Real or Fake, still amazing

China is acknowledged throughout the World as being at the forefront of the production and creation of some of the best pyro available. However, when it came to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, it has been proven that many of the effects seen were actually created with lights and lasers and not with fireworks as we expected.

Now we do accept that firing pyro can be a little bit hit and miss, particularly when it comes to some of the specialist shapes and colours which can go a little bit awry (how many have seen the upside down heart or smiley face?) but still, if it is meant to be live, it should be exactly that.

Even the viewers in attendance at the stadium were misled into believing that the fireworks were real when in fact they were 3D graphics sequences that had taken almost a year to create. The thing which really pushed the boundaries of believability and brought the subterfuge to light were the now infamous ‘footprints’ which were perfectly picked out in the skies over Tiananmen Square. Whilst we know full well that the footprint fireworks were indeed real in the initial stages, in the interests of keeping it real so to speak, we all believe that they should have just had the pyrotechnics as arranged and not try to be something that they are not.

Under whatever circumstances, and taking out of the equation the ‘non-fireworks’ issues, the opening ceremony was absolutely brilliant and one which will go down in the history books.