Assignment

Read the text below.

Motion Picture, a series of images that are projected onto a screen to create the
illusion of motion. Motion pictures—also called movies, films, or the cinema—are one
of the most popular forms of entertainment, enabling people to immerse themselves
in an imaginary world for a short period of time. But movies can also teach people
about history, science, human behavior, and many other subjects. Some films
combine entertainment with instruction, to make the learning process more
enjoyable. In all its forms, cinema is an art as well as a business, and those who
make motion pictures take great pride in their creations.

The images that make up a motion picture are all individual photographs. But when
they appear rapidly in succession, the human eye does not detect that they are
separate images. This results from persistence of vision, a phenomenon whereby
the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been
removed. Although we do not experience the images as individual photographs, we
do notice the differences between them. The brain then perceives these differences
as motion.

Motion pictures are recorded using specially designed cameras that capture the
images on rolls of film. After being processed and printed, the film is run through a
projector, which shines light through the film so that the images are displayed on a
screen. Most movies have accompanying sound.
There are many types of motion pictures, but the most significant categories are
feature films, animated films, documentaries, experimental films, industrial films, and
educational films.

Feature films are the movies most commonly shown in large movie theaters. They
typically last at least one and one-half hours and tell a fictional story or a story based
on real events but portrayed by actors. The list of prominent feature films is far too
long to recount in this article, but some of the best-known include The Birth of a
Nation (1914), Metropolis (1926), Citizen Kane (1941), Casablanca (1942), On the
Waterfront (1954), The Sound of Music (1965), The Godfather (1972), Star Wars
(1977), Gandhi (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), and Titanic (1997).

Animated movies follow the same format as features, but use images created by
artists. These films create the illusion of movement from a series of two-dimensional
drawings, three-dimensional objects, or computer-generated images. The first
animated feature was the German film Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The
Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926). Other notable ones include Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Dumbo (1941), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Yellow
Submarine (1968), Heavy Traffic (1973), the Czech film Neco z Alenky (Alice, 1988),
the Japanese film Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki’s Delivery Service, 1989), Beauty and the
Beast (1991), and The Lion King (1994). In some films, animated characters interact
with human actors, as in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). For more detailed
information on animated films, see Animation.
Another form of film is the documentary, which deals primarily with fact, not fiction.
Documentaries do not often appear in theaters, but they are seen regularly on cable
and broadcast television. Some well-known documentaries are Nanook of the North
(1922), The Silent World (1956), Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976), Eyes on the Prize
(1987), and Hoop Dreams (1994).

An experimental film is a sequence of images, literal or abstract, which do not

necessarily form a narrative. An experimental film can be animated, live action,
computer generated, or a combination of all three. Five noteworthy experimental
films are the French film Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog, 1929), Meshes of
the Afternoon (1943), A Movie (1958), Eraserhead (1978), and Privilege (1991).

Answer questions number 1 – 10 briefly based on the text above.

1. What does the text mainly discuss?
2. What is motion picture?
3. Why do the movie makers combine entertainment with instruction?
4. The human eye does not detect that they are separate images. What does the
word they in the preceding sentence refer?
5. What is the function of camera in making motion pictures? Explain.
6. What is the name of a device which shines light through the film so that the
images are displayed on a screen? Explain.
7. They typically last at least one and one-half hours and tell a fictional story or a
story based on real events but portrayed by actors. What does the word they in
the preceding sentence refer?
8. What is animated movies? Explain.
9. Are documentaries films non-fiction? Explain.
10. An experimental film can be animated, live action, computer generated, or a
combination of all three. What do the underlined words in the preceding
sentence mean?