AESTHETIC CONVERGENCES

Comparing spectacular Key Audibles [1] and Visuals

of Athens and Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremonies
Abstract
The aesthetic impulse of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony caused in
its format considerable and unexpected qualitative shifts. Not only the technological
apparatus of production, post-production and delivery of images and sounds have been
innovated, for the first time in history the whole Olympiad were recorded for HDTV
systems [2] but the aesthetic creative design and audio-visual scenery movements of
thousands of performers in fluid and giant figures astonish the world audience for its
perfect synchronism. Can the artistic programme of the 2008 Beijing Olympic opening
ceremony be considered a paradigmatic innovative twist for giga-spectacular-events of
international mass media and for the future Olympic opening ceremonies in the modern
world? In this essay we analyze and compare two parts in each main artistic segment of
the 2008 Beijing and its counterpart the 2004 Athens Olympic opening ceremonies, and
search for aesthetic (con-) divergences, screen media impacts and audiovisual strategies
of international communication adopted by the creative teams of both Olympics.
Key-words: Olympic Games, Olympic opening ceremonies, Beijing and Athens
Olympiads, aesthetic (con-) divergences, audiovisual strategies.
Description
A live show is produced, recorded, edited and finished in post-production process; the
final product is stored in digital audiovisual file format. However, before that, a live
performance can be transmitted directly by local or international broadcasters, and in
these moments, the thrill of audience can be proportional to the amazing character of the
ongoing transmission. A giga-spectacular event such as the Olympic opening ceremony
becomes available as a historical document for future references or provided to the
public as recorded media of the culture industrys market. The recorded spectacles
allow close observation and repetition of all scenes in details to formulate plausible
screen media spectacles analysis of different type and density.
The analysis of a spectacular event televised and recorded for distribution and sale at the
market of cultural goods have to be combined with more online survey data and other
references. In this essay we analyse two parts in each main artistic segments of the 2008
Beijing Olympic opening ceremony and of the precedent edition the 2004 Athens
Olympic Games from the live broadcast of Brazilian TV stations, and analyzing and
compare files available on the Internet, in digital format on DVDs, among several
publications and reports of the organizing committees of the Olympic Games, besides
the references on the website of the International Olympic Committee. [3]
The broadcasting technical quality play a crucial role in the audiences fruition room,
especially in the critical observation of the scenes, because it nears viewers/listeners to
visual details blurred by low-resolution broadcasts; indeed, HDTV visuals impressed by
their sharpness. The multicanal audio playback gives to sounds more space; the sound
of broadcasted events circulating around the viewer/listener provides more excitement
and acoustic illusory involvement in the virtual audiosphere. However, despite of
technical limitations, the receipt of audiovisual spectacles by less sophisticated TV sets

and without digital surround sound system can produce so much or greater emotion in
viewers/listeners which are able to complete fancifully limitations imposed by standard
television equipments.
Over decades, even by technical improvements of equipments, many television stations
broadcasted low quality audio-visual products, for which the audience needed creativity
to understand the unfocused and barely audible from television programs. Yet in the
first decade of this century, in most countries of the world's TVs are still technically
reduced to the basics of standard instruments with low-resolution visuals and sound
interference at reception. Nevertheless, it would be a temerity to praise the TV spectacle
from the latest technological innovations and, thus, disregarding both the creative ability
of the audience in the reception of global mega-events, such as the Olympic opening
ceremonies, and the commitment of those who did and transform TV over decades.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were the first in history to be completely recorded
for HDTV systems and the technological edge over other Olympic Games should be
perceived as a milestone for TV broadcasts, for receipt and storage of such spectacular
events in audiovisual expanded dimensions: in the case of audio with the spacing of
embracing sounds and for the visuals through a detailed view.
The files in HD or standard TV systems of both Olympics opening ceremonies we take
in analysis provide differentiated insights of the events, favouring or simplifying the
audiovision context. However, many actions of that context are off camera and are not
displayed; for instance, the causes which produce sounds and music are not seen. Thus,
some parts of this analysis needs to be rebuilt by intuitive way and may partially
correspond to the real scale of the recorded spectacular events. In this sense hypotheses
or assumptions will be tested with the bibliographical review of cited references and the
referential news available on Internet. With such counterpoint between two distant
cultures and in many ways opposite, the focus of this essay is to compare artistic and
cultural structures and key elements of both opening ceremonies, as well as to search for
aesthetic (con-) divergences, and compare Key Audibles and Visuals in Olympic Games
editions before and after the features of HDTV systems.
Protocol elements of the opening ceremony
About the elements which compound an Olympic opening ceremony, the IOC provides
a text on its website. [4] This is the protocols description for the Olympics opening
ceremony, which gradually throughout the 20th century has received adjustments
changing their formats, since 1896, when the first edition of the modern Olympics was
held in Athens:
Today, Rule 56 of the Olympic Charter mentions the protocol that must be
observed at the Opening Ceremony of the Games, as well as the opening
speech by the host countrys Head of State. (Opening Ceremony of the
Games of the Olympiad, update, July 2009, p. 1).

