Beijing News Express (reporters Zhang Jianlin, Ma Jinqian, Liu Xin) Following the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Olympic flag was raised again in the "Bird's Nest" of the National Stadium after 14 years.
Compared with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the opening ceremony of the just-concluded 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has been shortened, the number of actors has also been greatly reduced, and the perspective of narration has changed from "I" to "we". Taking into account factors such as temperature and epidemic prevention, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics will integrate theatrical performances with the ceremonial links.
The scene of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Beijing News reporter Ma Jun photographed
The opening ceremony was full of highlights, with high-tech means such as the GUINness World Record-setting LED ground display system, real-time capture and presentation of motion analysis based on artificial intelligence, as well as smart displays such as the mascot "Ice Pier" and the roller skating performance that integrated street dance elements.
393 "little grasses" swayed with the wind, experiencing severe cold, and the Winter Olympics came with the spring.
393 "little grasses" swayed with the wind. Beijing News reporter Tao Ran photographed
Secret 1: 40,000 LED ground display system cables exceed 20 kilometers, creating a number of world's largest
On the evening of February 4, the giant LED display screen on the ground of the National Stadium Bird's Nest was dazzling. "The most amazing display system of the whole party is the LED ground display system that has created the Guinness World Record." According to Yu Chao, the service support staff of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the entire display system covers an area of 11,000 square meters, consisting of 40,000 LED screens, and the total length of the ground cables in the whole field is more than 20 kilometers.
It is understood that the entire ground display system lasted nearly 2 years from research and development to on-site construction support. Yu Chao told reporters that this is also the world's largest, most complex system control, the highest reliability of the product, the entire LED ground display system can be called the "palace level" level.
"In terms of product performance, we made a special design to make this product resistant to low temperatures, impacts, and long-term drills, so we made a 'main and standby dual system'." Yu Chao said that in terms of system scale, this product is currently the world's largest networking LED display, so two sets of independent systems are used for network control, and the control power, including control signals, has been separated to a certain extent.
Yu Chao said that if there is a problem with the main system, the backup system will be started at the first time to ensure the normal operation of the display system, and the operation of this process is also seamlessly switched. "At present, in the whole system, whether it is a lamp bead or a control chip, whether it is a control scheme, the formulation of control protocols or the construction of various lines, the whole is made in China."
Yu Chao said that the construction of the LED ground display system reflects the contribution and responsibility of scientific and technological workers to the successful hosting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Secret 2: The roller skating performance is connected with the last PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and the movements are integrated with street dance elements
On the giant LED display on the ground, 24 roller skaters perform speed skating with music. Then, roller skating under your feet began to pull out the Olympic motto on the display screen: Faster, Higher, Stronger, Together.
In the second part of the opening ceremony scene "Tribute to the People", 24 roller skaters impressed. This is reminiscent of the 24 roller skaters who took the stage to perform in the "Beijing 8 Minutes" at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on the evening of February 25, 2018. This special design is also a connection between the participation of Chinese athletes in the performance of the last PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
As one of the first actors to enter the roller skating group, 21-year-old He Yubo said in an interview with reporters that he was engaged in athletics before, and when he arrived at college, he changed to short track speed skating. With more than 2 months from rehearsal to performance, as an athlete, although I am standing at the Olympic Games as an actor this time, I am also very excited.
"Because some new ideas came up in the formulation session, we added 24 roller skates to the show. Their expertise was so strong that they moved to this group to perform the roller skating part. Tian Qing, director of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, said.
According to the rhythm, it is not easy to complete every established action on the giant LED display on the ground. Tian Qing introduced that the actors of the roller skating show themselves are majoring in ice knife and speed skating. You need to have a certain professional foundation to be selected into the program, so that you can quickly get started and rehearse.
Tian Qing said that the actors first performed speed skating moves, and after some adjustments, they re-added the elements of street dance, and finally presented the form of roller skating while using street dance performances.
