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Olympic Opening Ceremony Fireworks Were (Partly) Faked
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.
... just switch to a live video feed from South Ossetia?
Have gnu, will travel.
Hey captain obvious, I vividly remember the NBC announcer stating they were computer generated as it was happening.
Off your high horse please.
Something else was a little fishy, and it wasn't the yee sang.
I'll bet that the fireworks weren't the only computer-generated portion of the opening ceremony -- The part at the beginning with the rising and falling blocks looked a little suspect. The narration also reeked of classic propaganda, but I'm glad to see that a lot of the symbolism in the show advocated a more progressive China.
What's the problem? You want a series of impressive images on your screen. What's the issue with having them in CGI instead of real-life fireworks? The end result is the same. I could get your argument if we were talking about some olympic discipline being duped, with doping, corruption or otherwise, but fireworks are just eye candy. How it gets to your retina is quite irrelevant.
And by the way, doing it in CGI is also more environmentally friendly: compounds used in fireworks are not always of the most benign sort.
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Ok? The idea is for the entire world to be entertained at which should be a truce among the nations of the world bringing its best athletes to the tables. Putting on a good show for the olympics is part of the drill.
I'm always looking for a good shot at China but I think this time around we should cut these people a break. They've done a good job with the Olympics so far.
This is my sig.
Now shut the hell up and watch what they tell you to watch...or else. :)
But seriously, the level of paranoia here about the country "losing face" if things don't come off exactly as planned is simply difficult to describe if you're not here on the ground to see it first hand. I'm sure the environment in Berlin wasn't much different in 1936. The city is crawling with army, police (in uniform and plainclothes), and civilian brown shirt.....er...I mean "helpers" complete with red armbands (sound familiar)?
So even if nothing really goes wrong, people are seeing the true nature of the Chinese government these days. It's really sad because normally Beijing is a very pleasant city and offers a lot rich cultural sites to visit along with fantastic food. Sigh...
An upside-down flag is a distress signal, not a sign of disrespect.
Perfectly appropriate considering the kid's city was jut flattened don't you think?
This seriously is getting out of hand. All of this Anti-Chinese hate is making our nations look awefully stupid. But keeping it on topic; This has been going on for years. Watching it on the television is a digial image anyway. If you want the real thing, you should go there. Television networks have been using image enhancing computer techniques for years now. This is not a new thing. It was in good nature and in the name of safety that this was done. As well, fellow posters have already mentioned that the reporter mentioned the CG enhancements to the show. It will remain the best opening ceremony in history, like it or not.
...and eventually, this kind of deficit spending will bankrupt the media.
I do wonder why they keep pushing the edge of the envelope like this, though. The urge to alter reality doesn't really resonate with me. Just show it how it really happened. People are tuning in to experience a real event, not some imagined account of what the fireworks might have looked like.
If things continue to trend this way, the media will eventually find it far easier to simply fabricate all the news. They'd never have to leave the studio, and could script out events over and over until they got just the right shot. I mean seriously, if they're not going to have 100% journalistic integrity, why have any at all?
Wait. Are we seriously going to complain about this? If this doesn't count as much ado about nothing, I don't know what does. This isn't manipulation of the media - this is simply enhancing the televised broadcast of a ceremony for the opening of the Olympic games. Good gawd, get some perspective.
DoD producing propaganda for foreign (wink) audiences. Good evidence just came out that the White House forged a war-justification document. Stovepiped intelligence. Hush money to truth-tellers. Known-false public WMD claims. "This isn't about intelligence, it's about regime change." "Fuck Saddam, we're taking him out." Facts fixed around the policy. Leaks to "billboard" media to punish truth-tellers' families. Embedded reporters, sent home for publishing actual war photographs. Talking points piped from the White House to the top news corporations, often repeated as directives to the "journalists" who frame each day's news. Seven years of lapdog media pundits laughing along with the right-wingers who call for their assassination while they seriously discuss whether the 60% of Americans who still somehow hold political beliefs at odds with the ruling administration are traitors.
But the fireworks show China is deceptive.
If this is the standard of reporting NBC employs to bring purportedly "real-world" events to its viewers, I'm starting to understand how the US wound up in Iraq, why so many people believe evolution is "just a theory" and why huge corporations unblushingly stand in the welfare line while homeless veterans beg on street corners.
What's the harm in a little "enhanced reality" if it helps to keep people glued to the television, comfortable and distracted and plumply satisfied with their lot?
