8. Answer the following questions taking into account the information given in Part 1 of Text 1:

1. When did the era of realistically moving photographs begin? Who managed to substitute an eye-piece by a projector?

2. What are the distinctive features of the first one-reel films?

3. Who is the creator of the first “space travel” film?

4. When did the first feature films appear? What country/city gained the position of the largest film industry?

5. In what way did the Soviet cinema develop?

9. Read Part 2 of Text 1 and fill in the gaps (1-7) with the following word combinations:

the musical film; global appeal; the stringent limitations; total changeover; the “Vitaphone” system; the classic movie stars; orchestral scores.

Part 2.The sound era. Further development

Experimentation with sound film technology, both for recording and playback, was virtually constant throughout the silent era. Eventually, in 1926, Hollywood studio Warner Bros. introduced (1) ____________, producing short films of live entertainment acts and public figures and adding recorded sound effects and (2) ____________ to some of its major features. During late 1927, Warners released The Jazz Singer, which was mostly silent but contained the first synchronized dialogue (and singing) in a feature film. The trend convinced the largely reluctant industrialists that “talking pictures”, or “talkies”, were the future.

The change was remarkably swift. By the end of 1929, Hollywood was almost “all-talkie”, with several competing sound systems. (3) ____________ was slightly slower in the rest of the world, principally for economic reasons. Cultural reasons were also a factor in countries like China and Japan, where “silences” co-existed successfully with sound well into the 1930s.

Thus began what is now often called “The Golden Age of Hollywood”, which refers roughly to the period beginning with the introduction of sound until the late 1940s. The American cinema reached its peak of efficiently manufactured glamour and (4) ____________ during this period. The top actors of the era are now thought of as (5) ____________, such as Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and the greatest box office success of the 1930s, child performer Shirley Temple.

Creatively, however, the rapid transition was a difficult one. The films were full of static, stagey “talkies” as actors in front of and behind the camera struggled with (6) ____________ of the early sound equipment and their own uncertainty as to how to use the new medium. Many major silent filmmakers and actors were unable to adjust and found their careers ended.

Most obviously, sound benefited different genres. (7) ____________ was born; the first classic-style Hollywood musical was The Broadway Melody (1929). Nowadays, the idea of a film with no sound is only absurd to us. On the whole, synchronous sound emphasized the importance of films as an art form.

(http://www.filmbug.com/dictionary/moviehistory.php)

10. Answer the following questions taking into account the information given in Part 2 of Text 1:

1. When and why did “the sound era” begin?

2. What does “The Golden Age of Hollywood” mean?

3. Can you describe the transition from “the silences” to “the talkies”?