How to showcase China to the world? Acclaimed Filmmaker Zhang Yimou speaks

BEIJING, March 6, 2018 - The closing ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games saw “Beijing 8 Minutes,” an eight-minute handover ceremony performed by the Chinese delegation as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. It was a spectacle that impressed the entire world and extended Chinese hospitality and invitation. On the giant 72.8-meter main stage, performers dressed in advanced graphene costumes to keep them warm skated gracefully, with “pandas,” and the images of traditional Chinese knots, dragons and the Great Wall orchestrated to produce a dazzling sight. The show employed artificial intelligence, making robots dance with the performers, creating a surreal magnificence and showcasing China’s strength. Another grand work by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou once again kept the audience on the edge of their seats.  
 
BEIJING ONCE AGAIN After 14 years, Beijing was once again on one of the grandest stages in the world, the Winter Olympic Games, to showcase itself. After 14 years, filmmaker Zhang Yimou was once again invisibly standing under the spotlight on this stage as the director of “Beijing 8 Minutes.” This time, the 68-year-old filmmaker, renowned for his passion for strong colors, decided to present a simple eight-minute show instead, as simplicity is also synonymous with purity and confidence.

AN IMPORTANT BACKGROUND Zhang had never expected that he would direct another “Beijing 8 Minutes” spectacle. It was not that he was unwilling to undertake the job again, but because he had never anticipated that Beijing would host the second Olympic Games in such a short time. As one of the most representative directors of the Chinese film industry, Zhang forged an unbroken connection with the Olympics since 2001, when he first directed the promotional film to support Beijing’s bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. The opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games directed by him proved to be a blockbuster. After that, the organizing committee of the London 2012 Games came to him and sought his advice for the inaugural ceremony of the London 2012 Games. He suggested that they hire a film director like him. Another four years later, Rio 2016 followed suit.
“It opened a side career for me as a professional film director,” Zhang joked.
When the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games asked him if he would like to direct another “Beijing 8 Minutes,” Zhang Yimou initially hesitated.
“It is no easy job. For example, in the last one, my hands were tied in many respects. While doing a guest show, it is always difficult to present the kind of spectacle you want to. Besides, the time was so short. I thought it was a tough and thankless job.”  
 
 
FLASHBACK TO ATHENS 2004 As “Beijing 8 Minutes” debuted at the closing ceremony of the Athens 2004 Games, a flaming red filled the audience’s eyes. With red lanterns, red qipaos, the distinctive makeup of Chinese opera, the playing of Chinese musical instruments such as the erhu, the two-stringed violin, and the pipa, a kind of four-stringed lute, and the presentation of martial arts, as Zhang Bin, China Central Television’s sports anchor put it, “The stage is filled with Chinese symbols!”
“I was too eager to make it perfect,” Zhang recalled. “I wanted to present everything, but the project could not bear the weight of so many elements. The small stage Athens provided for Beijing and the limited time the International Olympic Committee allowed were not enough to convey the measure of Chinese’s long anticipation and eagerness for the 2008 Olympics.  
 
 
ACCEPTING THE PROPOSAL “The title of the show was From Olympia to the Great Wall. How would you present that?”
Then history offered Zhang a chance to do it all over again. But this time he was wiser by the experience. “Could you please promise not to include too many programs?” he urged the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. “Our national strength has been greatly reinforced and can’t be compared to that 14 years ago. Can we return to the eight-minute show presenting art that is pure? Only when the purpose is pure, can the art be pure.”
The two sides came to an agreement.
“I am highly motivated to [direct the show] as I can think originally and work freely. It is exciting to an artist,” he said. So he said yes to the organizing committee.
“Ok, let’s do it for our country,” he said.