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Just as long as the ATHLETES are NOT on steroids, and the COMPETITION ITSELF is real... that's all I care about.
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how, exactly... is this news for nerds?
Is this just a vain viral attempt to drum up interest in the World's singularly most overrated sporting event?
Or simply yet another attempt to discredit the Chinese to distract US and UK readers from caring about the human rights and privacy abuses committed their own countries. Just remember, anything bad that happens in China in 2008 is going to be blown out of the water by the the London Olympics -- it'll make the 1936 Olympics look like Woodstock.
hmmm, I don't know why they would make them hydralic then claim there were people inside. Seems like the Chinese were not short of synchronised dancers, seems like a weird conspiracy.
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
Real sports are the ones you do yourself.
Does it really matter if the fireworks were partially faked or not?
The main goal of the ceremony is to entertain millions (perhaps billions?) of people and in my very humble opinion they succeded at that pretty damn well.
Hell, the first 1.5 hrs of the opening was one of the most magnificent shows ever to put on the face of the earth.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but they could have computer generated a lot more parts of the show and they didn't. The people in the boxes for instance?
I don't really care what was real or not.. All I know is that I frequently had to pick up my jaw from the ground. And that was the ultimate goal. Period.
Life starts at the end of your comfort zone.
Of course it matters.
There is no such thing as a "harmless deception," particularly in news coverage
They put up a gazillion statistics about an athlete on the screen in real time. They could have put a little banner in the corner of the picture of the fireworks saying "computer simulation." It wouldn't have cost a nickel. It wouldn't have held up the flow of commentary.
Why not? Because they wanted people to believe what they were watching was real... because they know darn well people do care about whether what they see is real or fake, and put less value on something that's faked.
The proof that people care is that it was not disclosed.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
There was a small segment that looked like some fireworks had been composited over the Beijing landscape. It doesn't matter. It was only used because it would have been dangerous to film from a helicopter, and the display that actually took place was identical to the CGI one.
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
exactly. It's show business, people, not news reporting. This whole discussion is like a moviegoer saying "What?! you mean John McClane didn't really blow up a building, they used computer effects? It's a conspiracy!"
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I definitely saw legs, but I also saw some sort of supports. I imagine that the blocks had some kind of contraption to make it easier for the people to lift them up and down with such fluidity. Not to mention that they would all have to be constrained to move up and down; I didn't see them wobble at all.
I've watched both the NBC and BBC broadcasts. On both, the announcers had explicitly mentioned that the firework footprints video shown was a virtual/simulated version of the actual footprint fireworks happening in Beijing. Something being faked implies it did not happen/exist in reality and also the intent to deceive, both of which are clearly not the case here. The fireworks did happen and it was explicitly announced what was shown was a simulation. Saying the fireworks were faked would be like saying the international space station (ISS) was faked because a TV station showed a computer animation of the ISS flying through space.
But eh, George W. is an idiot and messes up everything American anyway.
Whom do we petition for "Line Item" Flamebait moderation? I was with you as "Informative," till this point.
The Games have been rigged for years, and we're pissing about the firecrackers?
Never argue with a man carrying a water buffalo
The weren't hiding anything
They were specifically trying to hide the opening ceremonies as they appeared in reality. That they came out and said this does not change the fact. That they had this prepared -- well, it is not a good omen for us that governments want to replace reality for fiction and will do it so willingly. Worse, that the television stations, even in the United States, went along with it.
So, at what point, do we start questioning everything we see on putatively non-fiction broadcasts?
I could see the hydraulic pistons moving up and down. Especially near the end when the blocks were raised very high and you could see underneath them.
I would ask, "Do they think we're that stupid", but alas, many folks are willing to ignore facts observed by their own eyes if a credible TV person states something different.
Anyone who was paying attention during that part of the show could see that it was people inside the boxes. The only "obviously false" thing is the disinformation you're posting here. I just can't figure out what your purpose is in doing so.
hay guys what's dui?
Hey, congratulations on that. With 60% more people you produce 21.5% more stuff. Nice job, guys!
...following the principles of Heisenburger's Uncertain Cat...
Ok, the fireworks in the 'footprint' sequence themeselves looked suspiciously rendered, but what really made me question it as I watched it was that as they flew towards the stadium, the roads were busy - plenty of cars.
After 7 years waiting, I guess most Beijingers would have been at home watching on TV.
Other shots outside the stadium later showed the roads virtually deserted (and totally deserted in the immediate vicinity of the stadium, of course).
Jolyon
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