A Phoenix was supposed to light the cauldron at the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony (pictures!)
Enjoyed the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony? So did I. In a recent interview with Zhang Yimou, a few alternate ideas for lighting the cauldron were disclosed… the most dramatic one involved using a Phoenix! The proposed Phoenix lighting sequence was illustrated in these sketches revealed during the interview:
A fiery Phoenix chases the final human torchbearer from behind
The Phoenix picks up the Olympic flame from the human torchbearer
Carrying the flame, it then turns around to fly to the Olympic cauldron
The fire bird soars up & around the cauldron, setting it ablaze!
Wow.
However the Phoenix plan was eventually changed due to technical difficulties. It was difficult to project a bright, fiery Phoenix image on the stadium wall - apparently to get the desired dramatic effect all the other lights in the stadium would need to be turned off!
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Tags: Beijing, cauldron, lighting, olympics, phoenix, torch, yimou, zhang
August 11th, 2008 at 10:39 am
El encendido del pebetero olímpico iba a ser más espectacular pero se canceló por dificultades técnicas imagen…
El boceto original del encendido del pebetero olímpico incluía al ave fénix, que hacía la transición entre la antorcha y el pebetero. Una lástima que no lo pudieran ejecutar….
August 12th, 2008 at 1:18 am
but the opening went great! it was very awesome!
August 14th, 2008 at 8:36 am
[...] entre la antorcha y el pebetero. Aqu
September 5th, 2008 at 10:15 am
that is very nice
February 12th, 2009 at 7:03 am
Until this article I had no idea that China every considered an alternate lighting sequence. The phoenix would have been dramatic but I can see why that idea was scrapped. Turning out all the stadium lights would not have been a good idea due to safety issues. As it is, the opening ceremony was terrific, as were the games.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Best opening ceremony EVER.
Everything was so spectacular. It’s almost impossible to pick a favorite part. The way they danced together was amazing, especially with so many of them. I only wish I would’ve been there. London’s got a lot of work to do if they expect to top Beijing.