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Guy films are composed of macho films that are often packed with sophomoric humor, action, cartoon violence, competition, mean-spirited putdowns and gratuitous nudity and sex. Gal films or 'chick' flicks are their counterpart for females. This category of film is highly subject to opinion, although there are many classic, testosterone-laden 'guy' films that most viewers would agree upon.

Melodramas are a sub-type of drama films, characterized by a plot to appeal to the emotions of the audience. Often, film studies criticism used the term 'melodrama' pejoratively to connote an unrealistic, pathos-filled tales of romance or domestic situations with stereotypical characters that would directly appeal to feminine audiences («weepies» or «woman's films»).

Road films have been a staple of American films from the very start, and have ranged in genres from westerns, comedies, gangster/crime films, dramas, and action-adventure films. One thing they all have in common: an episodic journey on the open road (or undiscovered trail), to search for escape or to engage in a quest for some kind of goal – either a distinct destination, or the attainment of love, freedom, mobility, redemption, the finding or rediscovering of oneself, or coming-of-age (psychologically or spiritually).

Romance film is a sub-genre for the most part, this category shares some features with romantic dramas, romantic comedies, and sexual/erotic films. These are love stories, or affairs of the heart that center on passion, emotion, and the romantic, affectionate involvement of the main characters (usually a leading man and lady), and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story the main plot focus.

Sport films are the films that have a sports setting (football or baseball stadium, arena, or the Olympics, etc.), event (the 'big game, ''fight, ''race, 'or 'competition'), and/or athlete (boxer, racer, surfer, etc.) that are central and predominant in the story. Sports films may be fictional or non-fictional; and they are a hybrid sub-genre category, although they are often dramas or comedy films, and occasionally documentaries or biopics.

Supernatural films, a sub-genre category, may be combined with other genres, including comedy, sci fi, fantasy or horror. They have themes including gods or goddesses, ghosts, apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other similar ideas or depictions of extraordinary phenomena. Interestingly however, until recently, supernatural films were usually presented in a comical, whimsical, or a romantic fashion, and were not designed to frighten the audience. There are

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also many hybrids that have combinations of fear, fantasy, horror, romance, and comedy.

Thrillers are often hybrids with other genres – there are action-thrillers, crime-caper thrillers, western-thrillers, film-noir thrillers, even romantic com- edy-thrillers. Another closely-related genre is the horror film genre. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations. They are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. The acclaimed Master of Suspense is Alfred Hitchcock. Spy films may be considered a type of thriller/suspense film.

Notes:

1.film noir – фильм нуар, «черное кино» (жанр кино; появился во время Второй мировой войны; криминальная драма, жесткий психологический детектив, отражающие мрачные общественные настроения);

2.sophomoric humor – характерный для студента второкурсника юмор;

3.feminine audience – женская аудитория.

HORRORS!

Everyone thinks about supernatural – things that cannot be explained. Things that are frightening. People have always been fascinated by the supernatural. The men and women of the ancient Greek literature believed in and feared the power of supernatural. Today, in parts of the world like Haiti in the West Indies, people believe strongly in the power of magic of woodoo; you and I are afraid of the things we cannot explain. But we are fascinated by the fear. Stories of mysterious and horrible events frighten us and attract us.

The best of these stories appeared in 1818. This is «Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus» written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly, wife of the famous English poet Shelly.

Many authors have written this sort of horror story since Frankenstein. Edgar Allan Poe, the American poet and novelist, is famous all over the world for his stories of terror. Oscar Wild wrote «The Picture of Dorian Gray». This is the story of a man who wants to remain young forever. In a way he does it. He lives a terrible life of vice and stays young. But a hidden painting of him changes and becomes old and horribly ugly. Six years after Dorian Gray Bram

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Stoker wrote «Dracula». Many other novels and films continued his story of blood-sucking vampires.

Horror films have always been popular since the silent film «The Cabinet of Dr. Caligary». The names of excellent actors like Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff will always remind cinema-goers of the best horror movies.

There have been many horror films, which have no real plot – only a lot of blood and screams. There have been also some very serious films about the supernatural. But now there is a new type of horror film, funny horror. They are like the old films but the actors do too many «horrific» things. So the old situations look extremely funny, not frightening.

Writers and film-makers will continue to use horror – in a serious way or in a funny way. And the public will continue to buy the horror stories and queue up for the horror movies. The fascination continues. Horror is here to stay!

Notes:

1.frighten us and attract – пугать и привлекать;

2.blood-sucking – кровососущий;

3.horrific – ужасающий, приводящий в ужас, наводящий ужас.

