Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 The last fireworks foot-steps were live - the picture of all the other footsteps, who lead the way from the city center to the Olympic Stadium, where made from June 2007 until July 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.x Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 what???? why didn't they do it live? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 what???? why didn't they do it live? It seems that there were 29 fireworks footsteps at the 8th of August - but the pictures were not live: in an interview with the newspaper "Beijing Shibao" said Gao Xiaolong, an employee of a Video-production company, that the pics of the last two foot steps were live - the pictures of the other ones, where taken from June 2007 until July 2008... The reasons for the decision was that there were difficulties to make the pics (out of the air) at that evening and time problems The pics of the footsteps over the city toward the stadium were "photoshopped" - e.g. fog was added - the real live pictures were darker than the not-live pictures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 (edited) No wonder it looked wonderfully smooth. But ehhhh, who cares? It was another ingenious idea and a small lead-up to an otherwise MARVELOUS show!! Edited August 10, 2008 by baron-pierreIV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PYRROS2004 Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Guys it was obvious that it was recorced earlier! Just like in Athens when they played the Greek anthem and at the end there is a plan from the Acropolis, inside the stadium it was dark, but the plan had day light. I wanted to write that if you couldn't understand that the steps weren't live, then I really don't care that you praise Beijing ceremony so much. Also, you think that the drums at the start of the ceremony were really? THINK AGAIN! Somekind of a microchip that China invented for their space program did all the work. So again, I wouldn't be surprised if some day they announce that the keyboard segment, indeed was made from computers, and they just had the persons appear at the end. We said that it was a high tech ceremony, they didn't focus on humans as units, but as a mass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 We said that it was a high tech ceremony, they didn't focus on humans as units, but as a mass. Well, the Chinese have a different mindset from you. If you shared your space with 1.3 billion other people, then I am sure you would see things differently. So their outlook is different. That's all. Mass 'thinking' works for stadium spectacle. "Individual POV" does not work for huge stadium spaces. It looks somewhat forced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattygs Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 I have sensed from various people this almost patronising sense that what Athens did was right, and what Beijing did was wrong. I liked both ceremonies, they are my top 2, as ive said - they come from different angles. But what meant something to Greeks for Athens, is no better or worse than what Beijing did for the Chinese. It would be wrong to say that they only do it this way because they have been brainwashed and because of the way they were brought up. Where Beijing didnt focus on the individual, Athens didnt focus on the unity of the mass. It can easily go both ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 (edited) No wonder it looked wonderfully smooth.But ehhhh, who cares? It was another ingenious idea and a small lead-up to an otherwise MARVELOUS show!! You are right - but I think we have a kind of right to know it, since it was "claimed" to be live.... Edited August 10, 2008 by Citius Altius Fortius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevzz Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 I wasn't surprised it wasn't live. It seems pre-recorded to me. It doesnt matter really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Where Beijing didnt focus on the individual, Athens didnt focus on the unity of the mass. It can easily go both ways. Because the contemporary mainland Chinese have been reared with a 'collective' mindset, i.e., for the Motherland, for the greater good... (vs. the more democractic Chinese societies of Taiwan and Hong Kong where, being more westernized, the individual is 'more highly' prized. It's just 2 different cultures' POVs which was reflected diametrically-opposed in the last 2 Opening Ceremonies. Funny that these last 2 Summer Olympics have been hosted by the smallest host in the last 1/2 century to the MOST populous nation on earth. So, London is going to be extremely ECCENTRIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 You are right - but I think we have a kind of right to know it, since it was "claimed" to be live.... Well, not for me. I get the Ceremony tape-delayed, so technically, the whole thing is no longer 'live' for me. But it doesn't matter. it was all part of the magic of the evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 You are right - but I think we have a kind of right to know it, since it was "claimed" to be live.... When did they claim that everything would be live? It's almost an Olympic tradition now that clips for the ceremony are pre-recorded. The opening segment of Lillehammer's OC with that giant flag was mostly pre-recorded, and such were the pictures of Acropolis and Olympia for Athens' OC. So what's all that fuzz about? I see absolutely no scandal or "hoax". And it was immediately clear to me that the footstep segment was pre-recorded as well. The fireworks looked a little bit artificial, and also the picture quality looked like as if they had filmed the segment instead of broadcasting it live with TV cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 When did they claim that everything would be live?It's almost an Olympic tradition now that clips for the ceremony are pre-recorded. The opening segment of Lillehammer's OC with that giant flag was mostly pre-recorded, and such were the pictures of Acropolis and Olympia for Athens' OC. So what's all that fuzz about? I see absolutely no scandal or "hoax". And it was immediately clear to me that the footstep segment was pre-recorded as well. The fireworks looked a little bit artificial, and also the picture quality looked like as if they had filmed the segment instead of broadcasting it live with TV cameras. For me it was not immediately clear that the footstep segment was pre-recorded - what was different at the Athens OC since the OC was during the evening and the pictures of the Acropolis and Olympia were taken in daylight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huaiwei Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 THINK AGAIN! Somekind of a microchip that China invented for their space program did all the work.So again, I wouldn't be surprised if some day they announce that the keyboard segment, indeed was made from computers, and they just had the persons appear at the end. You seem to give the Chinese