Tokyo 2020; Creative Directors for Opening and Closing Ceremonies Announced

Press release by The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games;

 

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) announced today the creative directors who will work on the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Mansai Nomura, an acclaimed kyogen actor, has been appointed the Chief Executive Creative Director and will oversee all four ceremonies – the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games and the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games.

While being one of Japan’s leading traditional stage comedy and film actors, Nomura has produced and directed contemporary performances both in Japan and overseas. His rich experience and knowledge of both classical and modern Japanese arts were among the reasons for the 12-member selection committee’s decision.

Takashi Yamazaki, an award-winning movie director, has been appointed the Executive Creative Director for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games, and Hiroshi Sasaki, most known for his role as Creative Supervisor of the handover ceremony at the Rio 2016 Games Closing Ceremonies, was named the Executive Creative Director for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Paralympic Games.

Tokyo 2020 also announced the Basic Plan for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, in which the narrative structure of the four ceremonies is laid out. Chief Executive Creative Director Nomura will be in charge of creating and ensuring the overall theme is integrated.

Five others were selected as Creative Directors for the Tokyo 2020 Games ceremonies, including movie producer and writer Genki Kawamura, creative producer Yoshie Kris, singer-songwriter Sheena Ringo, creative technologist Kaoru Sugano and choreographer MIKIKO. These directors will be joined in creative roles by others from a variety of backgrounds.

London 2012; Olympic Stadium – Opening & Closing Ceremony transition time lapse

Videos by Wonder Works on YouTube.

 

Opening Ceremony

Taken from a camera located within the Olympic Stadium, this time lapse shows 80 hours of footage as the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games is dismantled and the stadium ‘transitioned’ in readiness for the start of the athletics.

A huge team of crew and contractors worked around the clock using 6 cranes and 22 forklifts to remove over 320 truck loads of equipment from the stadium.

 

Closing Ceremony

Taken from a camera located within the Olympic Stadium, this time lapse shows the last day of athletics and then the 18 hours before the start of the Closing Ceremony on the 12th August 2012.
A crew of over 700 installed 93 truck loads of equipment including the 3,048 square meter main stage, 8,800 square meters of scenic floor covering and associated scenery.

After the Closing Ceremony is complete, the turf is removed and track protection gets laid in readiness for the start of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony load in.

“A Radical Reconstruction of Reality”

Interesting column by Aaron Betsky:

A Radical Reconstruction of Reality

German critic Walter Benjamin warned in 1936 that “[mankind’s] self-alienation has reached such a degree that it can experience its own destruction as an aesthetic pleasure of the first order. This is how it stands with the aestheticization of politics that Fascism pursues.” After watching the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics, it seems to me that his direst predictions have come true.

Read full article: Architect Magazine