The current format recommended by the IOC is composed of ten parts: 1) The parade of
the participants; 2) The speech by the President of the Organising Committee of the
Olympic Games; 3) The speech by the IOC President; 4) The playing of the Olympic
anthem and the entry and raising of the Olympic flag; 5) The last stage of the Olympic
torch relay and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron; 6) The symbolic release of
pigeons; 7) The taking of the Olympic oath by an athlete; 8) The taking of the Olympic
oath by an official; 9) The national anthem of the host country; 10) The artistic
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programme. However, the description of each part, perhaps by attaching items 2 and 3,
with, the second item is titled The head of state declares de game open, so the item 9
goes on to describe the artistic program to which we turn in this essay. The sequence of
the segments does not follow the chronological order, for example, for the item 'artistic
programme', the factsheet of the IOC asserts:
Once the national anthem of the host country has been played, the show
begins. Usually, the content is kept secret until the last minute. Over the
years, Games organisers have managed to find creative ways to combine
Olympic protocol with just the right amount of entertainment, cultural
references, technological innovations and festive atmosphere (Opening
Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad, update, July 2009, p. 3).

The IOC describes the 2008 Beijing Olympic opening ceremony as spectacular,
unforgettable and stirring: Under the leadership of Zhang Yimou, 22,000 actors gave
life to the motto One World, One Dream. Thus, in a fabulous spectacle the history,
the four great inventions and the key elements of Chinese culture were depicted. More
than that, they managed to synchronize the movement of thousands of volunteers who
participated of the epic spectacle presented at the Olympic stadium 'Birds Nest'.
For this, one of the most important technical features was the innovative sound system
designed especially for the 29th edition of the Olympic Games to be recorded for
HDTV. The organizing committee for the Beijing Olympic Games has chosen the
Californian company SMF, [5] to design and assemble a unique sound system for the
opening and closing ceremonies in the Olympic Stadium "Birds Nest", the audio
quality needed to be compatible with the recording levels of visuals in high definition.
To give support to the entire enterprise, more Chinese companies and teams were
involved; sound system and effects give an original dimension: Overall, the venue
sound for the event was excellent, with a very 'in-your-face' direct sound characteristic
throughout the audience area, says Hardesty (see Boccia, 2010).
Aesthetic procedures at the opening ceremony in Beijing
As for some of his films, director Zhang Yimou has seen in the opening ceremony of
the Beijing Olympic Games the opportunity to create an epic audiovisual tribute to
Chinese culture; Yimou utilizes typical features of the HD movies era. Thinking about
the digital recording of the grand spectacle in high definition, he seeks to enhance
images, movements on scenes, well articulated giant forms, and the vitality of costumes
in the foreground, while the composer Chen Qigang directed the exuberant soundtrack
for that movie/opening spectacle in the 'Nest'.
In fact, what we hear by the Beijing opening ceremony in the live broadcast and on
video is the recording of all sounds, effects of reverberation and a sensational equalizer,
in addition to perfect sounds reproduction of an unheard system of speakers positioned
at four meters of the front row, all around the stadium. [6]
Many segments of music and sounds that accompanied the crowd agile movements in
the arena of the Olympic stadium were pre-recorded and played like a soundtrack of
great impact. Eliminating most technical problems of Originalton (ambient sounds) and
noises in the scenic drive of thousands of people; music and sounds brand the epic
narrative of the Beijing opening ceremony. At one point in the ceremony, creating
unrest among the organizers, this feature has been criticized by the international press
who accused the organization committee of the Games to falsify the opening ceremony.
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This occur in the case of little girl Lin Miaoke lip synching the pre-recorded voice of
another girl Yang Peiyi singing the hymn "Ode to the Motherland" which was heard
throughout the stadium. The international criticisms were directed to the fact that the
girl who acted in the arena was more attractive than the other one because of her buck
teeth. This common expedient in cinematic productions was considered a faking
scandal; with a direct complaint against the Chinese political regime with a pinch of
sensationalist to gasp world wide attention: Mr Chen's interview gave an extraordinary
insight into the control exercised over the ceremony by the Games' political overseers,
all to ensure the country was seen at its best. [7]
Sound and music of Athens 2004
For each movement of his wide symphony, Gustav Mahler thought in explanatory titles.
Mahlers Symphony nr. 3, composed between 1893 and 1896, combines six movements
that the composer had called in a symbolic way. The sixth movement music that
accompanies the first part of the artistic segment of the Athens opening ceremony had
the title: Was mir die Liebe erzhlt (what love tells me). This title, like the others was
substituted before the publication of the symphony, so the sixth movement was entitled:
Langsam - Ruhevoll - Empfunden (Slowly, quiet, deeply felt). [8] This brief explanation
arises from the question: why the sixth movement of Mahlers symphony nr. 3 was
chosen for the 2004 Athens Olympic opening ceremony?
Considering the grandiosity, but also the megalomaniac idea of the composer to
embrace the universe with a symphony, the reasons may be diverse and contrasting.
First, the original title of the sixth movement suggests: here would love to tell the
composer something and thus to all mankind. Second, the kind of orchestration that
gradually brings the full orchestra for a complete dense and full of emotion by increase
of timbres and epic representations. And finally, the idea of complete description of the
universe as symbol of rapprochement with other cultures; considering Greek civilization
the ab origine source of Western civilization. So, the first artistic creation for the
opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics titled 'Allegory' was depicted with the
colours of a symphonic orchestral work of an idealistic composer inspired in Hellenic
culture. Yet: Establishing historical continuity for Greek civilization has also largely
involved homogenizing it and purging it of vibrant Eastern elements, primarily those
associated with folk and popular arts. [9]
Both opening ceremonies have begun with hot drumbeats. Indeed drums symbolize the
root of each culture; the pulse of life, heart beats, body language and strong emotions.
In Athens, orchestral timbres of Mahler symphony sought to contrast with the rhythmic
strokes of drums. The strings in long and slow movements give sound to the 'Allegory'
which had developed slowly under the close scrutiny of the public and TV audiences.
The Opening ceremony of the Olympics, designed by director Dimitris
Papaioannou, predominantly emphasized the ancient heritage. Indeed, the
slogan of the Athens Olympics was that the Games return to the country
where they were born (Kotzamani, 2009, p. 14).

