Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Jillian Woodward.
Speaker 2: And I'm Roger Basick. Spotlight Advanced uses a special English
Speaker 2: method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand
Speaker 2: no matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1: The mechanical shark did not work. It was built with
Speaker 1: gears and bars inside its body. It sank to the
Speaker 1: bottom of the ocean. The crew could not do their
Speaker 1: work without it. The film was about the shark. The
Speaker 1: director needed to finish quickly. The film studio was waiting.
Speaker 1: No one thought they could make this film. No one
Speaker 1: knew what to do, but the young director had an idea.
Speaker 1: He was about to change the film industry.
Speaker 2: Today's Spotlight Advanced looks at the powerful impact of two
Speaker 2: films directed by Stephen Spielberg. He has made more than
Speaker 2: thirty six films in his career, but these two films
Speaker 2: were the most important. These films influenced other filmmakers. These
Speaker 2: films changed decisions made by film studios. Many now consider
Speaker 2: Spielberg the greatest director ever.
Speaker 1: It started in nineteen seventy five with the film Jaws.
Speaker 1: Spielberg had made a few other small films before Jaws,
Speaker 1: but these other films did not make much money. If
Speaker 1: Jaws did not sell many tickets, Spielberg's career might be over.
Speaker 1: Film studios would not trust him to make any more films.
Speaker 1: He needed success.
Speaker 2: Jaws is about a great white shark. The shark attacks
Speaker 2: swimmers off the coast of Massachusetts in the United States.
Speaker 2: Spielberg had a mechanical shark made for the film, but
Speaker 2: they had only tested it in fresh water. The water
Speaker 2: off the coast of Massachusetts is salty. When they put
Speaker 2: the shark in this salty water, it sank. The salt
Speaker 2: damaged the gears inside the shark. The shark was not
Speaker 2: ready to be used in the film.
Speaker 1: Spielberg needed to save his film. He decided to use
Speaker 1: the problem with the shark to his advantage. In Jaws,
Speaker 1: he waited to reveal the shark. He only hinted at
Speaker 1: its presence. This heightened the feeling of terror. He filmed
Speaker 1: underwater shots from the point of view of the shark
Speaker 1: as it hunted. He showed only the shark's tail poking
Speaker 1: out of the water in a few scenes. The longer
Speaker 1: the audience did not see a full view of the shark,
Speaker 1: the more their fear grew. It also gave Spielberg and
Speaker 1: his crew time to fix the shark. They could use
Speaker 1: the shark in the film's later scenes.
Speaker 2: Jaws was a huge success. People from all over the
Speaker 2: world saw the film. Newspaper reviewers said it was wonderful.
Speaker 2: The movie made four hundred and seventy million dollars in
Speaker 2: ticket sales. It made more money than any other film
Speaker 2: before It created the summer blockbuster. This is a term
Speaker 2: given to successful movies in the summer. Before Jaws, not
Speaker 2: many people went to theaters in the summer, but Jaws
Speaker 2: proved summer films could be very popular. Many studios started
Speaker 2: releasing films at the beginning of each summer. Jaws was
Speaker 2: so successful that the studio made three sequels. A sequel
Speaker 2: is a story that continues from a previous one. All
Speaker 2: of the Jaws films made a total of eight hundred
Speaker 2: million dollars.
Speaker 1: Jaws influenced many other excellent films, but it also made
Speaker 1: a different kind of impact. Spielberg used many clever and
Speaker 1: creative techniques as a director, but most people focused on
Speaker 1: how much money Jaws made. Spielberg's success with the Jaws
Speaker 1: movies helped his friend, director George Lucas make the film
Speaker 1: Star Wars. The first Star Wars movie was a huge success.
Speaker 1: The Star Wars films became another global franchise. A franchise
Speaker 1: is a collection of films with the same group of
Speaker 1: characters and story. A franchise also includes the games, television shows, toys,
Speaker 1: and clothing connected to these characters and their story. The
Speaker 1: Star Wars franchise made over ten billion dollars.
Speaker 2: No one had seen this kind of financial success in
Speaker 2: films before Steelberg. It changed how film studios viewed possible
Speaker 2: new projects. This made many directors, writers and actors upset
Speaker 2: with Spielberg. They felt limited in what they could create.
Speaker 2: Film studios rejected many projects because studios did not think
Speaker 2: these other film projects could make much money. The quality
Speaker 2: of scripts and stories suffered. Writer Daniel Dakery said.