alot more credit then is due. Why would they bother to spend millions on high-tech wizardry to have computer-controlled blocks, when enlisting thousands of military men to do the same job would save the organisers plenty of money to buy more fireworks? Logic seems to take a backseat whenever grapes turn sour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huaiwei Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 For me it was not immediately clear that the footstep segment was pre-recorded - what was different at the Athens OC since the OC was during the evening and the pictures of the Acropolis and Olympia were taken in daylight. So we expect them to show the words "a few months earlier" before the footsteps scene comes on...just like in the movies, especially since the whole thing was conjured up by a movie director? I hope we do not have anyone here believing that the paper-making scene was live as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 So we expect them to show the words "a few months earlier" before the footsteps scene comes on...just like in the movies, especially since the whole thing was conjured up by a movie director? I hope we do not have anyone here believing that the paper-making scene was live as well? WOW - huaiwei - you put a fantastic idea in my head: why shouldn't we abolish a live Opening Ceremony and watch a movie together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huaiwei Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 WOW - huaiwei - you put a fantastic idea in my head:why shouldn't we abolish a live Opening Ceremony and watch a movie together! Well to be brutally honest, it won't have mattered to alot of people out there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 And still, I fail to recognise the problem. Which benefit does one have when each of the ceremonial segments is 100 % live? There are so many technical illusions in an opening ceremony anyway (Athens' DNA helix, Beijing's projections on ground and roof, Torino pretending as if an Olympic cauldron could be directly lit by the Olympic Flame via fireworks), that I really don't understand why it enrages people so much when the fireworks turn out to be computer-made and pre-recorded. I found the footstep concept impressive anyway, regardless of whether it was natural or computer-made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 It was likely taped for benefit of the participants in the stadium. They didn't see the foot prints coming their way. Just as the drummer in Olympia wasn't live. Were there actually 29 foot prints on that night? I'm sure it was just the video that had been prerecorded but the fireworks did go off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 It was likely taped for benefit of the participants in the stadium. They didn't see the foot prints coming their way. Just as the drummer in Olympia wasn't live.Were there actually 29 foot prints on that night? I'm sure it was just the video that had been prerecorded but the fireworks did go off. Oh, OK. Until you get settled down to watch the OC telecast in peace, one could miss that fact that indeed the 29 "foot print-fireworks" was the salue to the previous 28 Olympiads. And of course it makes sense that that would've been pre-taped for the stadium audience because how else could they see it? So, in effect, this Beijing OC had a double countdown: the pyro foot-prints AND the LED-drum light show inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 (edited) And still, I fail to recognise the problem. Which benefit does one have when each of the ceremonial segments is 100 % live?There are so many technical illusions in an opening ceremony anyway (Athens' DNA helix, Beijing's projections on ground and roof, Torino pretending as if an Olympic cauldron could be directly lit by the Olympic Flame via fireworks), that I really don't understand why it enrages people so much when the fireworks turn out to be computer-made and pre-recorded. I found the footstep concept impressive anyway, regardless of whether it was natural or computer-made. I think I have to straighten something out - I put the word hoax in quatation marks, since the meaning of hoax isn't really appropriate... First of all I have to admit that I do love special effects in movies - there are different kinds of special effects: - there are special effects, which are obvious (e.g. in Batman, Star Wars, Star Trek, X-men, Titanic, etc. etc.) - there are special effects, which are not obvious (e.g. Forrest Gump: in one scene the both leg amputed Gary Sinise is sitting on a railing and turns is body from one side to the other side - due Gary Sinise has two normal legs this movement wasn't possible since his two lower legs would have hit the railing - therewith a part of the railing was cut out - in the movie this is not visible since a special effect) Movies are something different than reality - an Opening Ceremony of Olympic Games is reality - therefore I want to see technical tricks, gadgets or movies only, when they are visible for the audience or shown on a big screen in the stadium My intention of this thread was to draw attention on the danger how the reality can be manipulated - if there hadn't been "footstep fireworks" in reality, who would have been able to recognise that? Edited August 11, 2008 by Citius Altius Fortius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savas Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 I think what CAF wants to say is that it would be a very disappointing development if the future hosts start to mix pre-recorded or even computer generated scenes in the opening ceremony with the intension to give a "live feeling". In Athens it was absolutely clear for the viewer that the Acropolis view and the Journey to Ancient Olympia was prerecorded. Beijing tried to give the impression that the footstep fireworks are live and i am sure that many many viewers thought "wow this is awsome"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 ... thanks savas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattygs Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 To be honest, I never thought it was live. The way it crossed to it at the beginning showed it was really obvious that the first part was recorded. It was far too pollished to be a live broadcast. As has been mentioned, just like the opening of the Lillehammer 94 opening ceremony. They never claimed that it was live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) To be honest, I never thought it was live.The way it crossed to it at the beginning showed it was really obvious that the first part was recorded. It was far too pollished to be a live broadcast. As has been mentioned, just like the opening of the Lillehammer 94 opening ceremony. They never claimed that it was live. ... I don't understand what you mean with "the Lillehammer 1994 opening ceremony"... was it not live? Edited August 12, 2008 by Citius Altius Fortius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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