At the very begin of the spectacle, Athens and Beijings drums moved the public and
the world audience marking the idea of ancient and primitive cultures. Indeed, the
Greek idea of drums was very suggestive: in a dialogue between past and present, one
man played in the ancient Olympia, and the pre-recorded visuals and sound were
projected and reproduced in the Athens Olympic stadium where a drummer gives
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response to each rhythmic motive. An analogue sonorous metaphor was expressed by

the 2008 Fou drummers in the arena of 'Bird's Nest'; playing on remakes of the oldest
percussion instruments of Chinese culture they greet people in the stadium.
Sound system in the Athens Olympic stadium
The 2004 Athens Olympic opening ceremony was recorded in HD, [10] while sound
system design for the Olympic stadium and conducted by the America's McCauley
Sound Inc. was amazing:
Jack Morton Worldwide produced the opening and closing ceremonies,
working in collaboration with Artistic Director, Dimitris Papaioannou.
This is the first time a non-indigenous company has produced the
ceremonies for a host city. Jack Morton's UK office led the ceremony
production with a team of over 850 in Athens including international
expertise drawn from its London, Los Angeles, Sydney and Hong Kong
offices. Jack Morton was also responsible for bringing together an army
of over 8,500 volunteer performers and supporters. [11]

Considering the sound projects of venues, both for Athens and Beijing, it can be noted
that the concern with the quality of sound reproduction over the opening and closing
ceremonies of the Olympics has reached unprecedented qualitative levels. Key Audibles
are reproduced with sufficient density and sound quality setting them apart with
intelligibility. There is no interference or echo, reverberations or distortions that are not
extensive thought and solved by companies running the project. Moreover, the energy
of sound in the stadium reaches high and powerful levels of volume involving the
audience completely. The absence of unwanted noises ensures an enjoyable sound.
This is a remarkable point of convergent technology that transformed intensely the live
performances of artistic segments in the Olympics artistic ceremonies. Thus, there is an
aesthetic convergence in choosing sound apparatus and selecting music and sonorities.
In both opening ceremonies, drums and orchestra colours, finely prepared and free of
noises, pop songs and especially the epic scale of the narrative seems to be mutual. All
that Will to narrate the history of own culture at the beginning of each Olympic Games
find in the dense acoustic mesh and powerful sound systems its most important ally.
Olympic stadiums are huge open arenas, but are not Greek amphitheatres projecting fine
acoustics. Instead of that, Olympic stadiums are huge venues with reverberation, delays
and echo problems which undermine the intelligibility of sounds, voice and music.
Within the HD television systems the sound apparatus had to be adjusted to levels never
heard before and the sensation in the stadium achieves the acoustic comfort of a theatre.
This way, the artistic performances in Olympic stadiums could no longer be like easy
representations in open arenas, distant and difficult to communicate with the spectators,
but audiovisual scenarios of cultural enchantment and scenic arts performances; closer
to the public watching/hearings; with an incalculable power of global communication.
Among others, the Olympiads have the merit to be great and periodic laboratories to
improve stadiums acoustics and also to help building giant open venues with excellent
sound system and quality to refine great live shows. In this sense, the continuous reform
of technological apparatus deus ex machina of contemporary representations, to