UNDER PRESSURE As Zhang’s work partner for years and one of the key members of the core creative team for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Wang Chaoge knows how much pressure Zhang suffered while directing the show.
“Even without considering his age, for an acclaimed director like him, there was no need to take any chances. It was unnecessary for him to risk the criticism that would have come in case the show he directed proved unsatisfactory. Then why did he choose to do it? I think it was out of patriotism,” Wang said.
“He didn’t consider personal gains or losses, but just did what the country needed him to do,” she added.
She confessed that she herself would have hesitated if everything started all over again and she were asked to direct the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. She admires Zhang’s courage and is awed by it.
“It is not just about success or loss. He is fixated on making it perfect, and to challenge art and everything else. Every second during the eight minutes is like a checkpoint that has to be cleared. It needs courage just to accept the job. I especially hope that he would be as energetic and acute as before, being able to endure the pressure of creation. With the show anticipated by over 1 billion people, he shoulders extremely heavy responsibilities,” Wang said.
After taking the challenging job, Zhang Yimou thoroughly researched every eight-minute show for the Winter and Summer Games, as well as the Winter and Summer Paralympics over the past 15 years. Based on the research, he proposed that the show for the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics should contain elements showcasing features of winter events, distinctive Chinese cultures and Chinese hospitality. In accordance with that, the slogan is more pragmatic and exudes confidence---“2022, see you in Beijing.”
From the idea to the detailed plan, everything was passed at one time. “We never stray from the original intention while orchestrating ideas,” said Zhang.

“It is easy to say ‘the show is refreshing,’ but difficult to achieve it”
The form of the PyeongChang show was inspired by the trajectory of skiing and skating. Though in Chinese martial arts, the top master walks on the snow, he leaves no trace, Zhang Yimou, however, preferred to have skaters leave marks on the crystalline ice, which was turned into a magnificent painting with the support of ground screen technology.
“From a filmmaker’s point of view, [ground projection] is a common practice. When shooting a film, you can put anything on the ground. Frankly speaking, it is a common practice regardless of the cultural background,” Zhang Yimou said. “Then I thought the ground projection should be simple. We just need lines to portray. Where there is a performer skating, there is a line. In this way, the ground projection becomes original and fun.”
It is apparent from his films that Zhang Yimou is obsessed with strong and rich colors. His unique style and popularity are his incomparable advantages but even then, Zhang still needs to make constant breakthroughs. Sha Xiaolan, chief producer of the “Beijing 8 Minutes” at the PyeongChang closing ceremony, said that when directing this show, Zhang was an entirely different person who created a refreshingly novel show for the audience.  
 
 
CREATIVITY RULES “Any creation needs breakthrough and innovation. It is a basic rule. I am used to it,” Zhang said. “It is the most difficult job to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. It is easy to say ‘the show is refreshing,’ but difficult to achieve it.”
Zhang’s partners who worked with him to plan the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Games well knew how fast Zhang got his inspirations and ideas. Often he would discard an idea minutes later, the moment he was back from a washroom break.
“I discarded one, even three plans, in a day. Brainstorming happens every minute,” Zhang said.
The core idea he was most satisfied with was the conception of conveying the message of a collective welcome to China by the Chinese president and the entire nation. “I was excited by this conception,” Zhang recalled. After meticulous preparations, the complete plan was submitted.
“Surprisingly, the plan was passed in a very short time. I think the reason was that it was pragmatic and realistic,” Zhang Yimou said. Once the core idea was fixed, “the remaining part should be designed based on it and supporting it.”

FLYING PANDAS Performers dressed as pandas skated on the stage, drawing images of Chinese knots and dragons with bold lines. The “pandas” flew from PyeongChang to Beijing, brought the Chinese president’s greetings and invitation, and returned to PyeongChang, lighting up the stage.
The idea of the pandas was Zhang’s brainwave. His original idea was to have a dozen people give a performance, holding aloft a 5-8-meter tall plush panda toy like in carnivals or parades. Later, considering the speed of skating and requirements for smoothness, it was decided to have smaller pandas, who would actually be the performers dressed up as the images. The skaters were required to dance in two rows, each row led by a “panda captain,” at the speed of covering 3.5 meters per second.