Secret 3: Artificial intelligence captures in real time, realizing the snowflakes under the feet of nearly 700 people
The young actors held up the "peace dove" in their hands, and as the footsteps moved, sparkling white snowflakes bloomed under their feet. In the performance of the "Peace Dove" at the opening ceremony of the evening, relying on new technical means, nearly 700 actors were captured in real time and tracked and presented in real time on a venue of more than 10,000 square meters, which was the first in the world under the opening and closing ceremonies of large-scale theatrical performances.
Snowflakes under the feet of nearly 700 people are like shadows. Beijing News reporter Ma Jun photographed
The actor moves around at will, and the effect of the screen under his feet will interact with him, and this so-called "shadow-like" effect is inseparable from the perfect cooperation of the two systems. According to Tong Lei, director of the Academic Affairs Office of the Beijing Film Academy and dean of the School of Sound, one is a real-time capture technology based on artificial intelligence athlete movement analysis, and the other is an interactive engine that realizes real-time rendering.
It is understood that the former captures the position and shape posture of the actor on the field in real time through the video camera, and after recognition, the relevant information of the actor will be passed to the next system, that is, the interaction engine system. "The real-time interaction engine we use is to obtain the actor's information and generate a desired effect for it according to the needs of the director or art creative, similar to the blooming and pushing of snowflakes under the feet." And in real time, without delay, it reappears at the feet of the actors. Tong Lei said.
In order to achieve the effect of "ice reflection", Tong Lei and his team members first started from the physicality of forming the reflection, made a lot of programming and algorithmic demonstrations, and made more and better effects in the process.
Tong Lei said that their respective technologies were originally used in their respective fields, such as capture technology is used in the sports analysis of athletes, real-time rendering technology is used in large-scale game fields, and this idea is to perfectly combine these two technologies, forming a complete set of links from capture to recognition, and then to present rendering, ensuring that the interaction effect is perfectly presented to the audience in real time.
Secret 4: The "little grass" in spring is a flexible long pole nearly 10 meters high, controlled by an average of 16-year-old martial arts students
With the countdown to the opening ceremony, the twenty-four solar terms came in reverse, experienced "small cold" and "big cold", and finally ushered in "LiChun". In the center of the opening ceremony, a clump of tender green grass swayed with the wind, symbolizing the endless spring and hope that broke through the cold.
The "grass" is controlled by a group of martial arts school students. Beijing News reporter Tao Ran photographed
At the bird's nest, the "green grass" is controlled by a group of martial arts school students, whose average age is only 16 years old. Liu Xiaodong, coach of the China Martial Arts School, introduced that the young actors train for about 7 hours a day, and a thick cocoon has been grinded out on their hands for more than four months of training.
"Little grass" is not small, in the hands of the actor is a long pole of nearly 10 meters, in order to show the softness of the grass swinging with the wind, the long pole uses the fishing rod material.
This is also the first time that children have encountered such a huge and flexible prop, Shandong Songjiang Martial Arts School coach Luo Dahai introduced, in order not to let the pole shake and tremble, this group of small actors in Yantai, Shandong Province, hand-held a long pole to practice to improve stability. "Now the children are holding up fishing rods and throwing them down, they can control them like straight rods, they will never tremble and shake, and they will not touch each other."
In order to ensure uniformity, each small actor wore an ear return, fixed with a tape strip, and the ear return had the director's instructions to go up and down, there was live music and rhythm, and 393 people brushed together to "swing with the wind".
How is the green and white of "grass" realized? The reporter learned that there are two switches on each prop pole, a general switch, and a control that emits white and green lights, which are strictly debugged and inspected before playing, and the actors manually turn on after playing.
Secret 5: "Ice Pier" is played by a 20-year-old dance student who is soaked at the end of the performance
On February 4, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics was held at the National Stadium. At the opening ceremony, the "ice piers" that showed the thickness and cuteness of walking up were eye-catching. The Beijing Winter Olympics mascot "Ice Pier", which looks a bit like a "space panda", is designed and created based on the panda, combining the panda image with the shell of the ice crystal, reflecting the characteristics of winter ice and snow sports.
