Fire and flames have been considered through time as divine elements. The Ancient Greeks kept fires burning constantly at their temples. As stated in the IOC Factsheet Opening Ceremony Of The Games Of The Olympiad: “A flame burned permanently on the altar of the goddess Hestia, and such fires were also lit on the altars of Zeus and Hera, in front of whose temple the Olympic flame is lit today”, this was at the sanctuary of Olympia where the first games took place. The Olympic flame is a symbol of the Olympic Games. It commemorates the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The flame was lit by sun rays in ancient times to ensure its purity. Although the way the Olympic flame and lighting of the cauldron has changed the concept has stayed the same from the Ancient Games to the Modern Olympic Games. The official website for the Olympic Games gives us an explanation of the origin of the torch relay and its values: “In the context of the modern Games, the Olympic flame represents the positive values that Man has always associated with fire” (
http://www.olympic.org/olympic-torch-relay-origin-values-ceremony). The flame travels, still today, from Olympia to the host city connecting the Ancient and the Modern Games.
The lighting of the cauldron has been a unique and unforgettable experience at each and every one of the Olympic Games. From the Ancient Relay in Rome 1960, the Relay to the New World in Mexico 1968, the Korean “Harmony and Progress” Relay in 1988, to the “Down Under” Relay in Sydney 2000. They are all special and all celebrate an entertaining spectacle with cultural elements from the hosting city and country. The two most recent Olympic Games, London 2012 Summer Games and Sochi 2014 Winter Games had a very different approach to the torch relay and lighting of the cauldron which we will analyse and compare here.
The London 2012 Summer Olympic Games bared witness to 8000 enthusiastic torchbearers who carried the Olympic flame from Ancient Olympia in Greece to London, England after 70 days of travelling. When the torch arrives at the stadium a final athlete is chosen to light the cauldron that will stay lit for the entirety of the Games, however, in the case of London and the extreme complexity of the cauldron, 7 aspiring young athletes were needed to torch the final flame. The 7 were sailing, rowing, athletics athletes and the young Ambassador for London 2012. The cauldron was designed by Thomas Heatherwick and was one of the best maintained secrets of the history of the Olympics. The cauldron was made up of 204 copper petals in the shape of a dandelion flower, representing each of the countries taking part of the Olympics, and would be lit up and the petals would then close together forming one. It was an intriguing and difficult task considering the number of petals that had to be lit and for the cauldron, as a whole, to come together. The Cauldron’s long, elegant stems gently rise towards each other and converge to form one great Flame of unity – a symbol of the peaceful coming together of nations that is the Olympic Games. The star of the Opening Ceremony of the London Games was the cauldron itself differing from all other ceremonies where the final athlete is the common star. It traditionally flames continuously from the opening until the closing ceremony was temporarily extinguished and transferred to a lantern. The cauldron was not visible to the public outside the stadium and became a matter of large controversy. The Olympic Charter in force from the fourth of July 2003 said, regarding the Olympic Flame in its article 68.2 that the Olympic flame must be placed in a prominent position, clearly visible and, where the structure of the stadium permits, visible also from outside the stadium (IOC, 2003: 98). However, the article 54 of the last edition of the Olympic Charter, in force from September 9, 2013, does not specify the position of the Olympic flame (IOC, 2013). Monitors had been placed throughout the Olympic Park showing the public live footage of the flame. Dan Landry wrote, in an article The Eh Game, for Yahoo Sports Canada: “They can't see the thing, apparently. Not unless they have a ticket to an event. It's sequestered in Olympic Stadium, and will be moved from its place of honour at the centre of the action during the opening ceremonies, to one end of it. It will be perched inside the stadium but low down and so will be out of sight - and out of the range of photo ops for Olympic Park passers-by”.
In the case of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games there were a record 14000 torchbearers who carried the flame from Ancient Olympia to Sochi, passing through Moscow and visiting 2900 towns on a 123 day journey, covering 65000 kilometres. The Olympic Cauldron was located in the heart of the Olympic Park, with light shows, music and an enchanted fountain. The inspiration for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Cauldron was the Firebird, a character from a Russian fairy tale. The designers of the project depicted her with outstretched wings and a soaring head, crowned by the Olympic flame. The wings of the bird are in a circle with a diameter of almost 100 meters, where the fountain is located. The total height of the structure was almost 50 meters. The plumage of the bird was white opaque plastic, and special lighting effects covered the body of the birds' coloured "feathers", which were lit in the colours of different flags. The cauldron and fountain was the centerpiece of the Olympic Park and were located in the Medals Plaza, where awards ceremony for the Olympic champions took place every night. The cauldron was lit by former gold medalists Irina Rodnina and Vladislav Tretiak. It was situated directly outside Fisht Olympic Stadium, the ceremonial venue for the Games. After the torch's lap around the stadium, Tretiak and Rodnina carried the torch outside the stadium to light a larger version of the "celebration cauldron" used in the main torch relay at the center of the Olympic Park.