CHINESE TRADITION This time, Zhang Yimou once again employed traditional Chinese elements, which pervaded the whole show.
“Chinese traditional culture can be showcased in modern and contemporary artistic forms. The director should present a show where the audience can sense [traditional culture],” Zhang said, observing that the purpose of the PyeongChang show was neither highlighting traditional elements, nor weakening them, but “in fact, strengthening them by presenting them in a modern form.”
Lines outlined Chinese knots and portrayed dancing Chinese dragons. The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics coincided with the Chinese Lunar New Year, an occasion when Chinese knots and dragons are ubiquitous. The performance showcased the essence of the traditional cultural symbols: auspiciousness and solidarity.
The image of the Great Wall was also a familiar one.
Zhang recalled the slogans proposed when he was directing the promotional film for Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympics bid. They included “Come and ski on the Great Wall” and “2022, see you on the Great Wall.”
“They are appealing to foreigners. Therefore, I think we need the image of the Great Wall in the show,” he said.
How to do that was given meticulous consideration. The original idea was to use bricks. However, thanks to the prevalence of high technology, at the end a combination of artificial intelligence-stimulated robots, or mobile screens, were devised.
An entire show propped by robots

TECHNOLOGY AND ROBOTS A robot-manufacturing company based in Shenyang in northeast China’s Liaoning Province provided the mobile screens for the “Beijing 8 Minutes” show. Before the directorial team spotted the device at an exhibition, it was mainly applied in the car production line and logistics equipment. Besides, it was only three months before the full rehearsal of the show when it was decided to use the device.

For performing robots, the requirements are different from those for industrial robots. The latter needs to be “fast and accurate,” said Zhang Lei, head of the company. “For theatrical performances, the robots’ actions have to be flexible, smooth, beautiful and harmonious. The directorial teams could be adjusting the performance all the time. To meet the requirements, we made great efforts,” Zhang added.

The robots implemented Zhang Yimou’s concept of “a moving and changing world.” He wanted to combine robots with the “bricks” of the Great Wall and use them as carriers. “The robots do not necessarily resemble human, it could be a piece of brick.” Starting with the second program, “the image of the Great Wall was projected with winding lines,” Zhang Yimou said.
At first, the robots did not blend well with the show. The manufacturer grew anxious, so did Zhang Yimou. Engineers who develop robots have a distinctive working style. They never make promises, but focus on problems. Zhang Yimou adapted his working style to theirs, and asked specific questions. For example, what was the error rate? What were the consequences? Why did problems happen at a particular point? “You should tell me everything,” he told them.
“After all, they are machines. Hi-tech is like a double-edged sword in live grand performances. It is impossible to prevent every single technical issue and error, like [the impact of] rain or wind, or loosened joints. For safety reasons, live grand performances are generally presented by actors and actresses. You dare not depend solely on a button, right? If you pressed it and the robots didn’t move, what a disaster that would be!”
However, Zhang took the chances. It was like the entire show depended on the robots. After repeated calculations, programming and adjustments, the developers managed to make the robots perform adeptly and without hitches, gradually reaching the requirements of accuracy and perfection.
The onsite rehearsal in PyeongChang took place on a snowy day. As the floor was slippery, the robots veered slightly from the predetermined routes but soon readjusted themselves. Overall, the rehearsal was a success.
“The robots didn’t fail us,” the directorial team joked.
The U.S. team of Olympic Broadcasting Services became the fans of these robots. “Wow, they can go home by themselves,” they marveled, finding the robots entertaining. “Robot No. 16 is a slow walker. He’s the last one to get home.”  
 
