深扒美劇及美國(guó)大片背后的故事.

　　Everyone loves stories. And television and films are just that—stories put onto the screen. Yet for all the explosions, romance and drama, what you see in movies is rarely what we see in real life.

　　人人都愛(看)故事。而電視和電影只是把這些故事搬到了屏幕上。但是你在電影中所見的事件——爆炸場(chǎng)景、浪漫橋段和戲劇情節(jié)，卻很少發(fā)生在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中。

　　The reason for this is simple. We love stories, and a boring story makes for (造成) bad storytelling. Can you imagine a two-hour film on what happens during an average commute to work? Have you ever seen any films about housework?

　　理由很簡(jiǎn)單。我們雖熱衷于故事，但無趣的故事則會(huì)搞砸整個(gè)敘述過程。你能想象一部?jī)尚r(shí)的電影全都在說上班路上發(fā)生的事兒?jiǎn)?你看過哪部電影是關(guān)于家務(wù)活兒的?

　　Of course not. The stories we want to see, or pay to see, are exaggerated, fantastic and unexpected. While it might be true that the occasional true story astounds producers and writers, the majority of stories merely mimic American life and exaggerate the interesting points. So when popular shows like Breaking Bad (《絕命毒師》), House of Cards (《紙牌屋》) or Modern Family (《摩登家庭》) depict Americans, they are actually depicting a larger than life story.

　　當(dāng)然不會(huì)。那些我們想看且愿意為之掏錢包的電影往往是夸張的、奇異的、出乎意料的。雖然有些偶發(fā)的真實(shí)事件的確會(huì)讓制片人和作者震驚，但是大多故事只是在模仿美國(guó)人的生活，然后夸大其中有趣的看點(diǎn)。所以當(dāng)熱劇——諸如《絕命毒師》、《紙牌屋》或者《摩登家庭》描繪美國(guó)人生活的點(diǎn)滴時(shí)，這些連續(xù)劇實(shí)則在講述遠(yuǎn)多于生活本身的故事。

　　This is not to say that you can't see American culture in films and television—it is dinitely there, but it may not be the story itself. Serial killers (連環(huán)殺手) and jail breaks (越獄) don't happen every day, and you can be sure that they aren't the handsome and beautiful images you see in film when they do.

　　這并不是說你在電影和電視中看不到美式文化——文化當(dāng)然蘊(yùn)含其中，但故事本身并不代表著這種文化?！哆B環(huán)殺手》和《越獄》不會(huì)每天發(fā)生，若電影情節(jié)發(fā)生在現(xiàn)實(shí)，你也自然清楚，那些人物并不如影片中呈現(xiàn)得那么美好。

　　As someone who has worked with American television and film companies, I can tell you that it is a business, and selling the story is everything. So when a studio decides to purchase a show, or discontinue your favorite drama, it is profit, not the fans, talking.

　　作為一個(gè)在美國(guó)電視和電影公司都工作過的人，我可以告訴你這一切都是商業(yè)，賣故事才是重頭戲。當(dāng)工作室打算買下一檔節(jié)目或者砍掉你最愛的一部戲劇時(shí)，這都是為了利益，絕不是為了它們的粉絲。

　　The ways that productions try to keep your interest might surprise you. The success of films made bore means that studios do a "remake," attempting to "remake" the profit. Reality shows (真人秀) are supposed to show you real people in real situations, but as we all know from our own lives, that is rarely worth talking about. To make things more interesting, producers start by hiring people that already have problems or are likely to create problems. Then they film for hours to get the most dramatic moments. As an example, one friend who worked on Super Nanny (真人秀《超級(jí)保姆》) filmed sixty hours for just one show.

　　制片方為了維持關(guān)注熱度的方法也會(huì)讓你驚呆。只要之前有電影賣座，影視工作室就會(huì)重制，為了從中再次獲利。真人秀本應(yīng)向觀眾展示真人真事，但其實(shí)我們都明白，生活往往不足為道。而制片人為了制作更多笑點(diǎn)，會(huì)招募一批本來就麻煩纏身或者擅長(zhǎng)制造麻煩的“演員”。然后制片方會(huì)拍上幾個(gè)小時(shí)以選取其中最戲劇化的瞬間。比如有個(gè)在真人秀《超級(jí)保姆》劇組工作的朋友為了這檔節(jié)目拍攝了長(zhǎng)達(dá)60個(gè)小時(shí)!

　　American culture and life does live in films and on television, though it is usually in the small everyday moments of the show, not the car chases. So as you watch your favorite show or film, remember to enjoy it for what it is—a good story.

　　美式文化和生活的確存在于電影和電視中，盡管與飛車追逐無關(guān)，而只是日常生活里短暫的一瞬間。所以當(dāng)你觀看喜愛的電視節(jié)目或電影時(shí)，記得要享受故事本身。