avoid grotesque scenic results or diminished interactions between technique and art,
need to be rehearsed again and again for each Olympic edition.

More convergences
For Athens and Beijing the Olympiads were great showcases to stage the power of each
culture. Different ways to narrate the mankind journey since begin, and the oldest living
civilization is Chinese. The sequences of the opening ceremonies in Beijing and Athens
are transformed in culture parades, and in this sense China intimidate for its supremacy
showing allegories of the most important inventions of humanity.
In the section Beautiful Olympics a short film about the making of paper, calligraphy
and painting was screened, introducing a scene in the Beijing stadium arena. In the last
films shot the folding of a parchment corresponds to the unfolding of a giant LED
electronic parchment on the stadiums floor, where digital visuals are projected and the
richness of Chinese culture elements are exposed with elegance. At its center was a
piece of white canvas paper, which then ushered in a performance of black-costumed
dancers whose hands hid brushes that had been dipped in ink. [12] The painting in the
middle of giant LED display unifies ancient tradition, modernity and globalization.
A similar elegance was showed in the Athens artistic representation Allegory; ancient
sculptural forms receive the projection of human faces, pictures unifying the classical
figurative tradition with digital art projections. In both segments, the ideas are imbibed
of pride and of aesthetic confluence as well.
Nevertheless, music seems to declare entirely the very strong traces of each culture. In
the Chinese segment of painting the sounds are very quite. The oldest string instruments
the most revered once of all Chinese musical instruments the guqin is played
accompanied by electronic strings melodies and sound effects, probably pre-recorded
and reproduced by high quality loudspeakers. The audiosphere in the Birds Nest
became meditative and reverential and the scene follows with minimal movements of
dance and painting. However, here is to note the lack of multidimensional musical ideas
and the articulation between images and instruments. In its solemnity and because of the
poverty of the electronically timbres, the guqin seem to remain alone.
On the other hand, the Allegory scenes in Athens, showed solemn and reverential
movements, but Mahler symphony despite its dynamic such as Langsam - Ruhevoll Empfunden (Slowly, quiet, deeply felt) through its crescendo of instruments and the full
orchestra performance transform the mythical scenes in an apotheosis without visual
correspondence. The suffered atmosphere contrasted with the images of classical culture
and the orchestra creates architectural forms which contradict the fine and primitive
Hellenic tradition. This contradictory context it could be described through a detailed
musicological analysis, in which tonality, harmony, transpositions and rhetorical effects
of instrumentation and composition would better describe the failed interlacement
between visuals and music. The Allegory part in the Athens opening ceremony,
through Mahler symphony expressiveness brings fine charge of feelings, but its visuals
retreats and acquires a schizophrenic splitting that transform the scene in an idealistic
Gestalt of contrasting cultures.
Meaning lies not in musical sound, then, nor in the media with which it is
aligned, but in the encounter between them. And for this reason it would
in truth be just as crass a mistake to maintain that music is a purely
graphic tradition or a purely verbal one, or for that matter a purely
kinaesthetic oneas to maintain that it is a purely aural one. Musical
cultures are not simply cultures of sound, but cultures of the relationship
between sound and representation (Cook, 2004, p. 270).

