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Olympic Opening Ceremony Fireworks Were (Partly) Faked

Posted by timothy on from the now-apply-to-serious-controversial-events dept.

A complete newb writes "London's Telegraph newspaper reports that some of the fireworks which appeared over Beijing during the television broadcast of the Olympic Opening Ceremony were actually computer generated. But — hold on — it's not necessarily as bad as you think. The faked fireworks were actually set-off at the stadium, but because of potential dangers in filming the display live from a helicopter, viewers at home were shown a pre-recorded, computer-generated shot." To me, the reasoning behind the faked display is no consolation or excuse — it seems hard to swallow that NBC was unaware of this televised deception. I'm glad that it was good-naturedly "revealed" this weekend (according to that Telegraph article), but it's disheartening that such a large crowd can watch (in person, and around the world) such a display and have no reason to realize they've been duped. What about when weightier events are at issue? There's also a slightly more detailed story at sky.com.

13 of 488 comments (clear)

  1. Only a small part looked simulated by josecanuc · · Score: 4, Informative

    I watched the opening ceremony on NBC here in the U.S. There was a part of the ceremony called something like 'A walk through Beijing'. It showed a fly-through video of Beijing with "footsteps" made of fireworks popping up along the street/path. Those footstep fireworks looked pretty obviously computer-simulated. All other fireworks shown did not have that simulated appearance.

    It sounds to me like these footsteps part were all that was simulated.

    Does anyone know if the footage we saw on NBC (of the whole ceremony) was from an International common video feed or did NBC have their own cameras there? I ask because at large International events like this, there is often a common video feed and the commentators simple talk about what they see on their screen (which is the same thing we see, minus the fancy NBC info graphics and overlays.)

    (I wrote this looking at the subscriber early-post version. A link to a sky.com article was later added to the summary which answers my question.)

    1. Re:Only a small part looked simulated by deadmantyping · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes, I too remember the commentators mentioning the fact that those footsteps were CGI. The last two stories about the Olympics broadcasts seem like they could have been avoided if people had only listened to the commentary on the broadcasts.

    2. Re:Only a small part looked simulated by T-Bone-T · · Score: 4, Informative

      It looked like legs to me, not hydraulics. Add to that the slightly inconsistent motion and it seems like you are just making things up.

    3. Re:Only a small part looked simulated by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Informative

      Indeed. The NBC commentator specifically said, as the footage was being shown, that the event's producers were using a cinematic interlude to convey the concept of the fireworks. The actual firewoks WERE going off at the same time, and in much the same way... but there was simply no way to be sure they could show it well on TV - since it was impossible to predict the weather or other cirumstances. So, they showed a CGI illustration for the people watching TV. The weren't hiding anything, they came right out and SAID what they were doing.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    4. Re:Only a small part looked simulated by Rokewaju · · Score: 5, Informative

      In reply to whether or not you the footage you saw was from a International Common Feed, the answer is: Yes

      NBC and the other rights holding broadcasters use the feed that is originated by the "Host Broadcaster" in this case Beijing Olympic Broadcasting. NBC and the other rights holding broadcasters can pay to have extra cameras in the stadium/venue. Those cameras are typically used for close ups of dignitaries and athletes from that Broadcaster's country in addition to "Beauty Shots" (scenic shots of landmarks or landscapes that are not covered by the International Feed). However that footage is generally less than 5% of the total footage, the rest of it comes from the International feed. The Host broadcaster will add their own commentary over top the International feed and in some cases their own graphics (or additional graphics specific to that network/broadcaster). The Host Broadcaster originates all the of the TV footage for the Games including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

      I worked on the crews of three Olympics (2002, 2004, 2006) with my spouse working for the Host Broadcaster for each of those games.

      --
      No, I don't have anything planned for you, I promise...
    5. Re:Only a small part looked simulated by CthulhuDreamer · · Score: 5, Informative

      The hydraulic pistons were the actor's legs.

      http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5306/peoplebn2.gif

      At the end of the act the tops were removed so the actors could wave to the crowd (or else robotics were really, really advanced).

  2. Yeah, no kidding. by eli867 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Unaware? obviously weren't listening during th broadcast. The NBC announcers were talking about how some of the effects were computer enhanced. They specifically said there were "digital pyrotechnics" used during the camera shot that zoomed across the city showing fireworks exploding all around.

  3. NBC Commentator *stated* part simulated by crepe-boy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Slow day on Slashdot? I don't know where the conspiracy nuts get their information - were they actually watching the programme? The NBC commentator stated quite clearly that the 29 displays across Beijing that signified the 29 olympiads were simulated. They didn't got into detail about it but they certainly didn't hide it.

  4. NBC said it was a "cinematic animation" by Blackwulf · · Score: 5, Informative

    I watched the opening ceremonies twice and the commentators did state something to the effect of "They want this ceremony to be cinema in real time, but what you're watching right now is actually cinematic, it's all animation of these footsteps leading to the National Stadium." They did not outright say "hey this is prerendered CG" but they DID state that this was "true cinematics" and that it was animation.

    They were well aware of it and did a poor job of communicating it to viewers. I can tell how most people would have missed it.

  5. The 1992 torch lighting by flaming arrow was faked by kaptain80 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Back in 1992, the Olympic torch in Barcelona was supposed to be lit by an archer shooting a flaming arrow. Yeah... no. He shot it towards the cauldron, but it was set to be lit on its own via pyros. The flaming arrow passed way over the cauldron, safe from setting any of the audience on fire or perforating them, and the torch lit anyway.

    OR MAYBE IT WAS AN OLYMPIC MIRACLE AND HE HIT IT

    Link: The Source of All Knowledge

    --
    Kurt Vonnegut: "If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind."
  6. They did tell you... by UDGags · · Score: 4, Informative

    The announcers for NBC said there were digital fireworks during the broadcast a couple times.

  7. If Leni Riefenstahl was filimg - by RevWaldo · · Score: 4, Informative

    When she was filming the 1936 Olympics (Olympia) she took aerial photographs by attaching cameras to balloons. The lesson for filmmakers today? If you can't risk flying people, use a drone. (Caveat: a number of the balloons crashed. But I like to think nowadays we could achieve better results.)

    --
    Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  8. What Lauer and Costas actually said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I went back and looked at what NBC showed on television in the United States of America.

    The following is exactly what the commentators, Today Show host Matt Lauer and NBC Sports broadcaster Bob Costas, said:

    Matt Lauer: You're looking at a cinematic device employed by Zhang Yimou here. This is actually almost animation. A footstep a second, 29 in all, to signify the 29 Olympiads.

    Bob Costas: We said earlier that aspects of this Opening Ceremony are almost like "cinema in real time", well this is quite literally cinematic.

    At the time, I fully understood that I was watching a movie. It's not "news" to me.