Ikarus360 Posted December 7, 2014 Report Share Posted December 7, 2014 Thanks a lot for the Auckland videos! Now if only someone could post the full 1994 and 1998 openings. But the 1994 one seems to be a rare find and I got a feeling most malaysian users in Youtube are lazy to upload the whole thing (they have only put some small excerpts of it but that's it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatinXTC Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 Exactly! I can never understand why that moment should so stand out for "likers" of the Athens show. Plus, the "museum on wheels" (Klepsydra) which had nothing to do whatsoever with the $20 million lake that was the centerpiece of the show. lol that stupid parade. I have to say on television, it looked great, however the most upsetting thing about the whole opening ceremony in Athens was that it was a show that was catered to their television viewers, NOT their live audience. If I had to pull out binoculars just to see that parade I would be miserable, especially with tickets running in the hundreds or even the thousands. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 lol that stupid parade. I have to say on television, it looked great, however the most upsetting thing about the whole opening ceremony in Athens was that it was a show that was catered to their television viewers, NOT their live audience. If I had to pull out binoculars just to see that parade I would be miserable, especially with tickets running in the hundreds or even the thousands. U r absolutely correct. It was good for the lower tier seats..but a "cheat" for the upper bleachers. Pappioannou was NOT thinking large arena terms, he was still in his proscenium-theatre mindset when he conceived the Klepsydra. It was meant for up-close viewing and NOT a larger space. Gosh, finally some other posters here see my main objections to the over-rated Athens 2004 OC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatinXTC Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 U r absolutely correct. It was good for the lower tier seats..but a "cheat" for the upper bleachers. Pappioannou was NOT thinking large arena terms, he was still in his proscenium-theatre mindset when he conceived the Klepsydra. It was meant for up-close viewing and NOT a larger space. Gosh, finally some other posters here see my main objections to the over-rated Athens 2004 OC. It is pretty damn obvious that since Athens the ceremonies have been geared toward the viewers at home, ESPECIALLY London! I mean come the f**k on did you seriously think you needed to put all of those ridiculous clips just so the home audience wouldn't have to see them set up in between every part of the pageantry? What a cheap job they did there. They should have gone for smoother transitions like all the other previous Olympics. As bad as Atlanta's opening games was, even their transitions were much smoother than London's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illustrado Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 It is pretty damn obvious that since Athens the ceremonies have been geared toward the viewers at home, ESPECIALLY London! I mean come the f**k on did you seriously think you needed to put all of those ridiculous clips just so the home audience wouldn't have to see them set up in between every part of the pageantry? What a cheap job they did there. They should have gone for smoother transitions like all the other previous Olympics. As bad as Atlanta's opening games was, even their transitions were much smoother than London's. i think were watching different ceremonies. let's be honest, transition are hard in opening ceremonies. there's always the bit after big reveal. they would always have that weird encore/packing up the staging phase. with London, it provided the audience, in the stadium and the TV viewers,something to look when they were clearing up. i should point out the 'happy and glorious' and the' chariots of fire' segments were transition to clear the pandemonium and NHS sequence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 It is pretty damn obvious that since Athens the ceremonies have been geared toward the viewers at home, ESPECIALLY London! I mean come the f**k on did you seriously think you needed to put all of those ridiculous clips just so the home audience wouldn't have to see them set up in between every part of the pageantry? Don't forget that breaks of four minutes or so after quarter-hour segments are very handy for commercials, but they need some sort of filler for ad-free broadcasters like BBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 Don't forget that breaks of four minutes or so after quarter-hour segments are very handy for commercials, but they need some sort of filler for ad-free broadcasters like BBC. Altho the need for filler was only required where the telecast was live. In delayed showings, any gaps would be edited and be filled with however many commercials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 Altho the need for filler was only required where the telecast was live. In delayed showings, any gaps would be edited and be filled with however many commercials. But who on earth doesn't show Olympic OCs live these days, even when it means people watching in the middle of the night? North Korea maybe ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 (edited) But who on earth doesn't show Olympic OCs live these days, even when it means people watching in the middle of the night? North Korea maybe ... Most of the US. Only Oly geeks (and I know a few ) watch it "live-streaming" in the middle of the night. The vast US-NBC audience watches it in delayed prime-time (and that is when they can gather the valid and all-important Neilsen ratings. I don't know how