livedesignonline.com: A million-watt PA system using more than 500 speakers and 50 tonnes of associated sound gear—which is double the amount of speakers than on the main stage at Glastonbury. The design team made enough scale model pieces to cover a 100 metre running track. Every performer was been represented by a plastic figurine.
4 comments:
I'm disappointed that I was unable to see any of the olympics this summer, being in an area without cable and with little internet. I would be interested to know how much money went into the olympics, how much tickets to all of the events cost, how long it took to design and install from start to finish, how long it took to strike from start to finish, and how many people were employed both total and per department. The sheer scale of the events at the olympics is awe-inspiring.
Going off of Jess I'd like to mention how many times during the opening ceremony I saw a lot of the performers wearing headsets so I can only imagine what sorts of information was being conveyed and by who!
I also heard mention of rehearsals? I cannot even fathom how that went.
This definitely seemed like an army of SM's and PSM's were at work!
What a truly slightly very weak opening ceremony it was...Or as Susan Tsu put it, "just a lot of REALLY baaaad theatre."
Although I firmly believe that nothing will beat Beijing for a very long time, opening ceremonies are always great, no matter how un-great it is. There is simply no other time when the world can join together under one roof to celebrate their similarities and not their differences. HUZZAH!
Aristotle believed Spectacle was the least important aspect of any piece of entertainment; he was speaking specifically of staged poetry but I think it extends to a LOT of today's entertainment, too. None of this article [nor the Olympics' opening ceremonies, if you were to ask me; which no one did] focused on anything but some numbers: We used this many props, how many millions of watts were in the PA system, we can raise THIS MANY ELEPHANTS!!! WooHOOOO!!!!!! While that is impressive, my only real thought while watching a lot of the opening ceremonies was, "What are they trying to DO?"
I suppose that's not the point. We're managers and I'm supposed to be impressed that such a large piece was brought off so seamlessly. That IS a feat of mgmt skills and technical design. I just hate when it's wasted on - as Susan Tsu said - "REALLY baaaaadd theatre."
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