mattygs

I’ve seen articles (dec 2020) mentioning a ceremonies budget of US$117m , and that was before a potential increase .

I really am curious as to where the Tokyo ceremonies budget actually went . Would be fascinating to find out the breakdown . No trapdoors or holes , no fly wire system , no large props , no imposing stage construction , limited costumes…. They didn’t even have that much pyro . Are hiring drones really that expensive …. Or was a big chunk of it golden handshakes to the multiple creatives that left .

Funnily enough this music has a distinct Olympic familiarity about it . Reminds me of the warriors by Percy Grainger (last few minutes), used for the Sydney 2000 opening fireworks finale .

I was under the impression an advertising company , Dentsu, was kind of responsible for the ceremonies. To me the structure seemed very odd .

I don’t know how I feel having watched that . I get the feeling Balich himself didn’t really believe in it and found it hard work . I think it was the product of poor flakey Japanese organisers . Of course the narrative was going to be impacted by COVID but I also feel that he structure they set up for the ceremony was flawed . It seems like the advertising company they put in charge was so out of touch on how to put together a ceremony . There were moments where it was almost like the Japanese character was itching to get out (the faces on the performers in the rings segment for example) , but they were shut back in their depressive boxes quick smart . Highlights were probably the opening video , the rings segment and the concept and design of the cauldron lighting . Not so great , Naomi Osaka who came across as a too cool for school teenage girl complete with hair fiddling . It’s almost like you could hear who saying this was so embarrassing . Contrast to the Uber emotional Midori Ito . Also wtf was up with the guy who was constantly getting in camera shot whilst guarding the torch like it was his only child . The mask inconsistency was odd too I thought . I also pose the question , yes we are still in a COVID world, but i felt like there was a distinct lack of a welcome segment . All in all I’m not about to take a deep paddle like some others are on here , I’m not angry , and I admire many of the sensibilities the production showed . I do think they misread the crowd though .

Really liking the dark mode version of the logo on the website, will be very interesting to see what path they will take when it comes to the look. Definitely a winner with producing a quality Worldmark as well which should work well with the branding. Reasonably pleased with this one.

I can understand where you are coming from, but I don't fully agree While I'm a little iffy about the indoor arena concept for the Para's opening, it's entirely workable and has potential dependent on who is involved. As for the closing ceremony concepts, the Verona Arena would be so iconic for the Games , and likewise I think Buenos Aires showed that outdoor public venues can produce some innovative spectacles (especially when you integrate the historic landmarks surrounding the areas). Don't forget it's only been in recent times that the Winter Para Closing ceremonies have been hosted in a stadium. Both Salt Lake and Vancouver held their closing in their medals plaza .

Wow, closing at the Verona Arena. Pretty sexy concept.

Also wouldn't be surprised if ECA2 was involved in some capacity for Paris. Their avant-garde style may suit if they want to go into that direction. If not as a main player, I imagine they will part of it somehow.

It really varies and to isn't always one company. The ones that come to mind that tend to be regular players around the world - Spectak (more so in the past and hasn't done toooo much recently. Most famous for Sydney 2000) - Jack Morton Worldwide (The Commonwealth Games tend to get stuck with this mob nowadays , however had also produced the likes of Athens 2004) - David Atkins Enterprises ( Vancouver 2010, Doha 2006 etc ) - Don Mischer Productions (Atlanta 96 and involved with Salt Lake 2002) - 5 Currents ( headed by Scott Givens who cut his teeth in card students. Involved with London and Sochi) - Ballich Worldwide (Rio 2016 and Torino in it's previous names of Filmmaster Group) Pretty sure those are the main ones around. It's also becoming a little more common to have 2 production companies coming together to form a specialised ceremonies company (which in a way is what happened in Barcelona ).

No bias I'm sure. lolol I'd probably put it Baton: Glasgow Mascot: Gold Coast Medals: Glasgow Podium Design: Tie Medal Ceremony Music: Glasgow Medal Ceremony Outfits: Gold Coast Look of the Games: Gold Coast (had a dynamic London 2012 appeal which I loved) Opening Ceremony: Gold Coast Weather: Gold Coast Outside event scenery: Tie (whatever floats ya boat really. I'm always a beach boy, but that's personal preference) Closing Ceremony: Tie (both were bloody awful)

It's really just getting everyone on the same page at the same time. There has never been no interest in potential bids, it's just not everyone has agreed on it at the same time. For a start , we need to get to the place where Auckland is acknowledged as the only candidate. Christchurch has far bigger issues, and Wellington just doesn't have the land space (the issues over building a good indoor arena is case and point). The proposed indoor venues in the above are fine, I'd probably cut Hamilton out a little more. We don't need an indoor sport there, Auckland has plenty of indoor venues (Spark arena, North Shore Events Centre, Trusts Arena, Vodafone Events centre, Barefoot and Thompson Stadium, ANZ viaduct events centre, Skycity Convention Centre) . I'd probably question the need for sailing, but beach volleyball at the Mount would be perfect. I'd like to think any potential bid would have at least one legacy venue, as it seems to be the only time things get built in Auckland (for events).

hahaha, was on my faceyfeed

The NZ Herald has done an unbelievably unnecessary piece ranking every Kiwi athlete from best to worst. While I won't dispute their top picks, it's just not needed.

