Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies
 

Top-secret test for B.C. Place ceremonies

By BOB MACKIN, 24 HOURS

Giant images of flames were projected on the inside of B.C. Place Stadium's roof Thursday night in a top-secret test for producers of the 2010 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.

The closed session was so hush-hush that B.C. Place employees were told no cameras, tours or even peeks were allowed.

Humidity, air pressure and temperature were monitored while lasers, computer graphics and smoke machines were tested. A source told 24 hours that the building was full of smoke by the time the session ended late Thursday night. The source said images of flames were at least a couple hundred feet and projected from different angles. An animated octopus was shown swimming on the roof, as were images of Olympic athletes.

Friday night's session was canceled after crews decided they were satisfied with Thursday's results. More than 30 people from several local and foreign lighting, sound, special effects and rigging companies were on an attendees' list. The list included three people from Britain's Creative Technology, which provided imaging for the giant digital scroll that served as the focal point of the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony.

Ceremonies executive producer David Atkins told 24 hours in February that the air-supported fabric roof would play a key role as a screen for large-scale images. He wouldn't comment on whether a giant image of the Olympic flame would solve a dilemma facing VANOC.

B.C. Place will be the first indoor opening ceremony venue in Olympic history.

Sounds exciting already.

next time... if i had KNOWN about this before the event then i would have gone.... hmmm next time.... and ill have better quality pics.... the ones that i have seen are a sucky camera phone type

Sounds interesting. Wonder what the octopus is supposed to be :P

Well, if the imagery projection company is from the same company that did Beijing's, they better fix a few things first so that this doesn't happen at BC Place :D
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/olympic-sized-blue-screen-of-death.jpg


We didn't see it on tv, but it would be quite noticeable if it's on the entire BC Place roof. :p

haha, kidding.

They should use a mac.

I hear that.

Wonder what Bill Gates though when he saw that since he was in attendance. Probably got a bit red in the face.

Bill Gates probably laughed it off and blamed it on the fact it was a pirated version of Windows, and of course it wasn't the operating systems fault but some poorly coded application. :rolleyes:

Anyways I've been going over the SEFC master art plan today and came across some stuff that could hint at what's in store for the olympic flame. Here's a quote.

OLYMPIC COUNCIL FIRE
Making the connection between the ceremonial Olympic Torch as
symbol, and the council fire as a social gathering place, ties the
intent of the Olympic Games with the need for diverse communities
(nations) to come together. The Council Fire is sited along the
waterfront promenade and designed for a variety of programming
functions. The Olympic Council Fire is an element that provides
the lasting legacy of this historical event, creating an ongoing
dynamic community resource.
Because of concerns about safety and appropriate uses of the
Council Fire, placing the artwork as close to the Community Center
and possible is important. This gives the work the “eyes and ears”
it needs to be viable as a long-term social gathering space.
The fire “hearth” envisioned in the Art + Idea section of the plan
should be placed in closed proximity to the Community Center facility
(development 2A). VANOC representatives also spoke of the need for
some sort of containers or vessels in several locations to display the
Olympic flame. Placing sculptural works for the flame in the water might
also be explored.

http://www.4culture.org/publicart/registry/images/sites/corson/11_A/corson_20_SI.jpg

neat

i can hear the boat squatters now though

They really, really, really need to make sure that wherever they put the Flame... it's off-limits and a lot better protected than that Olympic Countdown. It would be a National embarrassment to have some know-it-all protesters come and extinguish it (which I somehow see happening). Put it on top of the Harbour Center or something, making it like the Calgary Tower. :shrug: Or... have a shoot first ask later rule about anybody approaching the Flame :rolleyes: :haha:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/409981224_41a3f22f6c_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_/409981224/

A flame in the shape of 5 rings off the dock at science world...

well this is unfortunate but i find it unreasonable for Cirque to assume that it would have creative control over the ceremonies. it's not their show -

Cirque takes hat out of the ring for 2010 ceremonies

FIONA MORROW

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

September 17, 2008 at 3:43 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — Cirque du Soleil will not be part of the Vancouver 2010 opening or closing ceremonies despite high expectations that Canada's premier entertainment group would appear. A source close to the company blames tight control exerted over the creative process by VANOC and the IOC.

At one point, the Quebec company was in discussions with VANOC not simply to appear, but to be executive director of both ceremonies. Officially, both VANOC and Cirque cite the latter's commitments to private projects as the reason no deal was signed.

According to the Request for Expressions of Interest and Statements of Qualifications posted on VANOC's website, the successful applicant for the post of executive director of the ceremonies would work "in conjunction with and under the direction of VANOC."

Asked if Cirque du Soleil had wanted to direct the entire opening and closing ceremonies, public relations director Renée-Claude Ménard said: "Of course. That is the thing that Cirque does - we have creative control.

We work with partners and have them accompany us and endorse us, but you either [employ Cirque] to do it, or you don't."

David Atkins was appointed executive director of the ceremonies in September of 2007.

"We work with partners and have them accompany us and endorse us, but you either [employ Cirque] to do it, or you don't."

David Atkins was appointed executive director of the ceremonies in September of 2007. However, speculation continued that Cirque du Soleil would have some kind of role in the events.

In January of 2008, in an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Atkins described the creative process and its relationship with both VANOC and the IOC.

"We get to the stage where we're happy with it. We then present it to VANOC," he said.

"VANOC then react to it as the board, usually in every one of those instances. They'll have concerns, we'll address those, represent again. When they feel as confident as we did, then they present it - and we present it with them - to the IOC and we get final sign-off on it.

"Since Torino, we now do two presentations to them and we have regular updates with them on a monthly basis, which was never the case before, so they've become much more engaged in the creative process."

VANOC's contribution to the closing ceremony of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics was widely considered a flop. Cirque du Soleil, along with many other Canadian artists, was involved in that production.

Executive vice-president of celebrations and partnerships at VANOC, David Guscott, cautioned against drawing any conclusions regarding the IOC's increased participation since 2006.

He said he was disappointed that Cirque had withdrawn from consideration, but understood its reasons. "This is being the executive producer of an Olympic event," he said.

"It's a different kettle of fish from putting on a Las Vegas show."

^This is truly terrible news. I can't believe we are neglecting some of the best acrobats in the world and a Canadian icon. I think they should have just given Cirque control of the whole thing.

I thought Cirque would be the perfect (and obvious) choice. :koko:

I'll agree with Delirium on this one, if they are hired to do a show then they would need to do what is asked of them, it's not like it's their show.
It is sad, and hopefully a compromise could still be found, but if not then so be it.

this is really unfortunate....but I do believe that the Cirque didn't even apply for being the creative team, as they already had too many shows going on around the world and their resources were stretched.

Actually, from reading the company's statement, I can see why they won't be involved.

While I do think it is a loss, I just can't imagine how they ever expected they would run the entire creative process for the ceremonies. I love Cirque, but I think that was demanding way too much.

Sounds like their ego wouldn't fit in the arena. Too bad because I think they could have contributed a lot.

the radio says its because the IOC stepped in that they cannot be part of the games

^ that doesn't sound right. Cirque was part of the closing ceremonies at torino so i can't see why it would be a problem.

from the article I posted above -

"VANOC's contribution to the closing ceremony of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics was widely considered a flop. Cirque du Soleil, along with many other Canadian artists, was involved in that production."

He said he was disappointed that Cirque had withdrawn from consideration, but understood its reasons."

anyway, it's not like we can't have acrobatics in the show. it just won't be "cirque" acrobats. no biggie imo.