Chinese Created Simulated Fireworks Display for Broadcast During Opening Ceremony
August 11th, 2008I’ve decided to mostly ignore the nonsense associated with the Totalitarian Games 2008, but I couldn’t resist posting this.
Via: Telegraph:
As the ceremony got under way with a dramatic, drummed countdown, viewers watching at home and on giant screens inside the Bird’s Nest National Stadium watched as a series of giant footprints outlined in fireworks processed gloriously above the city from Tiananmen Square.
What they did not realise was that what they were watching was in fact computer graphics, meticulously created over a period of months and inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment.
The fireworks were there for real, outside the stadium. But those responsible for filming the extravaganza decided in advance it would be impossible to capture all 29 footprints from the air.
As a result, only the last, visible from the camera stands inside the Bird’s Nest was captured on film.
The trick was revealed in a local Chinese newspaper, the Beijing Times, at the weekend.
Gao Xiaolong, head of the visual effects team for the ceremony, said it had taken almost a year to create the 55-second sequence. Meticulous efforts were made to ensure the sequence was as unnoticeable as possible: they sought advice from the Beijing meteorological office as to how to recreate the hazy effects of Beijing’s smog at night, and inserted a slight camera shake effect to simulate the idea that it was filmed from a helicopter.
“Seeing how it worked out, it was still a bit too bright compared to the actual fireworks,” he said. “But most of the audience thought it was filmed live – so that was mission accomplished.”
Related: Singing in Opening Ceremony Also Faked
Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!
This shit (the Olympricks) is off my radar – not interested at all either, but I don’t know how many people have been telling me how good the opening ceremony was and how I missed out by not watching it!
Suckers.
People will believe anything on TV.
What a joke.
Haven’t watched the Games in since I killed the television nearly twenty years ago now, though I have obviously seen bits on other idiot boxes. As a cultural anchor, the thing simply can’t be avoided when it comes to public events and social interaction and so on — but that doesn’t mean I have to invite one into my home.
I’ve always preferred participating in a sport to watching it, though sometimes that’s just not practical or possible. I’ve certainly seen more than the average share of American football over the years from every perspective; player, coach, family, fan and friend.
My little bro was also a senior all-stater with Billy Joe Hobert and Drew Bledsoe, accepting a full-ride as an Oregon Duck in the final years of the Brooks/Musgrave era; before he blew a shoulder against the Huskies as a redshirt junior. Brutal game, football. Fun as hell, but still just plain stupid from a self-preservation perspective.
As for the Olympic Games, I have a great deal of respect for the dedicated athletes pursuing their dreams and/or goals. Not nearly so much for the professionals and their kin just there for another bout of chest-thumping and self-aggrandizement. And exactly zero for the money machine revolving around it — and the premium they charge for access to other people’s eyeballs…