Speaker 3: In fact, some say jaws huge success ruined Hollywood. It
Speaker 3: pushed studios away from artistic projects. Now few things matter
Speaker 3: more than opening weekend numbers, advertising and summer blockbuster season.
Speaker 1: Spielberg continued to make very successful movies. Several of his films,
Speaker 1: such as e T The Extraterrestrial, Indiana, Jones and The
Speaker 1: Raiders of the Lost Arc and Jurassic Park were incredibly popular,
Speaker 1: Spielberg made many sequels over the next forty years. These
Speaker 1: franchises sold toys, video games, and clothing related to these films.
Speaker 2: Other film studios wanted to make as much money they
Speaker 2: wanted franchises. A franchise meant that studios could make sequels,
Speaker 2: They could sell merchandise. They could even create amusement park attractions,
Speaker 2: video games, comic books, and television series. Studios could also
Speaker 2: re release earlier films to celebrate the franchise's newest film.
Speaker 2: A franchise makes much more money than just one film.
Speaker 2: The Jurassic Park franchise made over six billion dollars. The
Speaker 2: Indiana Jones franchise made over two billion dollars.
Speaker 1: But Spielberg was more than a director who made blockbuster
Speaker 1: movies that started franchises. He could do more than make
Speaker 1: a lot of money. He was an artist. Nearly twenty
Speaker 1: years after he made Jaws, released a new film. This
Speaker 1: film showed the world he was one of the greatest
Speaker 1: directors ever. Many people called it his best film. The
Speaker 1: American Film Institute named it the eighth greatest film ever made.
Speaker 1: The United States National Film Registry chose it for special
Speaker 1: preservation in two thousand and four, the United States Library
Speaker 1: of Congress officially declared it historically and culturally significant. It
Speaker 1: is the film Schindler's List.
Speaker 2: Schindler's List was based on a true story. During World
Speaker 2: War II, Nazi Germany tried to kill all the Jewish
Speaker 2: people in Europe. This was called the Holocaust, but not
Speaker 2: all Germans agreed with the Holocaust. Oscar Schindler was a businessman.
Speaker 2: He saved many Jews by hiring them to work for him.
Speaker 2: This helped keep them from being sent away to be killed.
Speaker 1: The movie was a success commercially, it made more than
Speaker 1: three hundred and twenty million dollars. But this time, Spielberg
Speaker 1: also received praise from film reviewers. They loved his storytelling.
Speaker 1: They praised his choice to film in black and white
Speaker 1: with only symbolic use of color. This choice fit the
Speaker 1: film's serious attitude. Film writer Richard Props said.
Speaker 4: It is Spielberg's finest work. I doubt he will make
Speaker 4: another as great. Schindler's List is more than a film.
Speaker 4: It is a life experience of great depth and beauty
Speaker 4: and greatness.
Speaker 2: Schindler's List won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the
Speaker 2: highest honor for a film. Spielberg also won the Academy
Speaker 2: Award for Best Director. Spielberg later said he thought it
Speaker 2: was his best film. Schindler's List led to greater understanding
Speaker 2: the Holocaust. It educated audiences about the Nazi plan to
Speaker 2: kill the Jewish people. The film industry now honored Spielberg's
Speaker 2: work with many awards. For this film, he was considered
Speaker 2: the best director in the world.
Speaker 1: Spielberg directed more films after Schindler's List that reviewers and
Speaker 1: audience is respected, such as Saving Private Ryan. He won
Speaker 1: many more awards. His films inspired the next generation of directors.
Speaker 1: He was no longer the young man who needed a
Speaker 1: quick idea to fix his mechanical shark. He was the
Speaker 1: master director with all the great ideas.
Speaker 2: Have you ever seen Jaws or Schindler's List? Have you
Speaker 2: seen any of Steven Spielberg's other films? What's your favorite
Speaker 2: Spielberg film? Leave a comment on our website at www
Speaker 2: dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us
Speaker 2: on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue Sky.
Speaker 3: And x.
Speaker 2: You can also get our programs delivered directly to your
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Speaker 1: The writer of this program was Peter Anderson. The producer
Speaker 1: was mitchio Ozarki. The voices you heard were from the
Speaker 1: United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted
Speaker 1: for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is
Speaker 1: called Steven Spielberg.
Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
Speaker 2: Spotlight Advance program. Goodbye,