Generally, the crucial challenge for a live performance of so huge spectacles is to get
equilibrate acoustic proportions between the visuals and the virtual audiosphere. This
equilibrium is as tender as the relation between all elements of performative arts which
life are recreated on stage. In so huge venues such an Olympic stadium, the images are
seen from different perspectives, in most cases from very far seat places and seems so
little and blurry. On video or in live broadcasts it is possible to see through camera
perspectives which focused and approximate figures, performers and moving images. In
the live representation sound scenery is generally nearest to the public then images and
the contrast between seen and hear can be discrepant. Indeed, the relationship between
sound and representation it also depends of the ability to blend the audiovisual context
in an aplomb encounter of all parts. The application and selection of different camera
shots is the aim of a life broadcast and later for the interpretation of an edited version.
Panorama, medium shot, and close shots may be so extremely well distributed and cut
as poetic phrases to narrate the plot, and in many cases can elicit the attention of the
audience more then a live representation.
However, in most cases, music and sounds are excessively amplified and blustering; the
public is affected by sound pressures and sound effects which provoke very subjective
valuations about what is being seen. However, it is also plausible to question if the
extremely amplified sounds may reduce the capacity to articulate relations of moving
images and its audiosphere as a whole representation, so that in terms of individual
feeling or subjective valuations the result can be extremely frustrating. This trend to
amplified audio files excessively results in the use of compressors plug-ins that permits
to intensify music and sounds in extremely high volume rates without distortions; many
songs and music of the music industry are remixed to get that sound power required
from listeners and music consumers.
Clepsydra and movable type press
Here we compare two excellent tributes in both parts at the Athens and Beijing Olympic
opening ceremonies, which the first represent a celebration of Greek history and the
second a tribute to third and fourth great inventions of ancient China.
Eros, the Greek got of love, was introduced flying over a pair of lovers
frolicking in the pool of water located in the center of stadium. The
young couple along with Eros symbolize the fact that the humanity which
create and shape history is born out of love and passion (Books LLC,
2010, p. 11).

So was designed the Clepsydra part of Athens opening ceremony to begin. Here the
music that accompanies the procession of symbols and figures used traditional Greek
instruments. Indeed, the ambience chance radically because of de new audiosphere. [13]
Once again, music takes a huge part of the ceremony. For instance, watching at the
NBC digital HD file available on YouTube [14] by its first shots it is possible to get a
good ideia about the scale of that parade in relation to the public. That is the perspective
of a press tribune in the first ten rows; however other stadium rings are really far away
from stage. It was probably impossible for most spectators to visualize the spectacle in
satisfactory ways as showed by the next shots on the edited file. On video, camera
brings the visuals face-to-face and music does the rest, then everyone can regulate the
volume and the audiovisual combination can be ideal for each individual need.
However, in the sense of scenic spectacle, only the support of huge screens in the
7

stadium can mitigate the lack of visualization and can bring the distant moving images
of the ceremony near to the spectators.
Here we consider the different audiovisual perspectives of a live show, but our critical
inquire focuses on screen results of combined media, therefore of screen and sound
quality and reception conditions. In this multimodal environment it is possible to qualify
the Clepsydra as the most brilliant part of the Athens opening ceremony. Music and
moving images are loaded of emotion. The figures are part of the melodies and rhythms
and the harmony of audiovisual Gestalt results in unique pice of scenic art. In the
music for Clepsydra, human voices in ostinato contrasted with minimal instrumental
motives and the primitive strength of percussion; Greek woodwind instruments and the
timbres of Sondouri complete the audiovisual fascination and cultural enchantment.
In the next edition, the part of the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony which staged the
allegory of printing fourth great invention of ancient China was just unbelievable.
The giant scroll on the stadiums floor was moved aside and in its center 897 movable
type blocks appears from below and moved in perfect agile synchronism. Because of its
perfect fluid articulation, the spectators have the impression it will be the result of a
computer guided animation, so as remarked by the journalists who commented the
spectacle. Three variations of the character harmony and other geometric forms were
building through very flexible blocks movements. The blocks changed quickly drawing
lines of the Great Wall, suddenly sprouted from blocks plum blossoms, the Chinese
symbol of openness. At the end, 897 performers rise from the top of blocks and waved
to the crowds; public and world audience are astonish.
In this and other parts of the ceremony, the decision of creative team [15] of the Beijing
artistic programme was to use a huge visual composition as in cinematic productions.
The gigantic proportions of such visual compositions stun not just because of the perfect
synchronism but also for the giant scale of the scenes. In the case of movable type
blocks, considering the Confucius disciples (810 performers) who at the same time
recited excerpts from the Analects and move on both side of the blocks carrying
bamboo slips, more then 1700 performers occupied the arena; the result was an awful
human moving carpet of fluid forms and polyrhythmic geometric figures.

