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Digital Content Creation for the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games which was held on the evening of August 8, 2008 is spectacular and world-shaking. People all around the world witnessed a novel and successful opening ceremony which was filled with dazzling images, unique designs and high technologies. The massive application of digital imaging is one of the remarkable characteristics of the Olympics’ opening ceremony, while behind the splendid images were the 11-months efforts carried out by Crystal Digital Technology Co., Ltd., the official digital content provider for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and its collaborators.

The main tasks that the opening ceremony’s imaging group - in which Crystal was involved in - were engaged in were divided into two parts: providing digital content that will be presented in the ceremony, and assisting rehearsals time after time during the two-year long process under the direction of Zhang Yimou, the director. On the topic of providing digital content by Crystal for the Olympic Game’s opening ceremony, VisionUnion interviewed with Mr. Lu Zhenggang, Crystal’s chief director:

Lu Zhenggang, Crystal’s chief director

VisionUnion: How did Crystal assist in the opening ceremony’s rehearsals?
Lu Zhenggang: The opening ceremony needs a multi-profession, multi-type-of-work, cross-department collaboration comprising stage design, equipment, firework, and performance, etc. Due to the great difficulties, the rehearsals is limited, though it is hard to predict the final effect because there remains a great gulf fixed between imagination and reality before an on-site testing is performed.
From September, 2007, Crystal began to collaborate with Zhang Yimou, the chief director, and Yang Qingsheng, from the video-imaging group, to help planning, assist rehearsal, and simulate on-site performing. By utilizing 3-D technologies, Crystal successfully performs high-efficiency simulating to such aspects as space, time, rhythm and order, accelerating the program’s planning and decision-making.

Crystal participates in the production of the digital video content of the “reel”

VisionUnion: How long does it take Crystal to produce the opening ceremony’s on-site digital video presentation?
Lu Zhenggang: The whole process of digital-video-content production for the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games takes 11 months. Crystal’s core group keeps a 50-menber team, while the total number involved in creating, producing and supporting exceeds 200 during the period from start to end.

Crystal was engaged in providing digital visual content shown on the “lip” of the bowl-shaped stadium, the Bird’s Nest

VisionUnion: What is the sternest challenge that Crystal encountered during the production of digital visual content for the opening ceremony?
Lu Zhenggang: First of all, it is of much challenge in the project’s preliminaries. No one has ever done such kind of video-imaging. It requires a complete comprehension of the task itself, as well as a sufficient communication to artists in accordance with various directors’ request. For example, it is far from enough to communicate to the video-editor only. Scenery and lighting are also to be concerned with. It is a process of studying.
Secondly, some cooperation is needed among teams at the beginning because of too much pressure. The project’s staff within Crystal is divided to two teams: one is sent to and works each day together with the Olympic imaging group, the other remains working at Crystal. Many applied for an alteration in the project they are engaged in, because of the great pressure upon the project. They are often confronted with the feeling of frustration and even depression. For instance, the designer who is responsible for the track-along imaging at the firing ceremony is left alone to complete the job, while he was initially among an 8-person team, which decreased to 7 persons later and kept decreasing along with pressure increasing. Since the firing process is confidential, he had to complete the job by himself without assistance from anyone else.

CrystalCG website:http://www.crystalcg.com/