Humint Events Online: TV Fakery Used for Olympics Opening Ceremony

Monday, August 11, 2008

TV Fakery Used for Olympics Opening Ceremony

Interesting:
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."

He said the main problem with trying to shoot the real thing was the difficulty of placing the television helicopter at the right angle to see all 28 footsteps in a row.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This should not surprise anyone, both on general grounds (that's what TV and all media are for), and also specifically as follows.

China is another country that will "soon be going to the Moon."

Listen carefully to:

The Sound of Chinese (and Americans) beginning a "trip to the Moon":

"Gentlemen...Start your computers..."

Anonymous Physicist


P.S.: See here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3688344/

It says China will send a "Taikonaut" [TaikoNOT, IMO] to walk on the Moon in 2020 (around the same time the USA will be sending its AstroNOTS to "walk on the Moon."

The article does give away this from a Johns Hopkins "Space Expert."

“My main impression is that everyone is going to the moon and everyone is doing the same thing,” said APL’s Paul Spudis.

Indeed, they will be using similar CGI programs. The only difference will be that both Chinese and Western Press will not be allowed to leak the TVFakery, so...

1:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How do you know it will be faked?

10:42 AM  

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