they can measure "live-streaming" internet viewers?). Rio might be an exception since it is at a US-friendly time zone. But this is discussion for another day and time. Edited December 8, 2014 by baron-pierreIV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikarus360 Posted December 8, 2014 Report Share Posted December 8, 2014 I think I found videos from the ceremonies of the 1993 World Athletic Championships in Stuttgart. Not sure which one is the opening and closing (the description of the first vid says its the opening but it looks more like a closing if you ask me) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3BE7MGw12c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bChJJ4Kqn4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatinXTC Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 i think were watching different ceremonies. let's be honest, transition are hard in opening ceremonies. there's always the bit after big reveal. they would always have that weird encore/packing up the staging phase. with London, it provided the audience, in the stadium and the TV viewers,something to look when they were clearing up. i should point out the 'happy and glorious' and the' chariots of fire' segments were transition to clear the pandemonium and NHS sequence. Ugh, that travesty of a segment. Seriously how embarrassing for England, at least the first half. I'm glad for them that they have a great healthcare system, but what a terrible way to display it in the opening ceremony of the Olympics of all things! And the Chariots of Fire and Happy And Glorious were nothing more than distractions rather than shoddy transitions. I pay to see a live performance, not crap on a giant television that I would still probably need to squint or binoculars to see from a good number of areas where I would be sitting if I was right there in the stadium. These two that you mentioned just gave more evidence that the OCs are more than ever driven for the television audience. Don't charge an arm and a leg per ticket if this is the trash you feed to the live audience. And transitions ARE NOT hard to do in opening ceremonies. It takes just some cleverness and creativity. London was the one that failed the most at this. Every other OC has been able to successfully pull them off: Vancouver, Sochi, Beijing (only one TV transition), Athens, Sydney, Barcelona, Torino, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illustrado Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Most of the US. Only Oly geeks (and I know a few ) watch it "live-streaming" in the middle of the night. The vast US-NBC audience watches it in delayed prime-time (and that is when they can gather the valid and all-important Neilsen ratings. I don't know how they can measure "live-streaming" internet viewers?). Rio might be an exception since it is at a US-friendly time zone. But this is discussion for another day and time. and we remember that interview that cut a memorial to the 7/7 bombing and inappropriate commentary disaster that was a prime time-telecast. #NBCfail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatinXTC Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Most of the US. Only Oly geeks (and I know a few ) watch it "live-streaming" in the middle of the night. The vast US-NBC audience watches it in delayed prime-time (and that is when they can gather the valid and all-important Neilsen ratings. I don't know how they can measure "live-streaming" internet viewers?). Rio might be an exception since it is at a US-friendly time zone. But this is discussion for another day and time. To add to this, it's odd that Sochi's opening ceremony for the Olympics was not shown live on NBC, Universal Sports, or that other channel they have on cable, yet the Paralympic OC was shown live on one of the cable channels. And even though they could have shown the whole Olympic OC in its entirety, they didn't include the segment where the Sochi Olympic mascots come in the stadium. Also NBC didn't include the Abide With Me tribute in the London OC, which I found it to be an offensive gesture to England since it was a tribute that was honoring those that died in the bombings the day after London was chosen as the host city. I'm sure Television media around the world didn't omit the flag that was hung at the site of the 9/11 tragedies being walked into the stadium of the SLC OC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 Also NBC didn't include the Abide With Me tribute in the London OC, which I found it to be an offensive gesture to England since it was a tribute that was honoring those that died in the bombings the day after London was chosen as the host city. I'm sure Television media around the world didn't omit the flag that was hung at the site of the 9/11 tragedies being walked into the stadium of the SLC OC. I think Danny BOyle went overboard with honoring the non-Olympic dead in his Opening Ceremony -- that's why NBC cut out the 2nd memorial tribute. I'm sending you a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatinXTC Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 I think Danny BOyle went overboard with honoring the non-Olympic dead in his Opening Ceremony -- that's why NBC cut out the 2nd memorial tribute. I'm sending you a PM. Yes but is that any different than using the OC to flaunt the American flag that hung at the site of the collapse of the world-trade centers? Sure thousands more died there than at the bombings the day after London was selected as the host city, but again in your terms that was also a non-Olympic death toll. And London was specifically targeted because they won the right to host, so it's really not a non-Olympic death related incident. The same would have been said about the train station bombings in Madrid had they