Discussion

1. Is it easy to be a motion picture director? Why does he have gray hairs?

2. What has made Spielberg the most successful film director?

3. How can you explain that most “Oscar” winners are American movies?

Project Topics

1. Film director types.

2. Academy Award categories.

3. A Ukrainian film can receive an”Oscar” award.

Lesson 2. Titanic Quiz

1. Have you seen Titanic? What is your impression? Who is Titanic’s director?

2. What is the plot (story) of this film?

3. Who plays the leading part in Titanic? What do you know about this actor/actress?

Titanic

This "11 Oscar" film stars Kate Winslet as 1st class passenger Rose, who is reluctantly engaged to be married to the extremely wealthy Cal, played by Billy Zane. However, as they travel back to America aboard Titanic, she meets 3rd class passenger, free-spirit and poor artist Jack (Leo DiCaprio), and begins to fall in love with him. The story is told by the 100 year old Rose, who is brought in to help a modern day treasure hunter find a fabulous diamond, "The Heart of the Ocean", last worn by Rose on the night of the sinking. Will love conquer all? Well you'll have to go and see the film or get the video or DVD to find out!

Titanic was released on December 19th 1997 in the U.S.A., and on January 23rd 1998 in the U.K. Having seen it twice now, I would say it is well worth seeing.

(www.yrl.co.uk/~phil/titanic/film_set.html)

Best Picture

Best Director: James Cameron

Best Actress: Kate Winslet

Best Supporting Actress: Gloria Stuart

BEST:

Cinematography; Film Editing; Art Direction; Costume Design; Original Dramatic Score; Original Song; Make-up; Visual Effects; Sound; Sound Effects Editing

Movie Information: Filmmakers

Producer JON LANDAU began a professional relationship with James Cameron during "True Lies" as executive vice president of feature production at 20th Century Fox. During his five-and-a-half years in that post, he supervised production on many major motion pictures from Fox, including "Die Hard 2", the "Home Alone" films, "White Men Can't Jump", "Last of the Mohicans", "Alien3", "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Speed" and "Broken Arrow". Landau was co-producer on "Dick Tracy" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids". He produced "Campus Man" for Paramount. Born in New York City, Landau is a graduate of USC.

RAE SANCHINI serves as Executive Producer of the film and is president of James Cameron's production company, Lightstorm Entertainment. She served as executive producer on Lightstorm's other recent productions, "True Lies" and "Strange Days". Before joining Lightstorm in 1992, Sanchini served as an executive at Carolco Pictures Inc. after graduating from UCLA's JD/MBA program in 1987.

Director of Photography RUSSELL CARPENTER joins James Cameron for the third time. In contrast to his many action hits, here he developed an intimate photographic style. His best films also include "Hard Target", "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman", "Perfect Weapon”, "Solar Crisis”, "Lady in White" and the recent "Money Talks". With Stan Winston directing, Carpenter photographed the Michael Jackson music video "Ghosts".

Production Designer PETER LAMONT was very happy when Jim Cameron asked him to take charge of "Titanic". It was a challenge to his career. Collaborating with Cameron he earned an Academy Award nomination for "Aliens". Mastering the art of combining glamour and action during the course of 15 James Bond films, he worked for "Golden Eye", "License to Kill", "The Living Daylights", "A View to a Kill", and "For Your Eyes Only". Lamont also earned Oscar for his work on "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Fiddler on the Roof".

"Titanic" is the fourth Cameron film that CONRAD BUFF has edited, with "The Abyss", "True Lies" and "T2" in their work together. "T2" earned him an Academy Award nomination. Recently, Buff edited "Dante's Peak", "Species" and "SwitchBack". His films also include "Jennifer 8", "Jagged Edge" and "The Getaway".

Editor RICHARD A. HARRIS worked for "T2," "True Lies" and "Titanic". He received ACE nominations for "True Lies" and "T2". For his contribution to "Indictment: The McMartin Trial" Harris won an Emmy, a CableACE and the Eddy Award. Selected credits include "L.A. Story", "The Bodyguard", "Fletch", "The Bad News Bears", "The Candidate" and "Downhill Racer".

