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Coraline

Date: Apr 22 2009

Themes: Alternative

Grammar: Used to Do vs Be Used to

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Have you ever wished that you could just open a door and step into a different life? In the new animated movie Coraline, a young girl finds a secret door in her bedroom that leads to a parallel universe. At first, this new world seems more interesting and exciting than Coraline’s real life. But then things start getting creepy. How creepy? Think ghost children, trick mirrors, and people with buttons instead of eyes.

Coraline was made using stop-motion animation. A team of designers built hundreds of clay figures and sets, and animators made it look like they were moving. So the film is like a work of art that took years to make. Listen to Dale and Mason talk about the movie.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Mason

Dale

Mason: I gotta tell you, I already know one of my favorite movies of the year is Coraline.

Dale: I totally agree. I saw The Making Of and I cannot wait to go see it. We actually went to the theater twice to go see it, and it was sold out both times. And I’m really bummed that I wasn’t able to see it.

Mason: Right, well it’s got a couple things going for it. It’s been so long since there was a stop-motion movie made. We’ve been so used to the CGI scene that it’s really refreshing for people to see something made in that old style.

Dale: And do you know how long it took to make it?

Mason: It was like three years, right?

Dale: Actually, five years.

Mason: Wow.

Dale: It was five years. And Dakota Fanning, who’s the voice of Coraline, she actually had her voice change throughout those five years, and the director had a hard time keeping her voice accurate.

Mason: That’s interesting. I didn’t notice, so that was definitely an admirable job on their part.

Dale: And it was just amazing, I mean, for like a couple seconds, it would take almost four hours. Just a couple seconds. I can’t wait to see it.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Mason loved the movie Coraline. Dale hasn’t seen it yet, but he really wants to. He saw a show that talked about how the movie was made. It took five years to create the film, and each few seconds of screen time required hours of work.

Most animated movies are not made with stop-motion animation. It’s much more common to see computer-animated films these days, which are easier to make. But there’s something special about seeing an animated movie where everything has been made by hand. Can you think of any other cool stop-motion films?

Coraline is about a girl who wishes for a different life. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

Comments

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joykyo

South Korea

My favoriate stop-motion films is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. I saw the making for it with DVD and I know it is very hard and delicated working.

michael1028

China

It’s so refreshing to hear the dialog about the Coralline; I can’t wait to see it. Another animated movie that so impressive is Wall-E, it’s also a good movie although it’s not a stop-motion film.I don’t want to change anything of my life, because one thing have been changed, everything would be changed. It’s like the Butterfly Effect.

Futuristic

Philippines

Wow! I can't hardly wait to see it. I think it's not an ordinary stop motion movies and and it's going for a movie goer to see this kind of animation. A new scene and taste of movie producer.