Immersive experiences VR in La L

Immersive experiences

VR in La La land

Hollywood studios try out virtual reality

沉浸式体验

幻想之城的虚拟现实

好莱坞电影公司试水虚拟现实

immersive experiences   沉浸式体验；身临其境的体验

immersive /ɪˈmɜːsɪv/ ADJ providing information or stimulation for a number of senses, not only sight and sound拟真的

la la land   拉拉乐园（以举办轻浮活动著称的地方）; <美俚>虚幻的地方

studio   工作室，画室; [影]演播室，电影制片厂

virtual   虚拟的

virtual reality   虚拟现实（VR）

experience CN:经历，体验（做“经历”讲是可数名词，经历的事情可以一件件数出来，所以可数；“经验”作为抽象名词，看不见，摸不着，更别提数出来了，所以是不可数名词。大家可以这样判断CN和UN。）

try out   这里翻译成“试水”

OUTSIDE a squat grey building in Santa Monica, the California sunmelts the tar. Inside, in a dark roomroughlythe size of a small shipping container, two men are exploring the world by means of virtual reality (VR). Theysquashspiders in an abandoned temple, hit a home run at Yankee Stadium and float through a Blade Runner-esquelandscape, all in the span of eight minutes.It feels much longer than that, and also shorter—time is hard tograspin VR.

在圣莫妮卡（SantaMonica）一座低矮的灰色建筑外，加州的阳光几乎要将路面上的沥青烤化。在这个建筑内，一间与小集装箱差不多大小的暗室中，两名男子正在用虚拟现实技术（VR）探索世界。他们在一个废弃的寺庙里压扁蜘蛛，在纽约扬基体育场打出一个本垒打，还从电影《银翼杀手》式的场景中漂浮而过，所有这些都在八分钟之内完成。感觉上比八分钟长得多，但也好像更短——在虚拟现实中，时间难以掌握。

squat vi. 蹲，蹲伏; 擅自占用土地; 依法在政府公地上定居; 〈口〉坐

            vt. 使蹲坐; 使蹲下; 擅自占用;

            n. 蹲坐，蹲姿; 擅自占用的土地; [体]蹲举式举重; 动物的窝

            adj. 矮胖的; 蹲着的

santa monica   [地名] [菲律宾、美国] 圣莫尼卡

shipping container:集装箱

by means of:用…的方式

spider CN:蜘蛛

abandoned ADJ:被抛弃的，废弃的

hit VT:打

stadium CN:体育场馆

float VI:漂浮

landscape CN:一个地方风景的全称；全景

span CN:时距，区间

【新词习得】

🔹squat /skwɒt/V-I : If you squat, you lower yourself toward the ground, balancing on your feet with your legs bent.蹲下; ADJ If you describe someone or something as squat, youmean they are short and thick, usually in an unattractive way.矮胖的; People who squat occupy an unused building or unused land without having a legal right to do so. (对某空建筑、空地)非法占据

• You can't simply wander around squatting on other people's property.你不能只是四处游荡，非法占据他人房产。

🔹melt/mɛlt/.V-T/V-I When a solid substance melts or when you melt it, it changes to a liquid, usually because it has been heated.使融化;融化

🔹tar/tɑː/ UN: Tar is a thick black sticky substance that is used especially for making roads.沥青

🔹roughly/'rʌfli/ ADV notexactly粗略地，大致上

roughly speaking粗略地说

•Roughly speaking, I’d say we need about 500.粗略地说，我认为我们大约需要500美元。

🔹squash /skwɒʃ/  VT: to press something into a flatter shape,often breaking or damaging it挤扁；压扁；压碎；压坏

🔹esque:型式方法

🔹grasp /ɡrɑːsp/ VT: to take and hold something firmly抓牢，握紧; VT: to completely understand a fact or an idea, especially a complicated one理解，领会〔尤指复杂的事情或观点〕

• They have a good grasp of foreign languages.他们很好地掌握了各门外语。

【语法分析】

🔹It feels much longer than that, and also shorter—time is hard to grasp in VR.