 
Zhang Yimou regards the 24 robots used in the show to represent the 24th Winter Olympics as the highlight of “Beijing 8 Minutes” in PyeongChang.
“It was the biggest difference from the show in 2004. It was not about adopting artificial intelligence technology, but about perfectly presenting Chinese cultural symbols by means of technology. It represented the country’s current strength and image,” Zhang Yimou explained.
He said the messages “Beijing 8 Minutes” conveyed were not simple regardless of the simple performance forms. The display included winter sports events, Chinese culture and technology, China’s hospitality as the host of the 2022 Winter Games, and the mindset as a world power to build a community of shared future for mankind.
With the show lauded by the Beijing organizing committee, Zhang feels confident. “China is really different. There is cultural self-confidence in everyone’s heart. As long as your plan is meticulous, it will be approved in one go,” he said.
“Frequent revisions make directors confused. When this happens, don’t blame others, but ask yourself, why is your plan not good? Why is it not convincing? Why does it fail to meet the standard?”

The magnetic effect of a huge crowd
Besides visual grandeur, Zhang Yimou used the music that resonates strongly with the Chinese.
After several conversations with famous Chinese composer Meng Ke, Zhang had a clear idea. “How about using Ode to the Motherland once again, like we did for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics?” he suggested.
According to him, the marching music has been a matter of national pride for generations of Chinese, including young people. “Of course, you could create a new melody, but no matter how good it was, it would still be unfamiliar. But if Ode to the Motherland was played in PyeongChang, the music would resonate with the Chinese,” Zhang told Meng Ke. Consequently, the PyeongChang audience heard the notes of Ode to the Motherland throughout the Beijing show.
As a representative director who has directed distinctive, large Chinese square performances, Zhang Yimou knows the kind of effect a huge crowd of performers can create. He disagrees with the criticism of this style of directing.
“I don’t think the tactic of a huge crowd performance is bad,” he said. “Which director of large-scale performances, like the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, doesn’t employ this tactic? Please tell me, which opening ceremony was performed by one or two individuals? It is impossible.”
Talking about the magnetic effect a huge crowd creates, he said, “When 50,000 people enter a huge stadium, no matter what is on, the Super Bowl, Olympic Games or a popular concert, the atmosphere is full of excitement as if the venue is a magnet, isn’t it? It is a widely employed tactic, [for example,] in parades. What effect does a magnificent parade create? One of national pride, isn’t it? It is all about human nature. Huge gatherings show strength in the most direct way.
　
NATIONAL ANTHEM MAGIC When talking of her memories of the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Games, Wang Chaoge recalls the moment when the Chinese flag was unfurled and the national anthem played. “Every one of the creative team, under great pressure, burst into tears the moment the national anthem was played. Fan Yue and I rose from our seats and put our hands on our chest. We felt an overwhelming pride. I felt I had done something for my country and my people. It was really worthwhile and glorious. The moment was unforgettable,” Wang said, adding that she never had that feeling before. “When over 100,000 people gathered in the stadium, the emotion escalated. I felt proud as I had made a contribution, and felt a bond with my motherland,” she said.
 
 
LONDON VS BEIJING The “London 8 Minutes” show at the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games had a simple form. The show unfolded with a red bus coming in, which then changed into the different landmarks of London, and concluded with football star David Beckham kicking a football. It was totally different from the show China had presented at the closing ceremony of the Athens 2004 Games.
“They [the British] are confident. They have a very long history of industrialization and spearheaded world development for a long period. Comparably, China has been catching up with them after the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy. Two people from these two civilizations would show different expressions. The British are more calm and confident, whereas we desire recognition and attention by and from the world,” Wang Chaoge said about the mindsets of the British and Chinese.

CALM AND CONFIDENCE But the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games changed perceptions. This is the story she heard from a friend’s friend.
A Chinese family living in a local community in the U.S. used to be isolated in the neighborhood, rarely exchanging greetings with neighbors. But the second day after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony, there was a knock on their door. It was a neighbor with a bunch of flowers to tell them that he, as a foreigner, was impressed by the ceremony and thought the Chinese were marvelous.
His words made the family overwhelmed with national pride.
Wang Chaoge believes the Chinese captivated the world with their art in 2008. Since then, she has become braver and more confident in practicing her own art.
In PyeongChang, that is how Zhang Yimou showcased China to the world, with calm and confidence.

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