Unit 1  Lights,camera,action!
Reading
Behind the scenes  幕后
Hello,everyone!Let me start by asking you a question:what's the first thing you notice about a film?The acting?The music?Maybe the amazing sets?Whatever your answer is,there's always a lot more to it than first meets the eye.Actually,the film you see on the screen is the product of a huge amount of hard work,most of which takes place behind the scenes.Today,I'll give you a brief introduction to some aspects of film-making you might not be familiar with.
大家好！让我来先问你们一个问题作为开场：对于一部电影你首先会注意什么？表演？配乐？也许是令人惊叹的布景？无论你们的答案是什么，事情总比你们认为的要复杂得多。事实上，你在银幕上看到的电影是大量艰苦工作的产物，其中大部分工作发生在幕后。今天我将就电影制作中你们可能不太熟悉的几个方面作一个简单的介绍。
To begin with,l'd like to draw your attention to an important factor of a film-sound affects.These are often added after a scene has been shot and might not be made in the way you would expect.For example,in Jurassic park,the sounds of different animals,including a baby elephant and a tiger,were mixed by a computer to make a dinosaur roar.The sound of the doors opening in the Star Trek高中英语课文 films was made simply by pulling a sheet of paper out of an envelope.
首先，我想请你们注意电影的一个重要元素—音效。音效通常是在一个场景拍摄完成之后添加的，而且可能是以你意想不到的方式制作的。例如，《侏罗纪公园》中恐龙的吼叫声，是用包括小象和老虎在内的不同动物的声音通过电脑合成的。在《星际迷航》系列电影里，开门的声音不过是通过从信封里抽取纸张来实现的。
Another aspect I attach great importance to is visual special effects.CGI has been frequently used in film—making as a special effects technology.Generally,scenes requiring CGI are filmed in front of a green in the studio.As green doesn't match any natural hair or skin colour,actors can be easily separeted from the background.
This enables CGI effecta to be added later.The Quidditch scenes in the Harry Potter films were made in this way with the actors jumping up and down in front of a green screen.However,the aid of computers isn't always preferred.    Peter Jackson,director of The Lord of the Rings films,took a creative approach—he used clever camara angles to make characters seem bigger or smaller than they really were.
另一个我认为非常重要的方面是视觉特效。CGI（计算机生成影像）最为一种特效技术在电影制作中已经很常用。一般来说，需要使用CGI的场景会在工作室的绿幕前拍摄。因为绿与任何自然的人类发或肤都不同，演员可以轻而易举地与背景分离。这使得在后期添加CGI效果成为可能。“哈利•波特”系列电影中魁地奇比赛的场景就是通过演员在绿幕前上下跳跃这种方式制作的。不过，计算机辅助并不总是受到青睐。《指环王》系列电影的导演彼得•杰克逊采用了一种创造性的方法—他利用各种巧妙的拍摄角度，使剧中角看起来比实际更大或更小。
Props also contribute to a film's success.To make a film look real,great effort must
sometimes be made to research,find and build objects.Director James Camcron spent six months looking at and revising plans of the Titanic in
order to build a full—sized model for his 1997 film.He talked to historians to ensure that the details were correct and even went down to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to see what was left of the ship for himself.It took 500 works 100 days to build the fine model,not to mention the thousands of props inside.
道具也为一部电影的成功助力。为了让电影看起来逼真，有时必须付出巨大的努力去研究、寻和构建物体。导演詹姆斯•卡梅隆花了半年时间研究和修正“泰坦尼克号”的图纸，目的是为他1997年的电影制作一个全尺寸模型。他和历史学家进行交流以确保细节无误，甚至亲自潜到大西洋海底查看“泰坦尼克号”的残骸。为了制作这个精致的模型，500名工人用力100天，更不用说内部还有成千上万的道具了。
My lecture today may not be able to do justice to all the work people have done behind the scenes.Just as the poor passengers on the real Titanic saw the tip of the iceberg,what we see on the cinema screen is just the tip of the huge iceberg of
film—making.Hopefully,next time you go to the cinema,you'll spare a thought for all those talented people behind the scenes.They have worked for months and even years so that you can have two hours of enjoyment!
我今天的讲座，可能无法对所有的幕后工作者给予公正的评价。正如“泰坦尼克号”上可怜的乘客看到的冰山一角一样，我们在影院银幕上看到的也只是电影制作这座巨大冰山的一角而已。希望下次你们走进电影院时，能想一想所有那些才华出众的幕后工作者。他们工作了数月甚至是数年，如此你们才能有两个小时的愉悦时光！
Extended reading  拓展阅读
Forrest Gump(Excerpt) 阿甘正传（节选）
Forrest Gump is a 1994 film starring Tom Hanks.It tells the story of Forrest Gump,a simple man with a warm personality.Despite an IQ of 75,he lives a truly amazing life.He sees,and sometimes influences,some of the major events of the United States in the second half of the 20th century.