: "Two Seats, One Screen"

a film podcast

NOOR Welcome back to Two Seats, One Screen — I'm Noor.

CALLUM I'm Callum, and this week: Iron Harbour 2, the sequel absolutely nobody asked for.

NOOR I asked for it! I loved the first one.

CALLUM You reviewed the first one as "a loud headache".

NOOR I grew. OK, the basics: it's an action thriller, directed by Petra Malanova — her first big studio film — and it's set in a fictional port city in the 1980s, though it was actually shot on location in Trieste, which looks absolutely gorgeous.

CALLUM The city is the best actor in it.

NOOR Oh, here we go.

CALLUM The plot, listeners. A retired diver has to find a sunken ship before some very evil men do. That's it. That's the film. It's based on a novel — a four-hundred-page novel — and they've kept the title and, I think, one scene.

NOOR The script is thin, I'll give you that. But Malanova knows exactly what she's doing. The underwater scenes are genuinely exciting — I mean edge-of-your-seat — and here's the thing: almost no computer graphics. Real divers, real water. After ten years of weightless digital nonsense, the special effects feel heavy and dangerous, because they're barely effects at all.

CALLUM The diving is spectacular, agreed. It's the talking I object to. Amara Sy plays the part of the diver, and she's a genuine star — the camera loves her — but they've given her nothing to say except coordinates.

NOOR And yet the audience at my screening applauded. Twice. When did you last hear that?

CALLUM At my screening a man's phone went off and honestly, the ringtone had a better plot. And a word about the soundtrack: relentless. The music tells you what to feel every single second. There's a scene — no spoilers — where a character simply opens a door, and the orchestra reacts like the ship's sinking again.

NOOR The soundtrack is committed.

CALLUM The soundtrack is shouting.

NOOR Final verdicts. Mine: flawed script, thrilling film — see it on the biggest screen you can find. Four stars.

CALLUM Beautiful to look at, empty inside. Wait until it's on at home, watch the diving scenes, mute the rest. Two stars.

NOOR Next week: a three-hour black-and-white historical drama with subtitles. Callum has already booked a haircut he doesn't need.

CALLUM It's a very long film, Noor.

COMPREHENSION

Noor (N), Callum (C), or both (B)?

1. Thinks the diving scenes are excellent. ______

2. Criticises the amount of dialogue given to the star. ______

3. Praises the film for using few computer-generated effects. ______

4. Finds the music too controlling. ______

5. Recommends seeing it in the cinema. ______

6. Will not enjoy next week's film. ______

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Reconstruct the fact-file, then the adjectives.

1. It was ________ by Petra Malanova. · It is ________ in a fictional port city in the 1980s.

2. It was ________ on ________ in Trieste. · It is ________ on a novel.

3. Amara Sy ________ the ________ of the diver.

4. In some countries foreign films are ________ into the local language; in others they are shown with ________ .

5. Adjectives: a comedy that works ( ________ ) · a horror film that works ( ________ ) · a drama that makes you cry ( ________ ) · an action film with too much blood ( ________ )

6. Be on: Callum says "wait until it's on at home." What does be on mean? Make two true sentences: ________ is on at the cinema at the moment. There's ________ on TV tonight.

PRACTICE · F1

Complete with a word from B2.

1. The ________ was so complicated that I gave up trying to follow it and just enjoyed the explosions.

2. She started as an ________ in crowd scenes; now she's the ________ of the biggest franchise in the world.

3. I always read the ________ before booking — two stars means Saturday cleaning instead.

4. The ________ was recorded by a full orchestra; I bought it and listen to it while running.

5. They're already filming the ________ — same cast, bigger budget.

6. I prefer ________ to dubbing; I want to hear the actors' real voices.

PRACTICE · F2

Complete with the correct form of: direct · set · base · shoot · dub · play.

1. The film is ________ in Warsaw in 1944.

2. It's ________ on a true story, apparently loosely.

3. It was ________ entirely on location in Jordan.

4. It was ________ by a first-time director — you'd never guess.

5. In Spain the film was ________ into Spanish; I saw the original version.

6. He ________ the part of the villain so well that strangers were rude to him for a year.

SPEAKING

Two seats

In pairs, pick a film you have both seen. Sixty seconds each: one of you praises it, the other attacks it — regardless of your real opinions.

• At least six target words each. Then reveal your true verdicts.

• Class round: which pair's fake argument was most convincing?

• Alternative — "The pitch": invent a sequel to a famous film that should never have one. Four sentences: genre, plot, cast, where it is set and shot. The class greenlights one project.

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

B1 1 musical · 2 western · 3 action film · 4 horror film · 5 rom-com · 6 science fiction film · 7 drama · 8 animation · 9 thriller · 10 war film

B2 1 cast · 2 star · 3 extra · 4 plot · 5 scene · 6 script · 7 sequel · 8 soundtrack · 9 special effects · 10 subtitles · 11 review · 12 audience

GIST An action thriller — a sequel. They disagree: Noor gives four stars and says see it on the biggest screen; Callum gives two and says wait until it is on at home.

COMPREHENSION 1 B · 2 C · 3 N · 4 C · 5 N · 6 C

LANGUAGE FOCUS 1 directed · 2 set · 3 shot / location · 4 based · 5 played / part · 6 dubbed / subtitles. Adjectives: funny · scary · moving · violent. Be on = being shown, at the cinema or on TV.

F1 1 plot · 2 extra / star · 3 review(s) · 4 soundtrack · 5 sequel · 6 subtitles

F2 1 set · 2 based · 3 shot · 4 directed · 5 dubbed · 6 played

HOMEWORK Write a review (100–140 words) of the last film or series you watched: genre, plot in one sentence with no spoilers, what was good or bad, star rating. At least ten target items.