Those Olympic Footsteps In The Sky Were LucasArts Carrying The Ceremony

Friday’s Olympic Opening Ceremony was a big deal (even if it was broadcast over 12 hours later here) . Over 32 million Americans watched that guy walking on the stadium to light the torch, had their heartstrings tugged when that little girl sang and wondered how much sweat could a stadium full of people generate in that Beijing humidity. But odds are what got you going were the fireworks, and in particular the “29 steps” that led through the city. Did you wonder how they did that? Well, if you did, here’s to your first disappointment of the Games, other than not enough shots of Misty May’s hinder. Those footstep fireworks were shot the same way they got Jar-Jar Binks to come to life—soul sucking CGI.

The fireworks were there for real, outside the stadium. But those responsible for filming the extravaganza decided in advance it would be impossible to capture all 29 footprints from the air. As a result, only the last, visible from the camera stands inside the Bird’s Nest was captured on film. The trick was revealed in a local Chinese newspaper, the Beijing Times, at the weekend.

Well, Beijing Times, you had a nice run. Expect the Chinese government to bust down your doors and shut down all your shit by tomorrow for breaking this news. Oh wait, it’s already tomorrow in China. Well, here’s to hoping you’re not in the sling.
Beijing Olympic 2008 opening ceremony giant firework footprints ‘faked’ [Telegraph UK]
Image [Telegraph UK]