The closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics has completed the last full-element rehearsal. The Beijing News has an exclusive interview with the closing ceremony director Sha Xiaolan
The torch extinguishing link of the closing ceremony echoes the opening ceremony
Since 2008, we have deeply felt what responsibility is.
When we feel the honor of winning glory for our country, we also show the cultural self-confidence of Chinese artists.
——Sha Xiaolan, director of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics
On the evening of February 18, the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics completed the last full-element rehearsal.
From the grand opening to the more than ten days of competitions, the Beijing Winter Olympics has attracted global attention.
At the opening ceremony, creative ideas such as "Countdown to 24 Solar Terms", "Story of a Snowflake" and "Micro Torch" won wide acclaim from audiences at home and abroad.
How was the preparation for the closing ceremony performance, and what are the highlights?
Recently, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed Sha Xiaolan, the director of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Sha Xiaolan revealed that the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics will also use the "Story of a Snowflake" as a clue to tell the theme of "One World, One World", reflecting the Olympic concept of "more unity".
Sha Xiaolan also told reporters that Beijing has become a veritable "city of double Olympics", and the concept of "double Olympics" will also be "movingly presented" at the closing ceremony.
In the torch extinguishing session of the closing ceremony, the main creative team will also consciously echo the opening ceremony, the snowflake images will be extinguished layer by layer, and finally the torch in the center of the snowflake will be extinguished.
The closing ceremony will play a short film reviewing the touching moments of the Winter Olympics
Beijing News: What themes will be displayed at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics?
Sha Xiaolan: In this closing ceremony, under the tenet of "simplicity, safety and wonderfulness", we displayed the theme of "One World, One Family", reflecting the theme of "more unity" and the most intense Chinese New Year flavor. , to make all athletes, participants and audiences around the world feel the charm of the "Double Olympics City", feel the warmth of the world as a family, and feel the solidarity of a community with a shared future for mankind.
The Beijing News: The "Story of a Snowflake" at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics has won wide acclaim around the world.
What kind of cues will the closing ceremony take?
Sha Xiaolan: In this closing ceremony performance, we will use some representative images to connect emotions.
For example, Snowflake, the closing ceremony and the opening ceremony are in the same line, and both start from "a snowflake's story".
At the opening, the children carrying snow lanterns displayed the tradition of "making lanterns" before and after the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, lighting up the emblem with the word "winter" on the venue, in the gorgeous colors, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics The closing ceremony opens a joyous gathering that embraces the world.
The Beijing News: There is a fixed part of the closing ceremony that is "remembering". How did the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics consider this part?
Sha Xiaolan: We endow the fixed links with emotional sustenance and imagery, and the most representative one is the link of "reminiscence".
This link requires us to place our thoughts on our hearts and cherish the memory of those who contributed to the Olympics.
This time, we use the traditional Chinese custom of "breaking the willow to express love" to express it.
As early as the "Book of Songs", there was an expression that "I have gone in the past, willows and willows Yiyi". When parting, the gift of willows is a unique romance and a beautiful yearning for the future life of the Chinese. Not only "liu" and "stay" The reluctance to give up, and the good blessings that hope to be as tough as the willow branches.
Throughout human history, we have triumphed over disaster and suffering, but nothing can bring us down.
Chinese people's tenacity and optimism are embedded in traditional cultural philosophy and rooted in our spiritual core.
Such an open-minded worldview is what we want to express, and it is also our sublimation of the concept of "more unity".
Beijing News: There are also many touching moments in the Beijing Winter Olympics. Will this be reflected in the closing ceremony?
Sha Xiaolan: At the closing ceremony, we made a short film "Wonderful Moments" as a review of the wonderful games of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
We will see the reappearance of many exciting scenes, including the unforgettable moments of Gu Ailing, Su Yiming and athletes from all over the world. Let us applaud and pay tribute to them again.
In addition, there is a short film that touches the moment to show the elegance of China's state of hospitality and etiquette.
During this competition, from the volunteers, staff to all the contestants, everyone gathered for the Olympic Games to experience together. Facing the upcoming separation of the closing ceremony, everyone would inevitably be reluctant to part.