SOAP OPERAS

Soap operas are plays that continue their story from day today. Originally they were sponsored by soap advertisers. They are called «operas» because they present highly emotional situations like European operas. While soap opera is a currently universally accepted slang expression for daytime television serial or dramas, it originated as disparaging and dismissive term.

All the programs began to feature teenagers in important roles. Soon, the young characters became involved in the plot lines that make up the world of soaps. Next, they were involved with some very adult problems, among them pregnancy, drugs, and almost every possible aspect of sex and romance. How could teenage viewers resist such thrills? They couldn't – and they didn't.

The reason for the soaps' success in winning the teen audience is clear: they offer escapist entertainment featuring young characters with whom teens would like to identify. Teenagers see their lives not just mirrored, but exaggerated and made glamorized. The serials provide an escape from the routine of school, family life and homework. Christine Clark says, «when I'm bored, I

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come home from school and it's fun to watch them – they're really exciting, and funny or sad, you really get into them».

Soap characters come into teenagers' living rooms like friends. Psychologists believe that teenagers have a strong emotional involvement with soap characters. The soaps allow them to encounter situations and emotions, that is, soaps help them to test their own feelings and future roles.

The years from twelve to nineteen are ones of great questioning of identity. It's also a time of communication break down with authority figures. Soap operas serve as model for situations teens might face.

Young women engage in all sorts of professions on the soaps; there are female doctors, lawyers, and even race-car drivers. The soaps feature all kinds of men, too: good guys and bad – and lots of fellows with a combination of evil and sweet qualities. In watching soaps, teenage girls discover how they feel about various male characteristics, without having to deal with the real thing.

Soap operas seem to appeal to all groups, and watching them can bring some families closer together. Some people think that soaps bridge the gap between generations – grandparent and parents can talk with the kids. Sometimes the whole family travels to soap festivals across the country.

A lot of parents don't like their daughters to watch soaps, though. But kids watch them anyway. And eventually, the parents get involved, sometimes, too.

Notes:

1.soap opera – мыльная опера, «мыло», сериал (многосерийная телепостановка на семейные и бытовые темы обычно сентиментального характера);

2.to involve somebody in something – вовлекать кого-либо во что-

либо;

3.to serve a model – служить моделью, образцом;

4.to appeal to all groups – нравиться всем группам.

MUSICAL FILM

Musical film is a motion picture consisting of a plot integrating musical numbers. Although usually considered an American genre, musical films from Japan, Italy, France, Great Britain, and Germany have contributed to the development of the type. The first musical film, «The Jazz Singer»

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(1927), starring Al Jolson, introduced the sound era of motion pictures. It was followed by a series of musicals hastily made to capitalize on the novelty of sound. One of the few outstanding films of this early period was «Broadway Melody» (1929), which won the Academy Award for best picture of 1928–29.

In the early 1930s the German director G. W. Pabst presented a serious musical film, «The Threepenny Opera» (1931), from the ballad opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. The most popular films of this period, though, were the extravagantly imaginative U. S. films of Busby Berkeley (1895– 1976), a former Broadway dance director who presented elaborately staged dance sequences within the framework of well-worn stories. The Berkeley spectaculars are «Footlight Parade» (1933), and «Forty-second Street» (1933). The films of the singing or dancing teams of the mid-1930s gradually came to replace the Berkeley spectacles in popularity.

The musicals of the late '30s and early '40s, including «The Wizard of Oz» (1939), «Babes on Broadway» (1941), the sentimental «Going My Way» (1944) showed evidence of the trend toward greater unification of plot and music. Well-remembered films from the immediate post-World War II period are «Easter Parade» (1948); «An American in Paris» (1951) and «Singin' in the Rain» (1952).

By the mid-1950s the demand for original musical films was declining, although film adaptations of a number of Broadway hits such as «West Side Story» (1961), «My Fair Lady» (1964), «The Sound of Music» (1965), and «Hello, Dolly!» (1969) were great box office successes.

There was also a growing subtlety in musicals, as in the French film «The Umbrellas of Cherbourg» (1964); a tendency to use the musical to exploit the appeal of a popular singing star, as in the many films of Elvis Presley; and experimentation with the merging of innovative popular music and filmmaking techniques, as in the pictures of the English singing group the Beatles. In the late 1960s and early '70s the musical suffered a decline in both popularity and artistry, despite the occasional success of such films as Bob Fosse's «Cabaret» (1971). More recently it has been the music itself – rock, disco, or classical – that has inspired the production of such films as «Saturday Night Fever» (1978), «Amadeus» (1984).

Notes:

1. occasional success – случайный успех.