Costume Designer DEBORAH L. SCOTT brings to "Titanic" her rich film experience. Scott's films include "Heat", "Legends of the Fall", "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday", "The Indian in the Cupboard", "Hoffa", "Defending Your Life", "Back to the Future" and "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial".

Composer JAMES HORNER last worked with James Cameron on "Aliens", for which he received Academy Award and Grammy Award nominations. Known for his stylistic variety, the composer has scored more than 70 motion pictures since 1980, including "Apollo 13", "Braveheart", "Field of Dreams," "The Devil's Own", "Ransom", "Legends of the Fall", "Clear and Present Danger", "Patriot Games", "Casper", "Glory", "Willow", and "The Name of the Rose". A three-time Grammy Award winner, Horner has also been nominated for five Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.

Visual Effects Supervisor ROB LEGATO received an Academy Award nomination and a British Academy Award for his contribution to "Apollo 13". He served as visual effects supervisor on Neil Jordan's "Interview With the Vampire". Legato earned two Emmy Awards for Best Visual Effects for his work on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" in the roles of visual effects supervisor, visual effects producer, 2nd unit and episode director. A graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography, Legato began his career working on live-action-oriented TV commercials.

Special Effects Coordinator THOMAS L. FISHER has constructed some of the most spectacular effects in motion pictures. Another veteran of "T2" and "True Lies", Fisher's non-Cameron action films include "Batman", "Last Action Hero", "Total Recall", "Last of the Mohicans", "Blade Runner" and the "Rambo" film trilogy.

Stunt Coordinator SIMON CRANE says the 100 stunt people he used in the tilting deck scenes are one of the largest stunt sequences ever filmed. Even his warrior scenes in "Braveheart" were performed by only 35 stunt personnel. Crane has been the stunt/action coordinator on "GoldenEye," "101 Dalmatians" and more recently "Saving Private Ryan." For "Cliffhanger" he was the aerial stunt coordinator and performer for the daring plane-to-plane transfer. A stunt performer on dozens of films, Crane was stunt double for many leading actors before making the jump to coordinator.

Key Makeup Artist TINA EARNSHAW researched not only the delicate makeup styles of the period, but worked with doctors and hospitals to study the effects of hypothermia on the human body for post-disaster sequences in "Titanic". Earnshaw's best films include "Hamlet", "Jefferson in Paris", "Othello", "Emma", "Surviving Picasso" and the upcoming "Sliding Doors", starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and "Cinderella", starring Anjelica Huston and Drew Barrymore.

Key Hair Stylist SIMON THOMPSON has worked on films such as "The French Lieutenant's Woman", "Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?" and "Emma", as well as toured with performers such as Madonna and Liza Minnelli.

The film's Historian, DON LYNCH, is the official historian for the Titanic Historical Society. Born in Idaho and raised in the Northwest, Lynch discovered the story of Titanic as a teenager and began researching the disaster. In the nearly quarter of a century since, he has met with a number of survivors and their families and traveled to museums, libraries and archives throughout the United States, Ireland and England. Lynch is considered one of the world's best authorities on Titanic . Together with Ken Marschall, Lynch authored Titanic: An Illustrated History.

Visual Historian KEN MARSCHALL is the world's best painter of the Titanic. His thirty years of research and familiarity with Titanic’s every detail assisted in the accurate re-creation of the film's sets and miniatures. Marschall's lifelike images reflect many years of close study of the ship and are famous for their accuracy as well as their dramatic artistry. Marschall's work has been featured on the covers of Time and Life, as well as in National Geographic, Smithsonian and in Dr. Robert Ballard's best-selling books The Discovery of the Titanic, The Discovery of the Bismarck and Exploring the Lusitania, and others. His paintings are prominently featured Titanic: An Illustrated History, on which he collaborated with Don Lynch. He also did the paintings for such films as "The Winds of War", "The Terminator", "Stand by Me" and many others. (www.titanicmovie.com/)