（It指代“时间，天气，距离，日期，金钱”等，也就是说你想表达这几种情况时，可以用it。在这里是指“时间”。“天气太热”通常就说It is hot，而不说The weather is hot.）

【好词佳句】

🔹in the span of 8minutes

（“在8分钟内”的更书面的表达方式。）

The creator of the experience is Walter Parkes, a former boss of DreamWorks Pictures, a film studio, who last year co-founded Dreamscape Immersive. The startup plans a chain of VRmultiplexcinemas offering ten-minute interactive experiences for around $15 each. The first will open at a shopping mall near Beverly  Hills at the end of the year; another 14 are planned for 2018. Mr Parkes says it costs about $2m to make a ten-minute VR experience, compared with around $200m for a big-budget Hollywood movie (not counting marketing and distribution). The economics work even though people are entertained for much shorter periods, he argues.

创造出这种体验的是电影公司梦工厂的前老板沃尔特·帕克斯，去年他与别人共同创立了Dreamscape Immersive公司。这家创业公司计划推出VR连锁多厅影院，提供每十分钟售价15美元的互动体验。第一家影院将于年底在比弗利山庄附近的一家购物中心开业，另外14家影院计划在2018年开业。帕克斯表示，制作一次十分钟VR体验的成本约为200万美元，相比之下，一部大制作好莱坞电影（不包括市场营销和发行）的成本约为2亿美元。他认为，尽管人们体验的时间短很多，但这在经济效益上是可行的。

【词汇复习】

startup CN:新创办的小公司

chain CN:链条

interactive ADJ:互动的

Beverly Hills:贝弗利山(洛杉矶街道，在好莱坞附近，有一些电影明星豪宅)

budget CN:预算

marketing UN:市场营销

distribution UN:分配；分销；发行

work VI:起作用，行得通

entertain VT:使快乐；招待某人

【新词习得】

🔹multiplex /'mʌltipleks/CN: A multiplex is a cinema complex with several screens.多映厅影院

【语法分析】

🔹The creator of the experience is Walter Parkes, a former boss of DreamWorks Pictures（Walter Parkes的同位语）, a film studio（DreamWorks Pictures的同位语）, who last year co-foundedDreamscape Immersive（Walter Parkes的定语从句）.

🔹The startup plans a chain of VR multiplex cinemas offering ten-minute interactive experiences for around $15 each.

（这里的offering是现在分词做VR multiplex cinemas的后置定语。因为是VR multiplex cinemas自己提供的，所以用-ing表示主动）

🔹Mr Parkes says it costs about $2m to make a ten-minute VR experience, compared with around $200m for a big-budget Hollywood movie (not counting marketing and distribution).

（it costs about $2m to make a ten-minute VR experience，在这句话里，it做的是形式主语，只是形式上的，真正的主语是后面的不定式。也就是to make a ten-minute VR experience costs about $2m. It做形式主语，一般真正的主语是后面的不定式，或者that从句。用it作形式主语，是为了避免头重脚轻。

另：comparedwith之前讲过，如果看到这两个词连在一起使用，一定要用compare的-ed形式，无需根据逻辑主语判断主动，被动形式。）

The men and women over in Burbank, where the big studios are based, are interested. Dreamscape has attracted around $10mininvestment from Fox, WarnerBrother and MGM, along with Steven Spielberg and Westfield, a shopping-centre operator. Disneyhas invested $66m in Jaunt, which makes tools for creating VR content. WarnerBrothers recently announced a partnership with IMAX, which specializes in large-screen cinemas, to fund and create VR “experiences” for three upcomingfilms.

在大电影公司扎堆的伯班克，人们对此很感兴趣。Dreamscape已从福克斯、华纳兄弟、美高梅、史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格和购物中心运营商韦斯特菲尔德那里吸引大大约1000万美元的投资。迪士尼也向生产VR制作工具的Jaunt投资了6600万美元。华纳兄弟最近宣布与专注于大屏幕影院的IMAX合作，提供资金为三部即将上映的电影制作VR体验片。

【词汇复习】

base VT:以。。。为基地，大本营

along with:连同（谓语的使用遵循就远原则，比如：I, along with him,amgoing to study in Beijing.这里“就远”是说根据以离谓语动词远的那个主语来判断谓语单复数的使用。）

content UN:内容

specialize in:在某方面专门研究

fund VT:为。。。提供资金

upcoming ADJ:即将来临的

【熟词僻义】

🔹in：在。。。方面（再讲一遍）

【语法分析】

🔹The men and women over in Burbank,where the big studios are based, are interested.