Figure 1: A view of the movable-type printing performance seen during the Opening Ceremony for the
2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China.
(Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) [16]

Here, contrasting with Athens Clepsydra, the scene is not procession like, but just a
huge picture makes of human bodies, well to see even positioned far away in the last
stadium rings. Music and voices serve as a complement to the moving images, and acts
as sound effects; as a ritual prayer. Due to the proportion of visual plot, the whole arena
was filled from visual richness and harmony. Related to venues proportions, the artistic
representations of the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony are a qualitative shift for such
gigantic live spectacles. In an Olympic stadium or any other huge venue used as
theatrical space, the visual creations spread on the floor, by great movements creating
monumental figures, running hundred of meters in all directions to encompass all
possible spaces, is a great way to reach every present spectator. Under these conditions,
music can achieve an ideal proportion and an equilibrate relationship with the visuals.
Summary
Summarizing the analysis of aesthetic creations of both ceremonies, we found that there
are many modal convergences in the passage from one opening ceremony to the next.
For example, both creative team and organization committees of the 2004 and 2008
Summer Olympic Games give great emphasis to the sound projects for the stadium.
Indeed, the sonorous dimension in so a huge venue is the invisible material that allow
congregating the crowd. Ceremonies are celebrations and somehow ritualizations of
cultural heritage. It should be noted that a large portion of the distinctive recombined
components of human ritual ceremonies resemble (or in fact are) what we call the arts
dance and mime, poetic language, visual display, and music (song). [17] So, many
parts of the spectacle were ritualized as a tribute to the origins of each culture. In Athens
Eros guides the Clepsydra procession and in Beijing ostinato Confucius verses
embrace the fluid movements of disciples and the human body harmony in the
movable-type printing blocks. Here, the music was just the ancient musical echo;
traditional musical instruments wake the soul of early times and are mixed with
multimodal installation; voices and music were reproduced through revolutionary and
powerful sound systems.
However, we encounter several aesthetic divergences in the way how the spectacle for
the artistic programme of the opening ceremony was projected. The first and major
contrast is how the creative teams use the arena as stage; the space sheltered the artistic
parts was conceived in opposite ways. For the Athens project, the center of the arena
was filled with water receiving key passages of the programme, however deprive the
venue of free central space for representation. The procession form of characters was
really great for the TV and video audiences, but not for the public in the stadium. Both
stadiums have huge screens to show details shouted from different cameras perspectives
and music while reach sounds accompanied live movements of the performers.
In the Beijing project, however, the whole arena floor was thought as a gigantic screen;
each performer was a point forming figures and allegories; the visual results of that
effort touch everybody in the stadium. Cameras needed to take more panorama shots
and less close shots: the cinematic idea to fill all arena and stadium spaces was the
qualitative shift for the representation of a so huge scenic spectacle in Beijing. From the
analyzed digital data, it is easy to see/ear all parts of both ceremonies, the sharpness of
HDTV files gives comfort to visualize details and dimension of representation, and both
ceremonies could be enjoyed with the best audio and visual quality; however that do not
correspond to the real spectacular scale in both stadiums. Artistic projects of modern
Olympic opening ceremony give the opportunity to create new modalities of scenic art

