Discussion Starter: Begin by asking the students a general question related to the topic of watching movies, such as: “Do you enjoy watching movies? Why or why not?”
Vocabulary Check: List some of the terms mentioned in the interview (e.g., Netflix, portable devices, iPad, movie theater, surround sound, 3D, cinematic experience) and ask students if they are familiar with these terms. Encourage them to explain their meanings.
Predictive Questions: Before listening to the interview, predict what the pros and cons of watching movies at the movie theater versus at home might be. Think about both the audiovisual experience and the overall convenience.
Pair Discussion: Discuss the following questions with a partner:
- Have you ever watched a movie in a movie theater?
- How was the experience?
- What are some advantages of watching movies at home?
Here are some words and expressions that appear in the video:
prefer (verb): like or favor one thing over another
– Aubrey prefers watching movies at home because it allows her to multitask.
experience (Noun): knowledge or skill gained from doing something over time
– Going to a movie theater provides a unique cinematic experience with its surround sound and big screen.
convenient (adjective): making things easy or accessible, saving time and effort
– Watching movies at home is convenient because you can pause and snack without leaving your seat.
especially (adverb): particularly, in a special or significant manner
– Randall enjoys action thrillers, especially when he can experience them in a movie theater with surround sound.
Randall: In this video, Aubrey and I are going to be talking about the idea of watching movies. And as you know, Aubrey, when I was growing up, nothing like Netflix, portable devices, iPad, and so forth, to actually have that choice. But when you think about the idea of watching movies, going to a movie theater versus watching them at home or on a portable device, what are some of the pros and cons of each option?
Aubrey: Yeah, so I personally prefer to watch movies at home, um, like maybe on my computer or on my phone. I like to be able to do something else at the same time. I know there . . .it seems like there’s two camps of people, right? People who like to do that, people who like to go and actually watch the movie in the movie theater. Um, and that could be a great social experience. You’re going to get a great audio experience, a great visual experience, um, especially if you’re watching a movie in 3D, which isn’t as popular anymore. But that’s really hard to do at home. Um, I remember I watched Avatar when it first came out, um, the movie with the blue people, not the kid with the arrow on his head, but it was a beautiful cinematic experience. Paper thin storyline, terrible movie, but it was beautiful, right? You can’t recreate that at home.
Randall: No, you can’t. And I like going to a movie theater where you have surround sound, large speakers, especially if you’re watching some type of action thriller, and you just can’t replicate that at home unless you have that type of sound system.
Aubrey: Exactly. Yeah. Even with headphones, it’s hard.
Randall: Yeah. At home, just like at the movie theater, you can make popcorn and have all kinds of different things like that. The nice thing about watching a movie at home is that you don’t have to leave the movie theater to go out and wait in a line for 20 minutes to get a new, you know, hot dog or something like that, where if at home, you can just have that food readily available to you right there: very fast, very convenient.
Aubrey: Much cheaper, too.
Randall: Right. Well, thank you, Aubrey, for sharing your thoughts on watching movies.
