India’s special effects (VFX) industry is growing fast because more movies need cool visual effects. But, there’s a problem: there aren’t enough people who know how to do this work. Right now, about 250,000 people have jobs making these effects, but in the future, we will need a lot more – up to 2.2 million people. To fix this, a special group is helping schools create classes so more people can learn how to make special effects.

The reason we don’t have enough people for these jobs is because movies in India and other countries want more special effects. But learning how to make these effects can be expensive because you need special computers and programs. Even though it’s hard, a group is trying to make it easier for people to learn by working with colleges. They hope this will help more people get ready for these cool jobs.

Artificial intelligence (AI), which is a smart computer program, might help solve the problem. AI can do some of the work faster, like making backgrounds or characters for movies. This might mean some jobs go away, but it also creates new chances for people to work in different ways. People think AI can make movies even better and help everyone do their jobs well. So, even though it’s tough right now, the future for making movie magic in India looks really exciting.

Original news source: The staff shortage in India’s special effects industry (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions: In pairs, students will read the article and then summarize the main points in their own words. They will take turns sharing their summaries with the class.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Divide the class into teams. Give each team a set of vocabulary words from the article. One student from each team will draw a picture to represent a word, while the rest of the team tries to guess the word. The team with the most correct guesses wins.

– Think-Pair-Share
Instructions: Ask students to think about the future of the VFX industry in India based on the information in the article. Then, pair them up and have them discuss their thoughts with their partner. Finally, have a few pairs share their ideas with the class.

– Headline Creation
Instructions: In groups, students will create catchy headlines for the article. They should try to capture the main idea and make it interesting. Each group will share their headline with the class, and the class can vote on the best one.

– Pros and Cons
Instructions: Divide the class into two teams. One team will brainstorm the pros of the VFX industry growing in India, while the other team will brainstorm the cons. Each team will take turns sharing their ideas with the class. After hearing both sides, the class can discuss and debate which side they agree with more.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. Why is India’s special effects industry growing fast?
2. What is the problem with the special effects industry in India?
3. How many people currently have jobs making special effects?
4. How many people might be needed in the future to make special effects?
5. Why is it expensive to learn how to make special effects?
6. How is a special group helping schools create classes?
7. How might artificial intelligence help solve the problem in the special effects industry?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

India’s (1)______ effects (VFX) industry is growing fast because more movies need cool visual effects. But, there’s a problem: there aren’t enough (2)______ who (3)______ how to do this work. Right now, about 250,000 people have jobs making these effects, but in the future, we will need a lot more – up to 2.2 million people. To fix this, a special group is helping schools create classes so (4)______ people can learn how to make special effects.

The (5)______ we don’t have enough people for these jobs is because movies in (6)______ and other countries want more special effects. But learning how to make these effects can be expensive because you need special computers and (7)______s. Even though it’s hard, a group is trying to make it easier for people to learn by working with colleges. They hope this will help more people get ready for these cool jobs.

Artificial intelligence (AI), which is a (8)______ computer program, might help solve the problem. AI can do some of the work faster, like (9)______ backgrounds or characters for movies. This might mean some jobs go away, but it also creates new chances for people to work in different ways. (10)______ think AI can make movies even better and help everyone do their jobs well. So, even though it’s (11)______ right now, the future for making movie magic in India (12)______ really exciting.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a special effect?
2. How would you feel if you had a job making special effects for movies?
3. Do you like watching movies with cool visual effects? Why or why not?
4. What do you think is the reason why there aren’t enough people who know how to make special effects?
5. Do you think it’s important for schools to create classes to teach people how to make special effects? Why or why not?
6. What do you think might make it difficult for people to learn how to make special effects?
7. How do you think artificial intelligence (AI) can help solve the problem of not having enough people for special effects jobs?
8. Do you think AI taking over some jobs in the special effects industry is a good thing or a bad thing? Why or why not?
9. How do you think AI can make movies even better?
10. Do you think it’s exciting that the future of making movie magic in India looks really exciting? Why or why not?
11. How would you feel if you had the opportunity to work in the special effects industry in the future?
12. What other jobs do you think AI could help with in the future?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. industry
2. visual
3. effects
4. expensive
5. artificial
6. intelligence
7. background
8. characters
9. opportunities
10. colleges
11. programs
12. magic

Meanings:
(A) The people or animals in stories or movies
(B) Something you can see with your eyes
(C) What you see behind the main things or people in pictures or movies
(D) A set of instructions that tell a computer what to do
(E) Chances to do something new or exciting
(F) Schools where you can learn after high school
(G) What you call something amazing that seems impossible
(H) Made by people, not natural
(I) How smart a computer or robot can be
(J) A big area of work where people make or sell things
(K) Costs a lot of money
(L) Cool things in movies that don’t really happen, like flying cars
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Why is India’s special effects (VFX) industry growing fast?
(a) There is a shortage of people who know how to do this work.
(b) Movies in India and other countries want more special effects.
(c) More movies need cool visual effects.
(d) All of the above.

2. How many people currently have jobs making special effects in India?
(a) Up to 2.2 million people.
(b) Only a few hundred people.
(c) None of the above.
(d) About 250,000 people.

