Part 6
You are going to read an article about computer games. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (37-42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
Films and computer games
In just a few decades the gaming industry has become a lot bigger than the film business. In terms of turnover, what is rather grandly called ‘interactive entertainment’ makes twice as much money as Hollywood cinema. Which of course leaves people in the film business wondering if they can harvest any of this new income. Is there any way of making films more appealing to people who regularly like to play computer games?
Making a film out of a best-selling computer game can certainly guarantee a large audience. 37 . New games have stunning action sequences that rely on fantasy effects, and now films are being released with similar scenes. Gravity is discarded as heroes leap across huge gaps, while slow-motion techniques show bullets moving through the rippling air.
A major segment of the gaming market comprises science-fiction games, and film-makers have started to realise that they could set films in similar sci-fi future worlds. 38 . Any attempt to borrow more than the setting from a game is probably doomed.
There are many examples of successful film-game combinations. Rather than making a film using characters and stories from a computer game, the trick seems to be to make a film that has a fast-moving action sequence and then bring out a game based on that sequence. People who enjoyed the film will probably want to buy the game. This clearly creates a new market opportunity for the gaming industry.
Why do gamers feel disappointed by films based on their favourite games? 39 . Computer games can show the action from a number of perspectives easily, because everything is computer-generated. But filming a sequence from 20 different cameras would cost a fortune, so it simply isn’t done in the film version – leaving the gamers feeling that the film didn’t look as real as the computer game.
Cameras matter in another sense, too. In a film the director shows you the action from certain perspectives but makes sure he doesn’t show you some things to keep you in suspense. Think of your favourite thriller. 40 . In films you are not supposed to have access to all the information. Suspense and mystery are essential elements of film-making.
41 . When you play a game, you have to do certain tasks to proceed to the next level. Therefore, you must be able to see everything in order to make your choices, to decide what to do next: which door to open, and so on. You must have access to all the information. You, as the player, are always in control. In the cinema you never control the action. You just sit and watch.
There can be some interaction between films and computer games on a number of different levels, but in the end they fulfil different needs. 42 . For all the similarities between technologies and special effects, we shouldn’t forget that a story and a game are fundamentally different.
A We go to the cinema to let someone else tell us a story, knowing we can’t influence what happens at all.
B You wouldn’t be interested in watching the film if you knew the identity of the murderer, for instance.
C This is not true for computer games.
D Its success lies in the use of special effects.
E This usually means that the film has a good chance of being as commercially successful as the game on which it is based.
F One reason is technical.
G However, the difficulty for the producers of Hollywood appears to be knowing where and when to stop.
For this task: Answers with explanations :: Vocabulary