won the right to host the Olympics. Oh and let's not forget, the Pandemonium segment also honored those that died in the World Wars and nothing was edited out, as well as the pause in between the two segments in Sochi's opening ceremony on those that passed in the world wars and due to Stalin's regime. I actually think Abide By Me, even though it's something that the home audience would enjoy more, was a much better segment than most of what London gave us. Very powerful and moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) Yes but is that any different than using the OC to flaunt the American flag that hung at the site of the collapse of the world-trade centers? Sure thousands more died there than at the bombings the day after London was selected as the host city, but again in your terms that was also a non-Olympic death toll. And London was specifically targeted because they won the right to host, so it's really not a non-Olympic death related incident. The same would have been said about the train station bombings in Madrid had they won the right to host the Olympics. Oh and let's not forget, the Pandemonium segment also honored those that died in the World Wars and nothing was edited out, as well as the pause in between the two segments in Sochi's opening ceremony on those that passed in the world wars and due to Stalin's regime. I actually think Abide By Me, even though it's something that the home audience would enjoy more, was a much better segment than most of what London gave us. Very powerful and moving. U know...I don't make the decisions on what gets cut and what gets shown on the final version. Don't make it sound like I had a choice in that. Re the WTC flag; that was representative of a national tragedy; and the IOC ok'ed it. BTW, just FYI, that bit is NOT shown in the "world" feed. I believe it was just for US audiences that it was placed at the start when other broadcasters had a choice to start the broadcast with it or not. So, again, there was a choice. Edited December 9, 2014 by baron-pierreIV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 I think Danny BOyle went overboard with honoring the non-Olympic dead in his Opening Ceremony -- that's why NBC cut out the 2nd memorial tribute. I'm sending you a PM. But my theory is that Boyle's action was intended to show the flimsiness of the IOC's official reason for the ban on 40th anniversary commemoration of Munich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illustrado Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 But my theory is that Boyle's action was intended to show the flimsiness of the IOC's official reason for the ban on 40th anniversary commemoration of Munich. i think it's more politics than anything. most of the approve memorial section have no official detractors. the terrorist and the Nazi can't complain to the IOC that it puts them in a bad light. with the Munich tragedy though it more complicated. israel is still not recognized by most Arabian countries and current occupation of Palestine as hot as today, the IOC would rather ban the commemoration than face the mass exodus of arabian countries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMarkSnow2012 Posted December 9, 2014 Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 And the Chariots of Fire and Happy And Glorious were nothing more than distractions rather than shoddy transitions. I pay to see a live performance, not crap on a giant television that I would still probably need to squint or binoculars to see from a good number of areas where I would be sitting if I was right there in the stadium. These two that you mentioned just gave more evidence that the OCs are more than ever driven for the television audience. Don't charge an arm and a leg per ticket if this is the trash you feed to the live audience. What you're forgetting is that they weren't pure video segments. Both blended with live performances, and the stadium audience seems to have lapped them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2014 /\/\ I had no problem with the filmed segments because it was shared by both the live and home audiences. And it was only a couple of segments which furthered the narrative that Boyle was attempting. Sochi also did it with the explanation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the "mythic" bit about the origins of the Russian people; and they worked very well. If anything, it shows that the visualizers of the ceremonies have thought beyond one dimension and NOT left out the home viewers and NOT at the expense of the paying "live/ on site" audience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattygs Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 A very very short highlights clip of the Victoria 94 Commonwealth Games ceremonies 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 A very very short highlights clip of the Victoria 94 Commonwealth Games ceremonies Wow. There are some nice moments in there. /\/\ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikarus360 Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 OMG Thank you so much! I've wanted to see something like this for a long time. Too bad is not the full thing but at least its something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissEurasia Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Hmmm..... Anyone found the Havana 1991 Pan American Games OC yet? I've been looking for some time now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted December 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Hmmm..... Anyone found the Havana 1991 Pan American Games OC yet? I've been looking for some time now The Cuban-American community in Florida would've killed anyone who had this ceremony!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.