3. What is the main problem in the special effects industry in India?
(a) There is a lack of special computers and programs.
(b) There are not enough schools offering classes on special effects.
(c) There is a shortage of people who know how to make special effects.
(d) All of the above.

4. How is a special group helping schools in India?
(a) By providing special computers and programs.
(b) By creating classes on special effects.
(c) By offering scholarships to students interested in special effects.
(d) None of the above.

5. What might happen to some jobs in the special effects industry?
(a) They might go away because of artificial intelligence (AI).
(b) They might become more popular because of AI.
(c) They might become easier to do because of AI.
(d) None of the above.

6. What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
(a) A type of special effect used in movies.
(b) A group of people working on special effects.
(c) A smart computer program.
(d) None of the above.

7. How can AI help in the special effects industry?
(a) It can make movies even better.
(b) It can do some of the work faster, like making backgrounds or characters for movies.
(c) It can help everyone do their jobs well.
(d) All of the above.

8. What does the future look like for making movie magic in India?
(a) It looks difficult and challenging.
(b) It looks uncertain and unpredictable.
(c) None of the above.
(d) It looks really exciting.

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. Currently, about 250,000 people have jobs making special effects, but in the future, we will only need up to 1.5 million people.
2. A special group is helping schools create classes so more people can learn how to make special effects.
3. There is no problem because there are plenty of people who know how to do special effects work.
4. India’s special effects industry is not growing quickly because fewer movies are interested in having cool visual effects.
5. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a smart computer program that might help solve the problem by doing some of the work faster.
6. AI can make movies even better and create new opportunities for people to work in different ways.
7. Learning how to make special effects can be affordable because it does not require special computers and programs.
8. The group is working with colleges to make it easier for people to learn special effects.
Go to answers ⇩

📝 Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What is the problem that India’s special effects industry is facing?
2. How many people currently have jobs making special effects?
3. Why is it difficult for more people to learn how to make special effects?
4. How is a special group helping schools create classes for special effects?
5. How might artificial intelligence (AI) help solve the problem in the future?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Why is India’s special effects industry growing fast?
India’s special effects industry is growing fast because more movies want cool visual effects.

2. What is the problem with the special effects industry in India?
The problem is that there aren’t enough people who know how to make special effects.

3. How many people currently have jobs making special effects?
About 250,000 people currently have jobs making special effects.

4. How many people might be needed in the future to make special effects?
In the future, up to 2.2 million people might be needed to make special effects.

5. Why is it expensive to learn how to make special effects?
Learning how to make special effects can be expensive because you need special computers and programs.

6. How is a special group helping schools create classes?
The special group is working with colleges to help them create classes for people to learn how to make special effects.

7. How might artificial intelligence help solve the problem in the special effects industry?
Artificial intelligence can help by doing some of the work faster, like making backgrounds or characters for movies. This might mean some jobs go away, but it also creates new chances for people to work in different ways.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) special
(2) people
(3) know
(4) more
(5) reason
(6) India
(7) program
(8) smart
(9) making
(10) People
(11) tough
(12) looks
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. industry
Answer: (J) A big area of work where people make or sell things

2. visual
Answer: (B) Something you can see with your eyes

3. effects
Answer: (L) Cool things in movies that don’t really happen, like flying cars

4. expensive
Answer: (K) Costs a lot of money

5. artificial
Answer: (H) Made by people, not natural

6. intelligence
Answer: (I) How smart a computer or robot can be

7. background
Answer: (C) What you see behind the main things or people in pictures or movies

8. characters
Answer: (A) The people or animals in stories or movies

9. opportunities
Answer: (E) Chances to do something new or exciting

10. colleges
Answer: (F) Schools where you can learn after high school

11. programs
Answer: (D) A set of instructions that tell a computer what to do

12. magic
Answer: (G) What you call something amazing that seems impossible
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Why is India’s special effects (VFX) industry growing fast?
Answer: (c) More movies need cool visual effects.

2. How many people currently have jobs making special effects in India?
Answer: (d) About 250,000 people.

3. What is the main problem in the special effects industry in India?
Answer: (a) There is a lack of special computers and programs.

4. How is a special group helping schools in India?
Answer: (b) By creating classes on special effects.

5. What might happen to some jobs in the special effects industry?
Answer: (a) They might go away because of artificial intelligence (AI).

6. What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
Answer: (c) A smart computer program.

7. How can AI help in the special effects industry?
Answer: (b) It can do some of the work faster, like making backgrounds or characters for movies.

8. What does the future look like for making movie magic in India?
Answer: (d) It looks really exciting.
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. Currently, about 250,000 people have jobs making special effects, but in the future, we will only need up to 1.5 million people. (Answer: False)
2. A special group is helping schools create classes so more people can learn how to make special effects. (Answer: True)
3. There is no problem because there are plenty of people who know how to do special effects work. (Answer: False)
4. India’s special effects industry is not growing quickly because fewer movies are interested in having cool visual effects. (Answer: False)
5. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a smart computer program that might help solve the problem by doing some of the work faster. (Answer: True)
6. AI can make movies even better and create new opportunities for people to work in different ways. (Answer: True)
7. Learning how to make special effects can be affordable because it does not require special computers and programs. (Answer: False)
8. The group is working with colleges to make it easier for people to learn special effects. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