Innovations Stage 5 Comprehension PDF

STAGE 5 Unit focus: The Movies! Text focus: Information Text Innovations The first motion picture shot with a single camera was called Roundhay Garden Scene. The 2-second...

STAGE 5 Unit focus: The Movies! Text focus: Information Text Innovations The first motion picture shot with a single camera was called Roundhay Garden Scene. The 2-second clip shows a group of four people walking around in a garden and was considered almost magic when it was shot in 1888. If you want to see it, you can find it easily enough on the Internet. Since then, the advances in technology have meant that films are not only a great way to pass the time, they can be truly immersive experiences. The Golden Age The first steps towards greatness began in what is known as Hollywood’s Golden Age. This was an age of invention and innovation. It all began with the invention of silent movies. Unlike Roundhay Garden Scene, these were much longer - long enough to warrant building cinemas for people to view them in. Some of the most luxurious cinemas were built during this period and were often based on classical stage theatres. This was the period when stars such as Charlie Chaplin made their name. Not only were these films popular in the United States, but they also became popular all over the world. Those first film stars were perhaps the very first international celebrities. In 1926, new technology was unleashed on the world that changed cinema forever. Warner Brothers developed a system called Vitaphone, which meant sound could be played alongside a film for the first time ever. Before that, a live band had to sit in the theatre and perform in time, if the cinema wanted sound at all. Some films were screened in total silence. Now, it could be recorded on a set and played back wherever the film was screened. The first film to contain sound was called Don Juan; however, it only contained recorded music. The first film to contain recorded speech - the first “talkie”, as they became known - was called The Jazz Singer. It was released in 1927. Even then, only about a quarter of the speech was recorded. The rest was still displayed on the screen. In 1928, a film called Lights of New York was released as the first ever with completely recorded dialogue. 3D 3D movies have been sought after for a long time. Even though it may seem like new technology, the 3D films you may see today at the cinema are actually just a new way of doing it. The idea has been around for a lot longer. all resources ©2021 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com The way a 3D film works depends on tricking your brain. Each of your eyes sees a slightly different angle of the world in front of you. You can test this by placing a finger in front of your nose and closing one eye at a time. You should notice that you can see a different side of the finger with each one. When you look through both eyes together, your brain combines the images, and it gives you a three-dimensional view of the world. This is what allows us to have something called depth-perception. Without this, it is a lot harder to control your hands to pick things up, for instance. Try grabbing something with one eye closed, and you’re likely to miss or knock it over. It may surprise you to hear that the first 3D film was actually released in 1922. That means we’ve had 3D films for longer than we’ve had sound at the cinema! Modern 3D technology relies on something called polarisation. When light travels, the waves move at a specific angle. Modern 3D screens emit light in two different angles, and the glasses you wear only allow one type through each light. This way, your eyes see slightly different things, and your brain is tricked. Before this technology became available, filmmakers had to use different colours to trick the brain. This meant that early 3D films had to be in black and white. Look at the image below and think back to your finger in front of your nose. The red image is what you might see through your left eye, and the blue is through your right eye. They are slightly different. 3D films are shot using two cameras that are positioned as far apart as human eyes. When the two images are combined, you get the image you see in the middle. If you then wear a pair of glasses like the ones below, you can trick your brain. Your left eye only sees the red part of the image, and your right eye the blue. How clever! The golden era of these early “anaglyph” films (as the technology is known) was the 1950s. Since the 1980s, studios have been trying to reinvent the technology, but the success of these films has been hit and miss. all resources ©2021 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com  SUMMARY FOCUS 1. What was special about Roundhay Garden Scene? 2. Why was the Golden Age of Hollywood called that? 3. Which important film was released before The Jazz Singer? Why was it important? 4. Explain how 3D films trick your brain. VIPERS QUESTIONS V Find and copy a word that means you might feel like you are inside a film. R True or false: early 3D films were often in full colour. R When were 3D films most popular? V Find and copy a phrase that means modern 3D films haven’t all been successful. I Why might somebody who is blind in one eye struggle with picking up an object? all resources ©2021 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com