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Very Proud of China - Opening Ceremonies

Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe

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Wow. Those opening ceremonies were just mind-blowing. I couldn't help but feel very proud of China - they have come so far, so fast. Who could have dreamed of this even 20 years ago?

Congratulations to all our friends and reduser members in Hong Kong and mainland China. This was a great moment for the Chinese people, and for all of us.

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Tom said:
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Wow. Those opening ceremonies were just mind-blowing. I couldn't help but feel very proud of China - they have come so far, so fast. Who could have dreamed of this even 20 years ago?

Congratulations to all our friends and reduser members in Hong Kong and mainland China. This was a great moment for the Chinese people, and for all of us.

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Tom, do you remember the director's name who put it all together? What imagination!
 
Zhang Yimou. I think he did Hero, House of Flying Daggers, etc.

The word "epic" just doesn't do justice to the show they put on!
 
Tom said:
Zhang Yimou. I think he did Hero, House of Flying Daggers, etc.

The word "epic" just doesn't do justice to the show they put on!
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I quite agree... it's as though they shot "Titanic" with the aim of releasing it for a single shouing.
 
It was awesome. I had to watch it again today. The coordination was second to none, those drummers at the beginning - you can see where the year of rehearsing came in. Stunning.

Im from London - don't know how we are going to come anywhere near in 2012.

Andrew.
 
Entitled said:
Im from London - don't know how we are going to come anywhere near in 2012.

Andrew.
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Andrew, that was one of the first things that crossed my mind, too. :help: Even four years later will be too soon for the memory of that event to fade. I suggest your Olympic committee consider going minimalist... no way you can out epic the Chinese.
 
I know, you guys in London must be sweating bullets now trying to think of how to top that!

I did not record this... I'm hoping at some point a Bluray (maybe with multiple angles) will come out. I mean, this was MADE for HD.
 
Youre right number6 - minimalist maybe the way to go.

I passed up an opportunity to build some of the epic items for the Beijing games as i used to be a model maker / spfx tech, now im a writer director - and after seeing that, i want to be a model maker again --- only for a few days mind then its back to filming things.

Tom. it was shown on BBC HD i think here in the UK, but unfortunately my plasma blew up, literally, a couple of weeks back so im HD and Monitorless doh! It might be out there somewhere in HD if you look in the normal places . . .

Andrew.
 
I'm sure an HD rip will be up on bit torrents soon, but I'd also love to get a real 1080p Bluray where I could switch to different angles and stuff.

by the way, I was thinking to myself when I was watching this last night: can you imagine if some aliens came down to earth and saw this ceremony? They would be like, "WOW! These humans kick ass!! Amazing!" Even they would be impressed.
 
I wish I could have shot a timelapse of the workings of that underground system they must have had.
 
Tom said:
i73d5t.jpg


Wow. Those opening ceremonies were just mind-blowing. I couldn't help but feel very proud of China - they have come so far, so fast. Who could have dreamed of this even 20 years ago?

Congratulations to all our friends and reduser members in Hong Kong and mainland China. This was a great moment for the Chinese people, and for all of us.

icon14.gif
Click to expand...

Yeah, kinda distracts from all the human right abuse doesn`t it. Now everybody, this is the sun..
 
(Sorry was out playing Golf). Tom, that would be a crazy timelapse, but way cool. I saw one once of the back of house of a London theatre which was amazing to see, i love BTS stuff. (BTW i've seen the timelapses you have posted here and they are amazing, all the best with the Imax film)

"Now everybody, this is the sun" with a Chinese Tennor and Sarah Brightman adorning the North Polar region.

Andrew
 
ronx said:
Yeah, kinda distracts from all the human right abuse doesn`t it. Now everybody, this is the sun..
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There is a time and a place to criticize their government, but there is also a time and place to celebrate the great advancements the Chinese people have made in recent years in joining the world community and lifting themselves out of despair. This thread is for the latter.
 
Entitled said:
Bluray would be cool.

One thing i would like to know is how did they fit all that stuff under the stage? . . . its like the tardis.

Andrew.
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I heard one commentator mention there is a large elevator and access system built under the arena. The performers dance on two giant LED TV screens which can be periodically slid apart to let let new stuff be lifted up by the elevator. The "scroll" bits at the ends are simply cylindrical LED TV screens where the picture is rotated to make it look like the cylinder is rolling rather than just sliding along.

Interesting to speculate how they managed to coordinate all the people lifiting up the boxes for the "moveable type" sequence. Since every performer I saw a closeup of was wearing earphones I would bet that they are all getting individual spoken prompts generated by a computer, either through hundreds of radio channels, or maybe simply by having individual instructions stored in customized MP3 players, that are all somehow Jam-synced at the start of the performance.

Whatever, it was a truly incredible spectacle, like something out of wherever the last astronaut ended up in 2001 A Space Oddysey!
 
Yes. China has made unbelievable progress in a very short time. Not easy to do with 1.3 Billion people and 3.7 Million square miles of land to govern. It's a good time to focus on the positive. Excellent post Tom.

-shooter
 
Tom said:
There is a time and a place to criticize their government, but there is also a time and place to celebrate the great advancements the Chinese people have made in recent years in joining the world community and lifting themselves out of despair. This thread is for the latter.
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No offense Tom I usually quite like your posts because they're well thought out and articulate. I understand the spirit of what you're trying to cultivate, but if you think that putting on a nice show is a good reason to stop talking about human rights abuses, I beg to differ. The "great advancements of the chinese people" has been done mostly on the backs of the poor working peasant classes of china, and at great expense to the environment. The chinese were never "in despair" and to say otherwise is a bit of an insult. This is an ancient culture you're talking about. They know the idea of time well, so let's not kid ourselves here with a modern western historical interpretation. The real despair is in the atrocious human rights record that the chinese government has, the complacency of western politicians and indeed western populations who want their cheap shit, and the grinding poverty that still afflicts a large segment of the population.
And for the record, a thread shouldn't be restricted to just one point of view should it? That would be very undemocratic.
 
Tom said:
There is a time and a place to criticize their government, but there is also a time and place to celebrate the great advancements the Chinese people have made in recent years in joining the world community and lifting themselves out of despair. This thread is for the latter.
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I understand the spirit you meant this post, but..

Nonsense Tom. There is a time and place to mention things like this, and now is that time. The perfect time. Getting distracted by shiny balls of light is for children at christmas frankly.
The Chinese people (ie, army/government) have improved things economically, at great expense to the people, culture and the environment very often, but to suggest its happened in recent years, as apposed to half a century, is naive frankly. Many many people have died for that progress, often against their will, obviously. Also, saying you`re "Very Proud of China" in the title, kinda sounds patronising to me too. You`re proud of them because they`re hosting a dubious sporting event? What are you proud of? Tell that to a Tibetan woman who`s had her f. tubes ripped out without anaesthetic. Are you gunna attribute these policies to the Chinese people too, or just their government? I know you like timelapse, but come on..
 
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