Aaronf
159.9 a litre
He look scared he was going to lose balance and fall in a few times
The opening ceremony (the only good bit of the whole thing, in theory, although reality has not quite lived up to that billing)
- Thread starter Silas Loom
- Start date
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Well done Paris for trying something different. Some of the set pieces looked really interesting- I liked the empty pictures.
But they just couldn’t fill the scale of the city, even the 300 Can Can dancers or 200 ballet dancers looked lost against the background of an entire city.
The rooftop torch runner(s) looked like they had escaped from a beta version of a new Assassin’s Creed.
I did like the ballon/flame cauldron, that’s pretty cool.
But a brave effort with a grand strategy that failed to come off because of the huge landscape compared to the human scale and not taking the weather into account.
A bit like Napoleon’s march on Moscow.
But they just couldn’t fill the scale of the city, even the 300 Can Can dancers or 200 ballet dancers looked lost against the background of an entire city.
The rooftop torch runner(s) looked like they had escaped from a beta version of a new Assassin’s Creed.
I did like the ballon/flame cauldron, that’s pretty cool.
But a brave effort with a grand strategy that failed to come off because of the huge landscape compared to the human scale and not taking the weather into account.
A bit like Napoleon’s march on Moscow.
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Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Yeah, I think a few of the comments on the last couple of pages pretty much sum it up.
It was ambitious, not just trying something that had never been done before, but something like that that had never been done before. And like lots of ambitious, first time efforts, there were moments which really sold why it was worth trying, but also a lot that shows why "the first person through the wall always gets bloody".
I'd genuinely be interested in seeing someone else try something like it again, but hopefully fixing some of the biggest underlying issues, namely:
1) scale - as A380 said, it felt like the area covered was just too big, which was a major factor in...
2) cohesion - since word on the ground is that apart from the boats going by, many people ended up just watching things on the big TVs. Where, as Silas Loom said, the coverage needed better direction to make it all fit more smoothly and with less drag
It had hints of a truly epic, city-spanning ceremony, showing off the host city rather than just a stadium. Like promenade/immersive theatre compared to trad theatre, or Airbnb compared to a hotel*
So yeah, absolutely applaud the ambition and some of the execution**. Also, it occurs to me that, despite the issues of scale, you kinda need to be a city like Paris to do something like this. Not just the river, but the tightly packed buildings and landmarks. 2028 will be LA, which is obviously a city very unlike Paris. But, then, you just don't make it so much about historical landmarks, but about something else (not just Hollywood, please).
* what, this makes total sense
** "I thought the French were supposed to be good at execution, har har har"
It was ambitious, not just trying something that had never been done before, but something like that that had never been done before. And like lots of ambitious, first time efforts, there were moments which really sold why it was worth trying, but also a lot that shows why "the first person through the wall always gets bloody".
I'd genuinely be interested in seeing someone else try something like it again, but hopefully fixing some of the biggest underlying issues, namely:
1) scale - as A380 said, it felt like the area covered was just too big, which was a major factor in...
2) cohesion - since word on the ground is that apart from the boats going by, many people ended up just watching things on the big TVs. Where, as Silas Loom said, the coverage needed better direction to make it all fit more smoothly and with less drag
It had hints of a truly epic, city-spanning ceremony, showing off the host city rather than just a stadium. Like promenade/immersive theatre compared to trad theatre, or Airbnb compared to a hotel*
So yeah, absolutely applaud the ambition and some of the execution**. Also, it occurs to me that, despite the issues of scale, you kinda need to be a city like Paris to do something like this. Not just the river, but the tightly packed buildings and landmarks. 2028 will be LA, which is obviously a city very unlike Paris. But, then, you just don't make it so much about historical landmarks, but about something else (not just Hollywood, please).
* what, this makes total sense
** "I thought the French were supposed to be good at execution, har har har"
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Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
I mean...
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
And there was a clear theme over on Reddit 
gosub
~#
Speed wise who was going faster their boat or the police horselady on the trimaran?He look scared he was going to lose balance and fall in a few times
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rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Leafster
.
On the whole, I enjoyed it. I was looking forward to the flotilla of boats carrying the athletes down the Seine rather than a boring amble around the stadium. It was good they tried something different but it was let down by poor direction of the broadcast images and, on the BBC at least, atrocious sound levels.