The panda's head is also decorated with a colorful aura inspired by the national speed skating hall of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the "Ice Ribbon", and the flowing bright color lines symbolize the track of ice and snow sports and 5G technology; the head shell shape is taken from the ice and snow sports helmet. It is understood that the panda is the mascot of the Beijing Asian Games, and is also a member of the five mascot families of Fuwa in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (Fuwa Jingjing), which has become the mascot of the 2022 Winter Olympics, inheriting the wonderful and brilliant of Beijing from the Asian Games to the Olympic Games to the Winter Olympics for nearly thirty years.
In the interval between rehearsals at the opening ceremony, the reporter met zeng Wenqi, one of the actors of the ice pier, a student from the Beijing Dance Academy. When he came down from the field at the end of the rehearsal, two staff members rushed to help him untie the straps tied to his feet in his costume. Zeng Wenqi said that it is not tiring to complete the action in the costume of the ice pier, but the costume wrapped around the body feels more stuffy. "It doesn't take much physical effort, but the clothes will be soaked with sweat." Zeng Wenqi said.
As a dancer, 20-year-old Zeng Wenqi told reporters that he was honored to play the mascot at the opening ceremony, which was both a rare opportunity and a very good experience for himself. And the completion of this task, in fact, also belongs to professional ethics, professional routines.
Zeng Wenqi said that his parents only knew that they had participated in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, but they did not know that they were playing the mascot at the opening ceremony, but he would tell his parents that he was honored to play the image of "ice pier". "I will perform the mascot of this Beijing Winter Olympics in front of the people of the world, and I will also show our national treasure panda."
Secret 6: The "Snowflake" guide card is powered by a wrist battery and checked at least five times before going on the field
The admission of delegations is a necessary part of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, and the details such as the guide board in this link often highlight the cultural characteristics of the host country. At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the guidance boards held by the guides of the delegations were very characteristic of traditional Chinese culture.
The guide card is a snowflake shape composed of a streamlined Chinese knot, consisting of gold and silver. After entering the venue, the name of the delegation is lit on each independent guide board, and its secret is in the hands of the guide.
The guide has a row of wrist batteries wrapped around his hand to ensure that the lights are lit during the entry and exit period. The guide plate is equipped with a highly hidden dimmer and switch, which is connected by a detachable line to achieve self-control of the guide. When lit, the pale yellow Chinese knot forms a snowflake-shaped border and a blue bilingual delegation name in the middle.
The "Snowflake" guide card was neatly placed in the custom-made air box, and Service Support Staff Wang Xingkai introduced that in order to ensure that there is no mistake, the guide card needs to be checked at least five times in each process before each game.
Energetic guides always make an impression on the audience. Dou Zhi, a staff member of makeup and hair protection, introduced that since the lighting of the opening ceremony was mainly blue that reflected the elements of ice and snow, the main color of the guide's makeup finally chose the earth color that was superimposed and harmonious with it. "The guide's makeup should be clean, atmospheric and sunny, reflecting the beauty of our Chinese girls", Dou Zhi introduced, using eye shadow to simply outline the eye shape, reflecting the clean and clear image of the guide.
The guide wears a mask on the field, the exhaled water vapor may cause the makeup to faint, in order to prevent this situation, the guide cosmetics, especially the eye shadow, are individually made new blends to keep the color more durable. Dou Zhi introduced that each service staff is responsible for the makeup and hair of multiple guides, so each person's styling time requires less than half an hour to complete.
Guide Shen Yidan told reporters that from October 1, 2021, they began to carry out physical training at the training ground of the Capital University of Physical Education, practicing basic gait, standing posture, hand position and other exercises, "I feel extremely proud to be able to participate in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics as a guide." Shen Yidan said.
Beijing News reporter Zhang Jianlin Ma Jinqian Liu Xin
Photojournalist Ma Jun Tao Ran
Edited by Liu Xixian Proofreader Fu Chunyan