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PEOPLE WHO MAKE A MOTION PICTURE

Many different people contribute their skills and talents to the making of a film. The stars and other actors who appear on the screen are only part of the story; most of those who work on a production do not appear on camera. The most prominent roles behind the scenes are the producer, screenwriter, director, unit production manager, casting director, director of photography, cameraman, designers, assistant directors, film and sound editors, and music composer. Because every film is a unique project, the roles may overlap or differ depending on the individuals involved.

Producer

The producer is responsible for turning a film idea into a successful motion picture. The producer must find money to pay for the production, hire actors and the production team, supervise the production process, and make arrangements for distributing the finished film to theaters.

If the producer has obtained financing from a studio or film distributor, that organization may want a representative to be on hand during production. This person is called the executive producer. In addition, anyone who contributes substantially in any manner to the motion picture – with their time, money, or influence – may receive the credit of associate producer or some similar title.

Screenwriter

Screenwriters develop original ideas for the screen or adapt previously written pieces of work as motion pictures. Adaptations may come from novels, stage plays, musicals, or many other sources. Screenwriters work in two ways. They can be commissioned to write a script or they can write a script on spec (short for «on speculation»), meaning that the screenwriter is hoping that someone will like the independently written script enough to buy the rights to it and arrange for production. Once a screenplay has been purchased, the producer may decide to have it rewritten either by the original writer or by new writers.

The first step in writing a script is to create an outline, which is a oneor two-page description of the action or plot. This is followed by a treatment, which is a detailed description of the film, containing some passages of dia-

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logue with all the scenes sketched out and the subplots developed. Then the writer begins the script itself, which fills in all the details. It sets forth the time and place of the action, describes the characters’ physical appearances, and supplies all the dialogue and action. Scripts also indicate where cameras should be positioned and what camera movements should occur while filming. Scripts indicate transition devices between scenes such as dissolves (when one image gradually replaces another), fade-ins (when an image gradually replaces the blank screen), fade-outs (when a blank screen gradually replaces the image), and straight cuts from one scene to the next.

Film Director

The fate of every film is to be strongly marked by the artistic style of the director. All that has been done during the preparatory period – the working out of the shooting script, the casting of the leading and supporting actors and the designing of the sets and costumes – was done either under his supervision or with his close cooperation.

His task is to interpret the story in the filmic language. The director's treatment of the story to be filmed should be true to life, impressive and vivid.

A director has to work with men and women, the actors and actresses cast for his picture. He may use different means to get the proper emotional reaction from the members of his cast. The director is expected to give the right tempo and rhythm of action. The player should not be worried about tempo as it may interfere in his acting in the particular scene. The director must be certain that each shot smoothly joins the previous one.

He must know how to increase the power of the story and its message by the proper shooting angles of the camera, the timing and variations of his shots- close-ups, long shots, medium shots.

But the director's work is not over with the shooting period. It is he who should decide where and what sound effects and music are to be used. He has to supervise both the soundrecording and editing. Some directors are known to do the latter themselves. In fact, there is almost no phase of film production with which he is not directly connected.

Unit Production Manager

The unit production manager (UPM), who reports to the producer, is responsible for scheduling, budgeting, selecting many of the crew members, and

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arranging for permits from various authorities and owners to shoot at locations outside the studio. The UPM also oversees the purchase of goods and services, handles the day-to-day business of running the production office, and ensures that the project stays within its budget.

Casting Director

The casting director selects actors and negotiates contracts during the hiring process, although the final choice – particularly when selecting stars for lead roles – usually falls to the director and the producer. When selecting actors for a film, casting directors take many factors into account, such as an actor’s suitability for the role, box-office appeal, acting ability, and experience.

Actors

The actors play the roles of the film. To create believable characters, they rely on the details in the script, the director’s vision, and their own sense of the role. In most films, the actor’s job is to make the audience believe that the character is a real person speaking unrehearsed lines in a natural setting. An actor normally accomplishes this through voice, movement, and the portrayal of emotion. But other artistic qualities also affect the audience's judgment. These qualities are often difficult to describe or define, but they include charm, depth of feeling, originality, plausibility, and physical appearance.

Acting is a complex art. The mastery of voice projection, various manners of speaking, gesture, movement, and other abilities is only part of the craft. Other basic acting skills include an ability to memorize lines, develop a sense of timing, and express a character’s social status, age, and temperament.

Stunt People

Many films involve actions that could result in injury. These actions may be as dramatic as jumping off a cliff or as commonplace as tripping and falling down. During many potentially dangerous scenes, specially trained stuntmen and stuntwomen fill in for the actors. This ensures that the stunt will be performed as safely as possible, and that the actors will not risk injury. Nevertheless, some stars, such as Chinese actor Jackie Chan, insist on doing their own stunts.

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