i.e., to transform huge venues such the Olympic stadiums in gigantic open arena theatre,
yet the proportion between space and representation needs to be proportionally well
projected.
Conclusions
An Olympic opening ceremony is compound of 10 parts. Here we focuses just into one
of them: the artistic programme, and from this part, we have analyzed just few key
moments of 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympic Games in this essay. However, as a
showcase of arts and culture of each host country, the artistic programme of the opening
ceremony is the most expected and exciting moment to celebrate each Olympics edition.
The core research answer for this study is about the scenic representation of the artistic
programme in the Olympic stadium and if the creative team of the 29th edition of the
Olympic Games has introduce new forms of scenic arts compatible with the huge venue
which encompasses the artistic programme. It should be noted that inedited sound
projects were created for Athens and Beijing Olympic stadiums, therefore it seems clear
the worth given to sonorous dimension for the giga venue.
Technological improvements, both visual and audio once, allow playing between
traditional and contemporary form of scenic arts, however, the play it is not that easy. In
the arena of an Olympic stadium, in such gigantic proportion and distance form most
part of public, the representation could hardly touch the whole venue, just sound can do
it if audio reproduction systems were well projected. Yet images, figures and characters
need to be proportionally to the size of open arena, otherwise, just music can congregate
the avid public and restore the pleasure of an aesthetic experience [18] of live global
artistic celebration such the Olympic Games opening ceremony. Music has an
important role in bringing about behavioural conformity and in stimulating compliance
with social norms. In other words, music had the effect of homogenizing social
behaviour within groups, especially in ritual contexts. [19]
Probably, in the near future, immense 3D visuals holographic projections could
rise from the ground and run over the arena grass, so all spectators in the stadium will
stun and feel as a part of the whole. In the present, the great ideas of creative team of
Beijing Olympic opening and closing ceremony has lunched new forms to mitigate the
visual gaps in the live representation of so huge venues such an Olympic stadium.
Aesthetic (con -) divergences as we related in the analysis above will continue, but the
problem with the visual scale of representations for thousand of people in the stadium
need to be solved. The use of huge LCD [20] screens is only a provisory and palliative
solution to approximate the spectacular visuals to the public, yet a live spectacle need to
embrace the whole venue and the Beijing cinematic solution was a qualitative shift just
possible by the synchronization of thousand of performers.
Then, the edited files in post-production give more chance to see the spectacle details;
camera shots selections and sounds are finally equalized for screen media reproductions,
and the audiences enjoy the result of technological solutions summarized the live
spectacular event. As a trick, the digital mix tray to rebuild part of the emotions which
shake the Olympic stadiums, but the spectators of such ceremonies, despite the scenic
limitation of many Olympic opening ceremonies, may fulfil the visual gaps, the lack of
focus, and the extreme distance from action and performers. The public may perhaps
compensate what could not really see whit vibrating fantasy and imagination.
However, to celebrate the opening of further Olympic Games editions it means to
constitute great teams of artists and technology experts who shall be aware of theatrical

10

space and technological interfaces within the scenic arts. To embrace thousand of
people not particularly with sounds and music of perfect and powerful audio
reproduction; a paradigmatic innovative twist for giga-spectacular-events may bring
new forms of spectacles in gigantic scale. But to encompass the spectators in a
provocative audiovisual plot of pleasure and satisfaction, visuals and sounds need to be
proportionate to the venue. The 2008 Beijing artistic program of the opening ceremony
has showed the force of synchronize thousand of performers. The giant figures formed
on the floor of the Birds Nest resulted from national pride and discipline. It is to
presume that technological improvements can substitute the crowd of participants
through 3D projections involving the public in a pregnant audiovisual experience where
music manipulation it will be just a part of the whole.
References
Boccia, Leonardo. Sonorous Games on Visuals - sound-visual primacy at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
opening ceremony In: Kramer, Stefan & Ludes Peter. (eds.). Networks of Culture. Berlin: LIT
Verlag, 2010, p. 209-223.
Brown, Steven & Volgsten, Ulrik. Music manipulation. On the social uses and social control of music.
New York: Bergham Books, 2006.
Books LLC. Olympics Opening Ceremonies: 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony, 2004 Summer
Olympics Opening Ceremony. Memphis, Tennessee: Books LLC, 2010.
Cook, Nicholas. Analysing musical multimedia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Meyer, Leonard B.. Emotion and Meaning in Music. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Qing Luo, Boccia Leonardo, Chunmiao Han, Xing Liu, Fu Yu and Kennet Chris. Representing the
Opening Ceremony: Comparative Content Analysis from USA, Brazil, UK and China. Abingdon,
Oxfordshire: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2010, pp. 1591-1633.