I think it was A380 who mentioned the problems with scale. Tighter camera shots would have massively improved the spectacle but I get the logistics of filming over water making that tricky and wanting to include the culturally significant buildings in shot. The massed dancers at various points fell flat because they were lost in the distance and the sound levels lacked punch. There was a similar problem filming the athletes.
The switching between the athletes and the cultural stuff was messy and seemed to lack coherence. I suspect part of the problem was the commentary on the BBC. I don't know what running order information they'd been given but they came across as slightly bemused on-lookers who were gently taking the piss (like Eurovision) rather than explaining the significance of what was unfolding.
The cultural references have already been mentioned and that, unlike 2012, where most of us in the UK would have understood the significance, there were aspects which were unknown - to me at least. For instance, I have no idea what that blue bloke is all about! Again, I think the BBC commentary could have helps with some explanations.
Despite the sound quality I thought the mix of French music was good. I'm not a fan of Celine Dion but it was good to see her belting out L’Hymne à l’amour at the end. I thought the parcour sequences carrying the Olympic Torch over the Paris skyline was a nice touch and did help to link in the cultural bits and show off a bit of Paris. I liked the people in the paintings coming alive but I guess it helped if you spotted them missing from the paintings in the first place.
I loved the horse on the water section although it went on a bit too long (again, I think the commentary could have helped here).
The light show on the Eiffel Tower was amazing accompanied by Cerrone's Supernature. I understand the criticisms of having a lone dancer on stage at that point but the images of him with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop worked well on TV.
The passing of the Olympic torch at the end was a bit tedious but the arrival at the balloon cauldron at the end made it worthwhile. Great final images of the flame rising above the Paris skyline.
Shame about the rain!
I think it was A380 who mentioned the problems with scale. Tighter camera shots would have massively improved the spectacle but I get the logistics of filming over water making that tricky and wanting to include the culturally significant buildings in shot. The massed dancers at various points fell flat because they were lost in the distance and the sound levels lacked punch. There was a similar problem filming the athletes.
The switching between the athletes and the cultural stuff was messy and seemed to lack coherence. I suspect part of the problem was the commentary on the BBC. I don't know what running order information they'd been given but they came across as slightly bemused on-lookers who were gently taking the piss (like Eurovision) rather than explaining the significance of what was unfolding.
The cultural references have already been mentioned and that, unlike 2012, where most of us in the UK would have understood the significance, there were aspects which were unknown - to me at least. For instance, I have no idea what that blue bloke is all about! Again, I think the BBC commentary could have helps with some explanations.
Despite the sound quality I thought the mix of French music was good. I'm not a fan of Celine Dion but it was good to see her belting out L’Hymne à l’amour at the end. I thought the parcour sequences carrying the Olympic Torch over the Paris skyline was a nice touch and did help to link in the cultural bits and show off a bit of Paris. I liked the people in the paintings coming alive but I guess it helped if you spotted them missing from the paintings in the first place.
I loved the horse on the water section although it went on a bit too long (again, I think the commentary could have helped here).
The light show on the Eiffel Tower was amazing accompanied by Cerrone's Supernature. I understand the criticisms of having a lone dancer on stage at that point but the images of him with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop worked well on TV.
The passing of the Olympic torch at the end was a bit tedious but the arrival at the balloon cauldron at the end made it worthwhile. Great final images of the flame rising above the Paris skyline.
Shame about the rain!
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Aaronf
159.9 a litre
Good question, I'm not sure!
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
I believe that was Dionysus.
Thought I'm not clear on why
It must be the most enormous fucking logistical challenge. Even in a 'normal' ceremony you've got a scale of performers that no one person could ever hope to have a full overview of, alongside trying to cordinaye and brief hundreds of international broadcasters.
So already you're having to split responsibility among hundreds, and in the case of broadcasters, to an extent relying on them as to how your efforts ultimately land to audiences with hugely different cultural reference points.
But... Then you add everything that goes into simply booking, accessing and fitting multiple venues across an active, 'global' capital city... Fuck me.
I would absolutely love to see a multi-part documentary as to how it was all out together. Not just a 90 min fluff piece, but proper nerd stuff about organisational structures and auditions and permits and construction and broadcasting and...
