Faking the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics
Ok, I have to admit I'm torn on this one...
During the opening ceremonies, people in the stadium saw a series of 29 fireworks in the shape of footprints "walking" toward the stadium. At home and on the screens around the stadium, people also saw a series of fireworks walking toward the stadium. However, it's being fairly widely reported that what people at home saw were mostly CG footprints that took nearly a year to animate (although the last "foot" was apparently real). The reason given was that it would be difficult/dangerous to film all 29 from the air (so their CG included artificial "camera shake" to simulate the helicopter shake). Since there was only one official source for all footage that went out to international TV stations, they all received and re-broadcast the footage. (Whether they realized what was happening or not is not addressed in the news articles).
This *really* has me divided. On the one hand, it *is* dangerous to be in a helicopter flying around the city with fireworks going off all around you. (On the other hand, there are these nifty little devices called "telephoto lenses"...)
On the third hand, you want to make sure the opening ceremonies go as planed, and it's generally considered OK to fudge the reality a little if it makes the artistic come out better; but making the first thing we see fake...
But that's the catch--the fireworks were actually there! The claim is that the CG was to show the audience what was going on elsewhere without putting anyone in danger. And no secret is being made of this: it was discussed in the local papers and was approved by Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, the joint venture between the International Olympic Committee and local organizers that is responsible for providing the main "feeds" of all Olympic events to viewers around the world.
In this case, no harm was done or intended, but still...
During the opening ceremonies, people in the stadium saw a series of 29 fireworks in the shape of footprints "walking" toward the stadium. At home and on the screens around the stadium, people also saw a series of fireworks walking toward the stadium. However, it's being fairly widely reported that what people at home saw were mostly CG footprints that took nearly a year to animate (although the last "foot" was apparently real). The reason given was that it would be difficult/dangerous to film all 29 from the air (so their CG included artificial "camera shake" to simulate the helicopter shake). Since there was only one official source for all footage that went out to international TV stations, they all received and re-broadcast the footage. (Whether they realized what was happening or not is not addressed in the news articles).
This *really* has me divided. On the one hand, it *is* dangerous to be in a helicopter flying around the city with fireworks going off all around you. (On the other hand, there are these nifty little devices called "telephoto lenses"...)
On the third hand, you want to make sure the opening ceremonies go as planed, and it's generally considered OK to fudge the reality a little if it makes the artistic come out better; but making the first thing we see fake...
But that's the catch--the fireworks were actually there! The claim is that the CG was to show the audience what was going on elsewhere without putting anyone in danger. And no secret is being made of this: it was discussed in the local papers and was approved by Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, the joint venture between the International Olympic Committee and local organizers that is responsible for providing the main "feeds" of all Olympic events to viewers around the world.
In this case, no harm was done or intended, but still...