Notes
[1] The concept Key Audibles was developed by Leonardo Boccia for his research projects on
audiovisual strategies by TV news and year-end-retrospectives. Key Audibles encompass sonorous and
musical key elements of the most publicized visual narratives with music and sound effects.
[2] See also: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3358070/The-first-high-definition-Olympics.html>
Accessed Sep. 2008.
[3] See also: <http://www.olympic.org/> e <http://www.olympic.org/en/content/museum/> accessed Set.
2010.
[4]See:<http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Opening_ceremony_of_
the_Games_of_the_Olympiad.pdf> Accessed Oct. 25, 2010.
[5] Gary Hardesty of Sound Media Fusion Los Angeles was hired as chief audio designer for the opening
and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. The SMF (Sound Media Fusion) offers technology
solutions to major world events. This includes among others: the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the
Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, and the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Gary Hardesty reveals that
he went to Beijing once a month for five years and full time five months before the opening ceremony of
the Olympic Games. Hardesty notes that the biggest challenge was the fact that when he needed to start
designing the sound system the Olympic stadium was not built. It had no history and no idea how the
space it would sound or how long reverberation of sound would result after its construction.
[6] See also: <http://livedesignonline.com/stagingrental/hardesty_olympic_sound_system_0910/>
Accessed Sept. 2008.
[7] See also: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2545387/Beijing-Olympics-Fakingscandal-over-girl-who-sang-in-opening-ceremony.html>, Accessed, Sept. 2008.
[8] See also: <http://www.mahler-in-hamburg.de/en/musik/sinfonie_03.html> Accessed, Sept. 2010.

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[9] Kotzamani, Marina. AthensAncient and Modern: Athens in the Twenty-First Century. In PAJ: A
Journal of Performance and Art, Volume 31, Number 2, May 2009 (PAJ 92), pp. 11-44 (Article).
[10] It marked the first-ever international broadcast of high definition television, undertaken by NBC and
the Japanese television station NHK (Books LLC, 2010, p. 9).
[11] See also: <http://www.mccauley.com/press_view.cfm?ID=285>, Accessed, Sept. 2010.
[12] They performed a dance while leaving their trails on the block of white paper, reminiscent of
Chinese ink and wash art. This was accompanied by the sounds of the guqin, Chinas ancient 7-string
zither, as played by Chen Leiji (Books LLC, 2010, p. 42).
[13] The whole music project was arranged by composer George Koumentakis, who had worked in the
past several times with Papaioannou (Books LLC, 2010, p. 18).
[14] See also: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9gxXNGSn7s> Accessed Sept. 2010.
[15] The creative team for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic and
Paralympic Games consisted of a roster of renowned individuals. The artistic performance of the Opening
Ceremony, titled the Beautiful Olympics, had the internationally acclaimed filmmaker Zhang Yimou as
General Director, and Zhang Jigang and Chen Weiya as Deputy General Directors. Its core planning team
comprised some of the best artists and technology experts in the world, including Yu Jianping, Lu
Jiankang, Cai Guoqiang, Chen Qigang, British stagecraft designer Mark Fisher, Chen Yan, Sha Xiaolang,
Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka, Xu Jiahua, Cheng Xiaodong, and Tan Dun (Books LLC, 2010, p. 47).
[16] See also: <http://en.beijing2008.cn/ceremonies/> Accessed, Sept. 2008.
[17] Indeed, one can view ceremonial and other arts as ordinary behavior (i.e., ordinary bodily and facial
movements, and ordinary speech, utilization of ordinary objects and surrounding, and ordinary prosodic
vocalizations) made extraordinary through essentially the same operations or procedures as in animal
ritualizations: formalization (stereotypy), repetition, exaggeration, and elaborations of various kind
(Dyssanayake in: Brown & Volgsten, 2006, p. 37).
[18] The listener brings to music not only specifically musical experiences, associations, and dispositions
but also important beliefs as to the nature and significance of aesthetic experience in general and expected
musical experience in particular. The belief that we are dealing with an aesthetic object leads to what
Henry Aiken has called the idea of framing, that is, the belief that an aesthetic object is a special kind of
stimulus to which we do not respond by overt action. The fact that the response to aesthetic experience is
not overt as, as we have already seen, very important consequences in conditioning our responses; for the
pression of overt behavior is a vital factor in the development of affect (Meyer, 1961, p. 75).
[19] Steven Brown identifies six main aspects of musics role for social behavioral control: Music brings
behavioral conformity and stimulate compliance with social norms; is a device that serves as a component
of systems of persuasion and manipulation; reinforce social identity and fosters enculturation of
individuals; serves as a basis for sorting people into groups in large-scale societies; is a devise for
creating group-level coordination and cooperation; is an important devise for emotional expression,
conflict resolution, and social play.
[20] Liquid crystal display.

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