Exercise 23. Translate these questions into English

What Makes a Successful Movie?

Making a movie has always entailed a lot of risks. There is not one single magic formula that determines what makes a successful movie.First and foremost it needs to be an entertaining movie. A broad term, but what is entertaining to some may not be entertaining to others. Star power. Everyone who has seen a lot of films follows his favorite star and is ready to see any movie with his/her participation totally disregarding the content of that particular movie. Timing, it sounds cliché, but timing is everything. Huge action movies have been doing best in summer because kids are out of school and serious Oscar contenders have been doing best around the holidays.

Movie Storyline

A good movie storyline and a well-made script is at the heart of every successful movie. The script must appeal to a wide variety of audiences. It must focus on a particular genre such as mystery, romance, horror or it could be multi-genre. Successful movies have been tugging at the heartstrings of the audience since the birth of filmmaking as viewers can easily identify with the characters.

Making a movie

Even if Tom Cruise is your favorite actor you do not want to sit through 120 minutes watching him in a boring movie with a poor storyline. Granted, there are so many movies that have such a huge buzz going into their opening weekend that people will go and see them. But when word gets out that people haven’t enjoyed the movie the second week’s attendance will be drastically less. If a film hasstayed in the top 5 for two weeks and the top ten for 5 weeks it is a successful one. And you cannot be relevant when people are telling everyone what a bad movie it is. Word of mouth kills a box office.

Star Power of Popular Actors

Famous actors almost guarantee a successful movie. This is because popular actors have huge following as they have been giving quality performances for ages. Angelina Jolie can open any movie and movie executives know it. She took a small movie that wasn’t getting that much press, “Wanted”, and turned it into one of the biggest movies of the summer. Popular actors all have their box office bombs.

Take for instance, the blockbuster comedy flick “Legally Blonde”. The movie is a showcase of Reese Witherspoon’s acting power. The script although funny is a bit uninspired. The stereotypical ditzy-blonde storyline has already been an overused plot in Hollywood.

The movie has attempted to marry fun (represented by the blonde) with stern Harvard. Surprisingly, the somewhat preposterous notion has actually worked, thanks largely to Witherspoon’s masterful interpretation which carries the weight of the entire film and makes all the difference.

Witherspoon’s performance hasmade the whole story believable. In the hands of a lesser actress, the movie would have come out trivial at best or boring at worst.

There is one secret that makes a movie successful. True star power depends on how you can bounce back with your next movie. The total gross of a successful movie can also be affected by stars’ personal lives. If they have just been in the tabloids, for better or for worse, it helps at the box office. If they have been talking about their love life then they promote your movie opening next week.

Director

A well-known director is another important element of making a movie. A director who has beenhaving a string of cinema successes in their belt often attracts good talent. The downside is they also demand higher pay. For budget-constrained films, it is good to hire first-time directors who have a background in TV or stage plays. They have already gained the necessary experience in another medium. This enables them to adapt quickly to the rigors of film-making. Also, these directors have long been trying to be in public eye, and these attempts may contribute to the publicity of a movie.

Budget

Film production costs a lot of money, which has made the financial side an important aspect of a successful movie. Having a budget that can adequately cover high talent fees and at the same time enable directors to come up with creative ways of making a movie has proved efficient.

Release Date

Why do you think studios have been releasing all of their big budget action movies in summer? Because there are more people able to see them at any given time throughout the day. School is not in session and people even work less. Besides, it is great to be super hot all day long and then walk into an air-conditioned movie theater for a couple of hours. Movies also should be aware of what other movies have been screening. You could see “Star Trek” in May and “Transformers 2” in June the same summer. Since these two films have relatively the same target audience releasing them close together has hurt both of their box offices.

Marketing Plan

This is crucial for a successful movie. Making a movie, no matter how good or how famous its actors and director are, cannot attract much attention if it doesn’t create some buzz. That is why it is essential for actors to promote their films and give interviews. Advertisements and other marketing campaigns such as movie trailers, posters, inviting movie critics to the film’s premiere and other forms of promotion haveturnedout to be of utmost importance.

So what makes a successful movie? There are so many factors to be considered. The public’s verdict is often subjective. One man’s garbage may be another man’s gold. It is not possible to please everyone. And even if you have engaged a lot of popular actors there is still no guarantee. But with a great movie storyline, talented and popular actors and directors, sufficient budget and a feasible marketing plan, the movie success will not be far ahead.

b) Explain the usage of the verbs in Present Perfect and Present Perfect

Continuous. What is the difference?