I mean, just, mon fucking dieu.
Silas Loom
Man with glasses
On the whole, I enjoyed it. I was looking forward to the flotilla of boats carrying the athletes down the Seine rather than a boring amble around the stadium. It was good they tried something different but it was let down by poor direction of the broadcast images and, on the BBC at least, atrocious sound levels.
I think it was A380 who mentioned the problems with scale. Tighter camera shots would have massively improved the spectacle but I get the logistics of filming over water making that tricky and wanting to include the culturally significant buildings in shot. The massed dancers at various points fell flat because they were lost in the distance and the sound levels lacked punch. There was a similar problem filming the athletes.
The switching between the athletes and the cultural stuff was messy and seemed to lack coherence. I suspect part of the problem was the commentary on the BBC. I don't know what running order information they'd been given but they came across as slightly bemused on-lookers who were gently taking the piss (like Eurovision) rather than explaining the significance of what was unfolding.
The cultural references have already been mentioned and that, unlike 2012, where most of us in the UK would have understood the significance, there were aspects which were unknown - to me at least. For instance, I have no idea what that blue bloke is all about! Again, I think the BBC commentary could have helps with some explanations.
Despite the sound quality I thought the mix of French music was good. I'm not a fan of Celine Dion but it was good to see her belting out L’Hymne à l’amour at the end. I thought the parcour sequences carrying the Olympic Torch over the Paris skyline was a nice touch and did help to link in the cultural bits and show off a bit of Paris. I liked the people in the paintings coming alive but I guess it helped if you spotted them missing from the paintings in the first place.
I loved the horse on the water section although it went on a bit too long (again, I think the commentary could have helped here).
The light show on the Eiffel Tower was amazing accompanied by Cerrone's Supernature. I understand the criticisms of having a lone dancer on stage at that point but the images of him with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop worked well on TV.
The passing of the Olympic torch at the end was a bit tedious but the arrival at the balloon cauldron at the end made it worthwhile. Great final images of the flame rising above the Paris skyline.
Shame about the rain!
It’s fine if there are some in-jokes other countries don’t get. I doubt that state broadcasters elsewhere felt the need in 2012 to explain the snatch of title music from a 1980s arts magazine show accompanying a shot of the South Bank.
UrbaneFox
They've doubled in price
Where was that?
VivaE
Well-Known Member
I thought the opening ceremony was stunning. And joyfully so. An absolutely beautiful feast of artistry and inclusiveness.
It had everything that I love, lightness, darkness, wierdness, humour, drama, breathtakingly beautiful visuals, none of which were remotely diminshed by the rain.
The main criticisms I've seen of it seem to be coming from England.
It had everything that I love, lightness, darkness, wierdness, humour, drama, breathtakingly beautiful visuals, none of which were remotely diminshed by the rain.
The main criticisms I've seen of it seem to be coming from England.
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tommers
It was... Rebekah Vardy's account
On the Seine.
8ball
Merr xmas...
Wtf! I missed this bit.
Did they eat the smurf at the end?
Steel Icarus
ersatz maven
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
The right wing press certainly were at times going to town on it about any mishaps or supposedly flat moments that took place. The online editions of the Telegraph and Mail in particular. I guess it was to be expected from that lot.
Of all the opening ceremonies I’ve seen over the years, I know which one I am most likely to remember the most details of a couple of decades down the line. I’d rather have a flawed but fresh and groundbreaking ceremony than an immaculately executed one from inside the Olympic stadium we have seen a thousand times.
Not that I ultimately care much about such ceremonies- if they were scrapped altogether nothing would be missed AFAIAC. But I have found it amusing the number of friends who I would have not expected to give a shit about opening ceremonies getting all judgy about the only one in history that wasn’t boring, vanilla and formulaic.
Was heading to bed and then saw BBC had a programme about Celine Dion...well...clips of her singing...
She absolutely nailed it last night ..I am so glad she was able to be there and able to perform so magnificently.
I mean... listening to her now...she was and is such a talent. Taylor Swift isn't a patch on her.
Heard she is getting close to €4 million for her Olympic performance including planes, helicopter rides...hotels ...drs...etc.
