“To risk all for the glory of a great adventure”
Projection art by Alen for the Peaks of Endeavor segment in the style of Canada’s famous painter Lawren Harris
Vancouver Olympic Ceremonies
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Concept Art, Media Production
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Vancouver Olympics, VANOC
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To contribute to design of the Olympics, hosted by your own city, is one in a lifetime opportunity.
In 2009 I joined DAE Global, the executive producers of the Vancouver Olympics Opening, Closing, and the Victory ceremonies, and worked with the core design group on the concept and production design of the ceremonies.
My initial focus was on the visualization of the ceremonies for the IOC and Canada officials. The focus later switched to concept and production design of the shows’ large scale projections, as well as design of the audience kits and the program books.
Opening Ceremony
Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremony was watched by 1 billion people around the world. A designer can hardly get a larger audience. The Opening Ceremony also has a very strict deadline, it’s hard to expect for it to be moved. Just those two facts causes adrenalin and creative juice to pour out - like Vancouver rain.
Below are few examples of the concept or production artwork that I produced, and passed on to amazing Sidney based SPINIFEX team for the final production output.
Green Cathedral
For the Green Cathedral segment design team wanted to use totem poles paintings in Emily Carr style. Line drawings were executed by John Powell, of the Mamalilikulla tribe of the Kwak’wala-speaking nation. I painted the figures trying to bring the look and feel of Emily Carr art as much as possible.
Who Has Seen the Wind
Who Has Seen the Wind is celebration of vastness of the Canadian prairies. The projections didn’t only cover the Field of Play but the entirety of the audience while the aerial artist danced in the air. It’s very hard for any artist to imagine a greater canvas for their art.
Here are few images from my storyboard of this segment.
“Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way.”
A Little Higher, A Little Farther
Preformed by Quebec star Garou, this segment anticipated the arrival of the olympic flame to the stadium and the lighting up of the Olympic cauldron. Below is my exploration of the fluid look and feel of the segment that featured lots of video footage of the torch runners all across Canada’s vast teritories.
“A little higher, a little farther, I want to go so much farther,
And when I reach the highest peak, I’ll start again and reach much higher”
Olympic Cauldron
Inspired by picture of Canada as “fire in the ice” our core design team along with Bombradier designed and produced this glass and steel sculpture.
I provided the first concept render of it for the approval purposes, and later on created storyboard for the lighting of the second, exterior, cauldron in the Vancouver’s downtown.
Victory Ceremonies
Held every night at the BC Place stadium during the Games, the Victory Ceremonies was the celebration of the medalists for the day, and opportunity for the city to come together and enjoy the entertainment along with the Olympic laureats.
I worked along with Cyril Meusy to create this hyper realistic storyboard for IOC, VANOC, and Canada officials, since those bodies had to approve all elements of our programs.
Closing Ceremonies
Inspired by elements of Canadiana the Closing Ceremony was a chance to laugh, sing, and dance for the audience and the athletes. Design wise it was also a chance to play with all the Canadian stereotypes: beavers, mooses, mounties, Hollywood comedians, maple leaves, and hockey, of course.
These segments were much more cartoony in style, and lots of fun to illustrate and animate.
