The stars are usually actors and actresses. Most people do not even look at the name of the director or producer, except one – Steven Spielberg. When he was a little boy, his father showed him how to use a camera. Later he got his own camera and started to film things like model train crashes, stories about monsters and horrible murders. His three younger sisters were always the victims. Later he made his first film at home at the age of twelve. It was a cowboy film three and a half minutes long, and it cost $10 to make. When he was sixteen, he made a science-fiction film more than two hours long. Making films was his great hobby – much more fascinating for him than school. Of course, Steven wanted to go to film school. But his high school grades were not good enough! So he just went along to Universal Studios and asked for a job. Spielberg sometimes uses a lot of complicated effects – in the Indiana Jones films, for example. But, like in Duel, he can create a fantastic atmosphere even without special effects. E. T. is a success because of the feelings and reactions of the children. In 1994 he won the most important film prize, the Oscar, for Schindler’s List. The secret of Spielberg’s success is that the stories in many of his films somehow look as if they could happen to ordinary people like you and me.
(Adapted from: «The world of English»)
1. Steven Spielberg started filming at the age of 16.
True False
2. His first film was no longer than 3 1/2 minutes.
True False
3. His marks at school were too bad to go to film school.
True False
4. In some films, for example Duel, there are no special effects.
True False
5. E.T. was such a great success that he got the film prize, the Oscar, for it.
True False
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