China 'faked' awesome Olympic opening ceremony
Monday, 11 August 2008
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Some of the most spectacular moments of the Olympic Games opening ceremony, which was watched by three billion people, were faked, it has been revealed.
The global television audience watched as a series of giant footprints, lit up by fireworks, proceeded through the night sky from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest stadium - not realising they were watching a computer-generated animation.
Even the giant television screens within the stadium itself broadcast the fake images.
The fireworks were real outside the stadium, but those shown in the stadium and on television had been filmed months in advance.
The last footprint, which was visible from the stands inside the Bird's Nest, was screened in real time.
The dupe was revealed by China's Beijing Times. Speaking to the paper, the man responsible for the animation said he was pleased with the result.
The team even consulted the Beijing meteorological office as it recreated the hazy effect of the city's smog at night, and inserted a slight camera-shake effect to simulate filming 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 being shown live, so that was mission accomplished."
He said the main problem with trying to shoot the footage live would have been manoeuvring a helicopter to see all 29 footsteps in a row.
One adviser to the Beijing Olympic Committee defended the decision to use the make-believe effects. "It would have been prohibitive to have tried to film it live," he said. "We could not put the helicopter pilot at risk by making him try to follow the firework route." Despite the fakery, the ceremony, featuring 16,000 performers, received rapturous reviews.
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I'm sorry, but you should be ashamed of yourself for writing this article. To writers, diction is everything. Your diction is poor. Your value as an entertainer may be high, but your value as a writer is close to nothing.
Posted by Jefferey | 15.08.08, 00:53 GMT
My understanding as I watched the opening ceremonies was that it was a "cinematic effect." That's what the announcers said as they showed the footprints, and it left no doubt in my mind as to whether or not it was real. Had this "journalist" watched that, they would have heard the same comment and know it wasn't necessarily showing what people in Beijing saw. Way to catch that amazing news story.
Posted by Courtney | 12.08.08, 17:21 GMT
Its seems there was other fraud as well. You might remember young singer Lin Miaoke who sung “Ode to the Motherland" at the ceremony - well she didn't. She was miming to the voice of another young girl who was not physically "flawless" as Miaoke.
Musical director Chen Qigang defended the decision to mislead the world ""The reason for this is that we must put our country's interest first" Yeah right!! Now having heard the truth we will all hold up the organisors as models of integrity!!
Posted by Bonzo | 12.08.08, 15:04 GMT
I liked the opening ceremony. It was entertaining.
Posted by anonymous | 12.08.08, 03:17 GMT
Fake ? ... just another attempt at sensationalist journalism ... shame on THAT editor ...
Posted by Peter Millar | 12.08.08, 02:54 GMT
"Fake" is not a proper word. Tens of thousands of people, local and foreign, watched the fireworks all along that line. Of course they may not be as perfect as the ones on TV by animation - no one had the chance to verify that, as no one took the risk to fly! I JUST WONDER WHAT ELSE THE AUTHOR WAS TRYING TO SUGGEST? ANYTHING ELSE FAKE, TOO?
Posted by arthurcool | 12.08.08, 02:49 GMT
The footprints are not fake. Check for yourself at: youtube.com/watch?v=wbZrI8onelg.
Posted by TigerStar | 12.08.08, 02:17 GMT
fireworks i did not know it was there?
the performance and theatric just blew me away, forget topping that! good luck london.
40 billion, compare to athens 6 billion budget. i cannot wait for the closing ceremony. this story will make the whole world just eager to watch the closing event.
Posted by thorton | 11.08.08, 21:01 GMT
Hmmm I think I taste a bit sour and big chunk of bitterness. By drag down the others to balance yourself at 2012. We will be watching YOU.
Posted by Mesmer | 11.08.08, 20:49 GMT
Well done China
Posted by Will | 11.08.08, 20:29 GMT
it was a great ceremony. i wouldnt care if they made it more exciting for the viewers at home. also we have to remember the security aspects of the ceremony! .................. ROCK ON BEJING!
Posted by D~Rose | 11.08.08, 19:19 GMT
by using the word "fake" the author is trying to instill negative connotation by trying to imply that ceremony is like the rest of counterfeit products from China. Fake implies that you are undesirably imitating something that is not yours which isn't the case with the opening ceremony in Beijing. For instance, instead of the world "fake" you could have use "digital", "not real time" or "simulated" I have a feeling that you like to bash China.
Posted by Griffin | 11.08.08, 19:08 GMT
We already knew this - it's not news. Maybe you should've listened to the commentary during the opening ceremony. And who cares if they didn't have fireworks all over the city? Really, is this the best you can do on a slow day?
Posted by Kristin | 11.08.08, 18:57 GMT
I think you might be the only news site that actually thought it was real. Most people who watched where told it was CG from the television announcers and people watching in Beijing would most likely notice the lack of steps outside.
Posted by Andrew | 11.08.08, 18:50 GMT
Your headline is fake. Too funny. It says:
"China faked awesome Olympic opening ceremony"
This headline is a total falsehood. It says that the entire opening ceremony was faked. Which is a bizarre and blatant untruth.
One brief moment, the firework footprints, were pre-recorded and shown on TV and the giant screens, rather than being shown live, because it would have been impossible to capture on camera and for people to appreciate otherwise. I expect better from you.
Posted by Frank Feather (Canada) | 11.08.08, 18:45 GMT
There was a flight band during the time for Beijing. In addition,
it is too risky to shot following the firework in real time. I am not
dispointed or surprised that they did it. It is understandable.
I enjoyed the show a lots. I treat it as a show. It is not a news.
Who cares how they did it. By the way, there is a 10 hours delay
between the real show and NBC's show. It is not in real time
anyway. If there is any complaint, I have more complaints about
the delay than other things. By the way, there are many faked
displays on the show. Do you think the giant roller on the ground
was really rolling?
Posted by Kevin | 11.08.08, 18:24 GMT
The picture wouldn't have been complete without the make-believe effects.....the entire ceremony was unbelievable!! GOOD JOB!
Posted by Bennancia | 11.08.08, 17:41 GMT
This is kind of misleading and only concerns a very small segment of the opening ceremony (the footprints outside the stadium).
The footprint fireworks were not fake. The fireworks were there for real, outside the stadium. They were definitely there. The Chinese wisely thought it would be dangerous to try and capture them live using a helicopter.
Too much chance of something going wrong . However all 29 footprint frireworks were real and visible from the city. Lets not be bad sports and rain on China's parade. They put on an amazing show. Lets see what is made of Britain's attempts in 2012. I doubt it will come close.
Posted by Conor Gillespie | 11.08.08, 17:39 GMT