Pan Lusheng: The closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics ended with visual effects design

On the evening of February 20, 2022, the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was held at the "Bird's Nest" at the National Stadium. As a celebration after the hard work on the field, the closing ceremony took the athletes as the main body, created a happy, warm and touching atmosphere, and in the 100 minutes of the integration of ceremony and performance, through romantic artistic expression, reproduced the memory of the Winter Olympic Games, interpreted the spirit of the Winter Olympics, expressed a more united and future world voice, and interpreted and transmitted the far-reaching concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind". At the closing ceremony, the narrative mode of the opening ceremony was continued, following the principle of "simplicity, safety and wonderful", especially through the design and presentation of digital visual effects, once again with the power of science and technology to achieve a simple style, showing the ethereal and romantic Chinese style, not only impressing the audience with a powerful visual image, but also conveying the development concept and cultural realm with immersive experience and poetic expression.

Continuing the concept of "to the vast and the subtle", the visual effect design of the closing ceremony continued to write the "story of a snowflake". 16 days ago, directed by general director Zhang Yimou, visual effects director Wang Zhiou and the black bow team as the chief visual effects production, the opening ceremony that took more than three years to build is still fresh in people's minds. From the "fractal aesthetics of digital technology" in the countdown to the spring link, to the grandeur of "the water of the Yellow River from heaven", to the "ice and snow five rings" that are suspected of being made of TV special effects... Chinese romance is vividly displayed. In addition to the overall visual creativity, visual effects design and video production of the opening ceremony, Black Bow also designed the core devices of many links, and the design of the snowflake guide board and snowflake torch stand at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is the design scheme of the Black Bow team. The snowflake torch stand installation was also used as a highlight of each link at the closing ceremony, and then continued "The Story of a Snowflake". Taking the ancient Chinese poem "Yanshan Snowflakes Are As Big as a Seat" as the creative concept, "The Story of a Snowflake" tells the story of the ice and snow covenant that people from all over the world rush to together, and also conveys to the world the warmth and emotion from the City of The Two Olympics. Among them, the core element "snowflake" runs through the whole process from the opening ceremony guide board, the highlight moment when the big snowflake torch platform is lit, to the performance of each link of the opening and closing ceremonies.

It can be said that the snowflake torch stand directed by Zhang Yimou and designed by Wang Zhiou Blackbow's team not only showed and interpreted the concept of connecting "small snowflakes" into a "big snowflake" and the whole world gathered here at the opening ceremony, but also ran through the entire Winter Olympics in the form of a torch stand installation, through the full use of visual effects programming and digital visualization, so that each "small snowflake" written with the name of different countries and regions can shine independently, so that every second of the entire "big snowflake" is full of blooming crystal sense. And the surrounding Chinese knots and olive branches are full of vitality for flexible growth. At the closing ceremony, the red ribbon built by visual effects gathered and intertwined into Chinese knots from all directions, surrounding the torch platform, expressing the development concept and realm of "each beautiful, beautiful and common"; at the moment of finally extinguishing the flame of the Winter Olympics, the physical reproduction of the "2008 Beijing Olympics" was realized again through digital technology, just like the flow of time, bringing a sense of "crossing". So far, from the convergence of "snowflakes" in the sense of the world's geographical space to the reflection of the fire in the sense of time, the snowflake torch platform has formed a kind of connection between the opening and closing of the Winter Olympic Games and the Beijing Double Olympic Games. Just as the "micro-fire" creativity of the main torch of the snowflake torch platform profoundly expresses the concept of "under the great changes and difficult conditions in the world, people gather together intimately and care for the fire of love", the digital time and space of the closing ceremony at this moment pay tribute to the city of "double Olympics", review China and the Olympic Games, and further convey the spirit of love and endless fire in the flow of time and space.

At the closing ceremony, the visual effects design also rendered and set off the tones of "Chinese red" and "ice and snow blue", assisted in presenting traditional Chinese images such as "flower lanterns" and "folding willows to send love" and meaningful scenes such as lighting up the "winter" character emblem on the venue, creating a common and resonant situation and atmosphere, from the perspective of Chinese culture and Chinese poetics, through the artistic expression of digital technology, visual interpretation and immersive conveying the voice of "together to the future", ethereal and romantic, with a long meaning. As Wang Zhiou said, the development of digital technology in China has given art design a magical brush, which is depicted on the scrolls of the Winter Olympics. At the closing ceremony, digital technology was once again used to realize the presentation and expression of Chinese romance.

General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out at the literary and art work forum: "We should use the spirit of realism and romantic feelings to observe real life, use light to dispel darkness, use beauty and goodness to overcome ugliness, and let people see the good, see the hope, and see the dream in front." In the face of the world's difficult situation in the face of the epidemic, China as the host country to serve the ice and snow Olympics, the spiritual concept, is to be positive and enterprising, as well as the friendship and warmth of unity and cooperation, through the opening and closing ceremonies to express and convey is the positive and constructive cultural spirit that integrates China's history and culture, and the great beauty of nature and the spirit of life of the people presented through the fresh art form of digital technology. The digital visual effects design promotes such a romantic expression with traditional connotation and the atmosphere of the times, realizing the aesthetic experience of "presenting in the image, feeling in the eye, and meeting in the heart", so that the vibrant and joyful closing ceremony is lingering in the expression of unspeakable imagery.

"The Story of a Snowflake" came to an end, directed by Zhang Yimou, the general director, and Led by Black Bow as the visual effects chief production team as the visual effects director, which lasted three years to use science and technology to tell the story of China's ice and snow in the new era to the world. Black Bow uses the power of science and technology and the concept of innovation, through a more advanced and multi-dimensional expression, to show the excellent Chinese culture to the people of the world, so that the people of the world can understand Chinese culture and China's design language from a new perspective, not only simply understand the culture itself, but also participate in it as a part and get resonance in the visual mood. As expected by director Zhang Yimou and all the main creators, the opening and closing ceremonies let people see the heart of Chinese, saw China's digital technology art, and showed the self-confidence of Chinese and the feelings of the people of the world. History will engrave this thick and colorful stroke!

(The author is Pan Lusheng, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the China Folk Writers Association)

(China Net)