Oh how bad was it, but at the very least the public was extremely vocal about it. I've never bagged Sky, I've been a subscriber for some time. While I think their package system is not ideal (at least they have started looking at changing this), they have already produced great sport coverage. TVNZ took us on a timewarp to the 90s with limited channels and the need for continuity , mixed with some mind boggling broadcast decisions (I still don't understand why they thought it was a good idea to screen the same sevens match on 2 channels at the same time, or boxing not involving Kiwis over a NZ gold medal squash game). I really do hope they don't get near another event like this again, though sadly they do appear to have RWC 2019.

Stacey Michelsen, captain of the Blacksticks NZ woman hockey team has been named as closing ceremony flagbearer

Kiwi athlete of the Games, hard to pick. Sam Webster , Sophie Pascoe, or Joelle King for performance. David Liti , Dame Valerie for the huge achievement as a mum and service to that sport. BlackSticks for making history. Be interesting to see who carries the flag at the closing.

I agree , however I can't help but think that Adelaide is just craving its time in the sun for South Australia.

Pretty bloody pleased with the performance of the Kiwi team. Alex I remember you thought they would be quite down on Glasgow, and I too didn't think they'd get up to that level, but they've proven me wrong. I think the overall story for NZ for these Games will be a fantastic overall NZCG team performance. I think within that are some obvious disappointments that will no doubt be triaged , but which could potentially take some of the gloss off the 11 days. Nice wee finish though, a return to the top of the podium in sevens.

Haha, This whole 8 year business without hosting an Olympics must be rather trying for you Canadians. But yes, I'd welcome another Canadian bid. Would go for a Norwegian/Swiss/Swedish/Austrian Games over it though come 2026

Sounds like a Manchester 2002 handover rehash. Replace concert with a mass dance routine.

I think Baron gave a pretty good explanation of what stadium theatre is, it's been around for some time, just another medium of entertainment (which can often be coupled with public events production). Tokyo of course won't consult *with the Chinese* for the sake of it, however it would be logical for a production of this scale to tap into the international major events production family. There are very few people internationally who have the expertise in the production of these events, Tokyo would struggle to go it alone. The production of ceremonies can go off in a few different directions. Usually, either the OCOG will appoint an artistic director/local creative team (of late these have been film makers, stage directors etc) and then appoint a production company to bring those ideas to life. They will provide the expertise on how to translate those to the field of play (and yes of late this will include how it translates to television - even more so recently where ceremonies have become a set of tableau images rather than a gigantic movement of people and props on the stadium floor). A few examples.... Barcelona 92: Pepo Sol (with support from Spectak - Ric Birch). Also commissioned a number of Catalan theatre companies to produce segments. Athens 2004: Dimitris Papaioannou (produced by Jack Morton Worldwide) Beijing 2008: Zhang Yimou (locally produced, granted the Chinese have a lot of experience with their own National Games ceremonies with assistance from international producers) London 2012: Danny Boyle (produced by 5 currents via a specially set up ceremonies company) Sochi 2014: Konstantin Ernst (produced by 5 currents) Alternatively, a production company may bid for the entire ceremonies which also includes the creative side, often they will then bring in locals to help with the creative side. These kinds of ceremonies will often include the travelling roadshow of ideas before committing to a script. Baku 2015: Dimitris Papaioannou (produced by 5 currents) Vancouver 2010 / Doha 2006: David Atkins Enterprises Auckland 1990: Logan Brewer Design Brisbane 82: Spectak Sydney 2000: Spectak Manchester 2002, Melbourne 2006, Glasgow 2014, Gold Coast 2018: Jack Morton Worldwide with David Zolkwer as lead artistic director. (seems JMW and The Com Games have a thing happening) Atlanta 96: Don Mischer Productions (also worked on Salt Lake 2002) I think Tokyo will go for the first model, purely on the basis that I haven't seen that many Japanese names being involved in ceremonies worldwide.

TVNZ will also be producing coverage for the Pacific Islands. The opening will be screened on TVNZ1(with Toni Street, Peter Williams and Jenny Mary Clarkson commentating the coverage), while TVNZ Duke will also screen the opening with the alternative commentary collective providing commentary (usually a slight piss take angle).