I hope she will be able to perform live again. She's been through major illness and unfortunately there is no cure for it.
I hope she goes on...
She absolutely nailed it last night ..I am so glad she was able to be there and able to perform so magnificently.
I mean... listening to her now...she was and is such a talent. Taylor Swift isn't a patch on her.
Heard she is getting close to €4 million for her Olympic performance including planes, helicopter rides...hotels ...drs...etc.
I hope she will be able to perform live again. She's been through major illness and unfortunately there is no cure for it.
I hope she goes on...
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
no jet packs??
good effort tho fair play
around 1 min in
Apparently the jet pack man was a last minute thing. Some animal training company had spent months training an american bald eagle to fly in ans somehow light the cauldron but sadly it died a few days before the games...
The Ballad of Bomber the Olympic Eagle
NOlympics LA reflects on the loss of Bomber, the real life bald eagle tragically selected by the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Organizing Committee (LAOOC) to play Sam the Eagle, the official mascot of the 1984 Olympics.
nolympicsla.com
UrbaneFox
They've doubled in price
On the USA boat or his own set-up? He was interviewed before the show started, and I hardly recognised him.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Chinese press quite harsh on it feeling "cheap", but they did give credit for trying something different. But then everything looks cheap after Beijing.
Personal thought, all due credit for aiming high and trying something different. And bits of it held up to that standard - the floating cauldron was absolutely amazing. But trying to spread it out over a large city inevitably led to it feeling disjointed. Particularly with the torch run, which had long stretches of running through completely empty courtyards, giving no sense of the city or people involved. It must have been hard for the people who got tickets, because each location (aside from Tower-side) only got a brief moment and they'd have had to watch the rest on screens.
And that torch boat ride. For chrissakes, the athletes looked bored. We may never know how much of the feeling of things not being connected was due to planning and how much was "oh shit, it's absolutely pissing down, we need to cancel these bits".
tommers
It was... Rebekah Vardy's account
He was in a boat with Serena Williams and a couple of others. They were transporting the torch down the river at some point in that whole interminable affair. Maybe after the metal horse boat? But they were all just stood in the boat, I don't think they were holding on to anything and they kept almost falling over. And they were probably getting pelted with rain and spray. He, in particular, looked absolutely petrified by the whole thing.
Carl Lewis, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams endure rocky Seine boat ride with Olympic flame
At Friday’s opening ceremony for the Paris Games Carl Lewis nearly came unstuck against his toughest opponent yet: a rocking boat.
Well it annoyed a load of Christians in America… so that’s good.
Olympic chiefs 'sorry' opening ceremony caused offence Olympics opening ceremony: Paris 2024 sorry for causing offence after complaints
Olympic chiefs 'sorry' opening ceremony caused offence Olympics opening ceremony: Paris 2024 sorry for causing offence after complaints
Rompipalle
“Mad as hell & I’m not going to take this anymore”
I had no idea that Dionysus was even present at the Last Supper but if you are on board with all the outrage, you'd believe he had been.I believe that was Dionysus.
Thought I'm not clear on why
It must be the most enormous fucking logistical challenge. Even in a 'normal' ceremony you've got a scale of performers that no one person could ever hope to have a full overview of, alongside trying to cordinaye and brief hundreds of international broadcasters.
So already you're having to split responsibility among hundreds, and in the case of broadcasters, to an extent relying on them as to how your efforts ultimately land to audiences with hugely different cultural reference points.
But... Then you add everything that goes into simply booking, accessing and fitting multiple venues across an active, 'global' capital city... Fuck me.
I would absolutely love to see a multi-part documentary as to how it was all out together. Not just a 90 min fluff piece, but proper nerd stuff about organisational structures and auditions and permits and construction and broadcasting and...
I mean, just, mon fucking dieu.
Simon Nogueira posted that he was "one" of the torch bearer(s) free running across the rooftops of Paris...then he deleted his posts.
He had posted photos of himself taken in costume on different rooftops.
He had posted photos of himself taken in costume on different rooftops.
Mystery masked Olympic torchbearer revealed in deleted Instagram post
The masked Olympic torchbearer was a closely guarded secret as Paris 2024 opted to keep their identity a mystery for as long as possible.
metro.co.uk
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