（where在这里引导定语从句，三步骤判断连接词的选用。第一，找到先行词是Burbank；第二，把先行词带到从句中，the big studios arebased in Burbank；第三，看先行词在从句中的位置，本句中做的地点状语，且添加了一个in，所以要用where。注意，虽然先行词Burbank前已经有in了，不要觉得不用补in，用which就行了。这样不可以，先行词就是一个名词，跟前面有没有介词没有关系，一定严格按照三步骤判断连接词的使用，该添补介词的一定要添补。）

🔹Disney has invested $66m in Jaunt, which makes tools for creating VR content.

（which引导非限制性定语从句，修饰前面一整句话。在这里修饰的就是“迪士尼投资Janut6600万美元这件事”。）

🔹Warner Brothers recently announced a partnership with IMAX, which specializes in large-screen cinemas, to fund and create VR “experiences” for three upcoming films.

（这句话里的which修饰的是IMAX。to fund and create…是做的目的状语，是动作announce a partnershipwith IMAX的目的状语。）

【好词佳句】

正式和某人合作：announce a partnership with。。。

Promotional and extra material for filmsinVR is the firstpriority.Later on studios expect VR to become aformatof its own, a cross between movies and games. “The lines are gettingblurred. They use a lot of the same tech, the same tools,” says Thomas Husson, an analyst at Forrester, a research firm.

为电影制作VR形式的宣传片和特别内容是目前的第一要务。之后，电影公司期待VR自成一种类型，即电影和游戏的结合。“区分（这两种）的界限越来越模糊。他们使用许多相同的技术，相同的工具”研究公司弗雷斯特的分析师托马斯·赫森说。

【词汇复习】

promotional ADJ:促销的；宣传的

later on:过后，之后

cross CN:交叉

analyst CN:分析者，分析学家

【新词习得】

🔹in: PREP : You use in to indicate how someone is expressing something.以…方式

• Information is given to the patient verbally and in writing.病人以口头和书面方式被告知信息。

Filmsin VR:以VR为形式的电影

🔹priority /praɪˈɒrɪtɪ/CN：If somethingis a priority, it is the most important thing you have to do or deal with,or must be done or dealt with before everything else you have to do.优先处理的事，头等大事

•The customer is high on our list of priorities.顾客在我们的心目中排在第一位。

复习：be high on the agenda/be top of the agenda是最重要的待办事项

🔹format /ˈfɔːmæt/CN: (计算机软件、电影、音乐录制品等的)格式; CN: the way in which something such as a television show or meeting is organized orarranged〔电视节目、会议等的〕安排，形式（这里派生出“类型”的意思。）

🔹blur /blɜː/ VI/VT:to become difficult to see, or to make something difficult to see, because the edges are not clear（使）〔某物〕模糊不清

•Many of the details in the picture are blurred.照片中的许多细节部分都模糊了。

【语法分析】

🔹Later on studios expect VR to become a format of its own, a cross between movies and games（做的format的同位语）.

【好词佳句】

🔹。。。is the first priority.:。。。是第一要务，最重要的，优先处理的事情，头等大事。

Hollywood is in a battle for attention as well as dollars. In the future HarryPotter fans, for example, may consider it a waste to go to an attraction in the English countryside when they can visit Diagon Alley at home in a headset. They may even do both. If studios get agripof VR, every minute spent in a cinema could mean an extra one in a park and yet another in a headset.

好莱坞正在进行一场争夺关注和美元的战斗。未来，当哈利波特的粉丝们在家里戴着头显就能参观对角港（Diagon Alley）时，他们也许会觉得没必要跑去英国乡村造访这个景点。他们甚至可能既虚拟参观也实地造访。如果电影公司掌握了VR，在电影院里度过的每一分钟可能也是在公园度过的一分钟，然而也是戴着头显的一分钟。

【词汇复习】

attention UN:注意力

dollar:美元（注意可以加S）

attraction CN:游览胜地

headset CN: A headset is a piece of equipment that you wear on your head so you can see computer images or images from a camera in front of your eyes.头戴式视图器; CN:常指带麦克风的〕耳机

【新词习得】

🔹grip /ɡrɪp/ CN: the way you hold something tightly, or your ability to do this紧握，紧抓；握力; CN: power and control over someone or something〔对某人或某事物的〕控制

•have/keep a grip on sth控制。。。

•tighten/loosen/relax your grip (on sth)加紧/放松对。。。的控制