Reading Comprehension

PT153 · S1 · P1 · Q4 Motion Pictures

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Most writings on the subject of motion pictures, including those scrutinizing the structural characteristics, aesthetic qualities, and effects of motion pictures on audiences, have traditionally been relatively abstract and have not considered what a filmʼs audiences actually see.

Topic

The impact of distribution and presentation on the integrity and perception of motion pictures.

Framework

Problem / Solution

Main Point

The way films are distributed, translated, edited, and especially shown on television or video often alters the intended experience, yet this is rarely acknowledged—creating problems for both audiences and critics. Most Valuable Sentence: The last paragraph, especially:

P1: The Usual Approach Overlooks the Audience’s Real Experience

Most discussions and analyses of movies ignore what audiences actually see, focusing too much on abstract qualities. But lots of outside factors come between what the filmmaker intends and what the audience ultimately experiences.

P2: Specific Ways Distribution Alters Films

Distribution can seriously change films, especially with foreign films. Subtitles and dubbing can introduce errors, censorship, or big changes. Sometimes films are re-edited or given new titles that misrepresent their original intent.

P3: Television and Video Transformations

When movies are shown on TV or video, they're altered even more. Not only do you lose picture quality and size, but you get commercials, on-screen graphics, and interruptions that mess with the flow. Other changes, like slightly speeding up a film to allow more ads, are subtle but still damaging.

4.

Which one of the following would, if true, most strengthen the author's argument concerning any modification of a film for distribution?

  1. Almost all filmmakers whose work

    Weakens

    This answer is saying, "more than 90% of the best filmmakers approve of alterations to their film through the distribution process". So, author, you can keep complaining and objecting that these alterations are mutilating these films, but almost all of the filmmakers themselves (the ones you would care the most about) are totally fine with it.

    7% picked this

  2. Mass-market television and video technology

    Weakens

    The author is trying to sound the panic alarm about how bad it is when we modify films during distribution. She hates this practice, because it's a betrayal of the artist's vision and final product. But this is tamping down that concern, saying, "Yeah, it was worse in the past, but it's not as much of a problem any more. Nowadays, we do a better job of conforming to the filmmakers' intentions, so chill out, Author."

    9% picked this

  3. Many professional commentaries on nonfilm

    No Impact

    If anything, this feels like a Weaken answer, but it's very weak in strength, so it has little impact overall. Our author is worried about altered versions of cinematic artworks, because it's unfair to the filmmaker for a critic to judge an altered version of the film. This answer is sort of saying, "Relax, author, this happens in a lot of fields of art, not just film. It's common for professional criticism to be based on an altered, even mutilated, version of the work."

    13% picked this

  4. Almost all viewers of films

    Weakens

    The final sentence of the passage shows the author worrying that audiences will be given false expectations because the critic saw a different version of the film than they will see. But if, as this answer says, audiences are almost always unaware of what the critics have said, then there's no harm to fear.

    3% picked this

  5. Correct

    In almost every film that

    Why this is right

    There's no way we could have predicted this specific answer, but it does underscore one of the author's concerns. In the middle of the 3rd paragraph, the author laments that there are sometimes "spoken announcements over parts of the soundtrack considered by programmers to be 'unimportant'." Is that really such a big deal, author? Do we really need to be concerned if the station hypes the new episode of "Young Sheldon" during the opening music of Shawshank Redemption? Yes, say the author and this answer choice: because all parts of the soundtrack are designed by the filmmaker to contribute significantly to the film's artistic value. This helps strengthen the author's case that these alterations we're doing when we modify for distribution are corrupting/mutilating the artwork.

    Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    67% picked this

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