We specially produced the short film "Goodbye, Let's Go to the Future Together" to relive all the touching and warmth during this period.
Beijing News: How was the "torch extinguishing" link of the closing ceremony designed?
Sha Xiaolan: During the torch extinguishing session of the closing ceremony, we consciously echoed the opening ceremony.
In the lighting ceremony of the opening ceremony, the single snowflakes symbolized by the delegations of 91 countries and regions converged into the snowflake image of the main torch.
At the closing ceremony, the Olympic torch reappeared, the snowflake image went out layer by layer, and finally the Olympic fire in the center of the snowflake went out. After a short period of blankness, the snowflake image reappeared, symbolizing the Olympic fire and the Olympic spirit to continue in the name of ice and snow. transfer.
Thousands of people braved the severe cold and snow to rehearse nervously
Beijing News: From the opening of the Winter Olympics to preparing for the closing ceremony, the "Bird's Nest" has to go through transitions. How much time did you spend preparing and rehearsing for the closing ceremony?
Sha Xiaolan: The preparation time for the closing ceremony is very tight and the task is arduous.
We only entered the gang row on February 11th, which meant that the full closing ceremony synthesis would be completed within 9 days.
A heavy snowfall on the 13th also added a lot of difficulty to our rehearsal.
The entire LED screen and track were covered in thick snow.
The cleaning starts at 4:00 p.m. that day, and the second cleaning takes place at 6:00 p.m.
All of our cast and crew continued to rehearse intensely despite the severe cold and snow.
The live rehearsal is very important. After the 1:1 simulation of our visual effects, we can only cooperate with all departments on the scene. With the music bit by bit, the virtual and real images are compared and adjusted. Everyone really worked hard.
Beijing News: How many people are there in the closing ceremony coordinating team and actors?
Sha Xiaolan: The closing ceremony has 74 choreographers and nearly 1,000 actors.
If you count the other staff, there are 3,000 people in total.
Beijing News: Everyone is working hard, right?
How many hours do you sleep every day?
Sha Xiaolan: Because of the rehearsal, I was at the scene until the early morning every day, and I could rest for 4 hours.
All the teams, like the lighting team, the imaging team, and the costume team, stayed on site until nearly dawn.
Time is very tight, almost all the choreographer and coordinator team are sleeping on the scene.
Not only the dress rehearsal, but our programming is also a big challenge.
In terms of visual image design, because of one small action and one screen modification, the rendering time will take 48 hours, which means that we have almost no possibility of trial and error.
After the leaders reviewed and proposed revisions, we only had 48 hours of revision time. During this period, all images, costumes and props had to be adjusted accordingly.
All in all, we have completed two reviews and more than a dozen rectification opinions in such a tight time.
That's it, we grabbed the last full-element rehearsal on the 18th.
Just like the success of the opening ceremony, which has won wide acclaim around the world, behind it is the high sense of responsibility from the chief director to every staff member, the extreme sense of honor and mission of everyone, and the proud "Chinese power" .
"We want to show the cultural confidence of Chinese artists"
Beijing News: As a participant of the two Olympic Games in Beijing, compared with the work in 2008, what do you think is different about the work of this Winter Olympics?
Sha Xiaolan: My team and I can also be said to be a "double Olympic team".
Since 2008, we have deeply felt what responsibility is.
When we feel the honor of winning glory for our country, we also show the cultural self-confidence of Chinese artists.
In the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, we will show China's long 5,000-year-old splendid civilization.
Now we want to show the spirit of the Chinese people and our technological innovation.
For example, we have made many breakthroughs in light and shadow interaction and performance technology. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, we have used more than 10,000 square meters of LED screens, which is unprecedented.
For another example, in the presentation of the five rings, in 2008, it was a very romantic star and five rings. In the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, we used the concept of laser engraving to present the five rings in the ice and snow.
The texture of ice, the precision of lasers, and the interaction of images have greatly increased the technical difficulty, which is also an expression of our cultural and technological confidence.
Wu Wei, chief reporter of the Beijing News