According to Owens and Millerson “The camera interprets the scene for the audience. How the camera is used affects the audience’s responses. Whenever a camera is pointed at action, you have to make a series of fundamental decisions, such as: Which features of the scene need to be emphasized at this moment. Do you want the audience to concentrate on a specific aspect of the action?”
At London 2012 the broadcasting of the arrival of the Olympic flame began in pitch black with an aerial long-shot of the inside of the stadium and pans out to the entrance. The shot moves into the corridors of the stadium entrance with the torchbearer running into the stadium, the camera shot with a close-up of the bearer following him from behind. Once inside the stadium the camera returns to a long-shot to capture the moment the torchbearer enters and finally does a close-up while he delivers the torch to one of the 7 athletes who will be the final torchbearers. We then see an extreme close-up of the new torchbearer and the camera moves out for a long-shot before the 7 athletes begin the lap of honour. During the lap of honour the torch is passed from one athlete to another while the camera follows the bearers with constant close-ups, using rail cameras, and long-shots, showing the excitement of the youngsters holding the torch and the full image of the expectant stadium. As the athletes approach the hill point of the stadium we see the camera use a long-shot to show the choir and band as we see the bearers run towards the shot. We see several close-ups of the band and choir to then move to an extreme close-up of the torch itself. The camera pans out to an extreme aerial long-shot of the stadium showing the magnificent lighting from above and then goes to a close-up of the athletes once again and an extreme close-up of the torch. They continue the lap of honour with various close-ups, medium-shots and long-shots. Close-ups of the band continue until they finish the lap of honour. The 7 athletes are presented with 7 torches, one each, with a close-up and the camera moves away for a medium-shot. There are various close-ups of important people and the 7 athletes proceed to light their torches, the camera, again switching from close-ups to medium-shots. Extreme close-ups of the audience show their emotion and delight. Extreme close-ups of the 7 torches are shown while presented to the audience. We see long-shots and close-ups of the musicians before the athletes begin their final run towards the cauldron. A long-shot changes to a close-up of the athletes as they get nearer. A medium-shot shows the 7 torchbearers as they prepare to light the cauldron and the camera moves into an extreme close-up of the torches. A long-shot presents the petals of the cauldron unlit. An extreme close-up shows the lighting of the petals and a long-shot shows the amazing moment when all the petals light up. The camera then goes around the circular cauldron and shows an aerial view as the petals continue to flame up. The camera goes back and forth from extreme close-ups of the flaming petals to long-shots showing the cauldron as a whole. A camera inside the cauldron show it coming together and we have medium-shot from the outside. Finally, we see an amazing camera shot from inside the cauldron as the petals rise forming one. The last shot is the camera moving away from the cauldron, to a long-shot, showing the remarkable formed flower.
At Sochi 2014 the broadcasting begins with a long-shot of the inside of the stadium where we see the Russian flag and Olympic flag, the camera closes into the torchbearer, Sharapova (tennis player) as she runs into the stadium. There is a close-up of her and a rail camera is used to follow her as she hands the torch over to Isinbayeva (pole-vault gold medalist). A close-up is shown of her and the rail camera follows both of them as they salute the crowds. Isinbayeva, hands the torch over to the 1st male bearer (wrestling Olympic champion). There is a close-up of him and the torch. The rail camera pans out to a long-shot showing the 3 torchbearers, the flags and the spectators in the background still pitch black. A medium-shot is shown as the torch is passed on to rhythmic gymnastics medalist as she waves to the crowd. Close-ups of the torch and athlete are used, we then move to a long-shot and back to a close-up and medium-shot of the torchbearers. The torch is finally passed on to Rodnina and Tretiak with close-ups showing their emotion. The athletes salute the spectators and Rodnina and Tretiak begin their run towards the cauldron, the rail camera follows them with close-ups. The camera continues to follow the final torchbearers from behind as they leave the stadium. A medium-shot is used as they approach the cauldron and we see the stadium entrance in the background. They come to a stop to light the flame; the camera does a close-up as the light the Olympic Cauldron. Flames soar up the “fire-bird” and fireworks go off, we see a medium-shot that fades to a long-shot to witness the tremendous fire-bird lit surrounding the fountain and the fireworks lighting up the Russian sky. A close-up is shown of the flame with the pyrotechnics continuously going off. An aerial extreme long-shot shows the cauldron lit, the fireworks exploding and the majestic stadium in the background. The camera shot moves to the inside of the stadium for a blast of fireworks and moves back to the outdoor extreme long-shot. The ceremony continues with a long-shot inside the stadium showing the Olympic rings forming in the centre and back to the outdoor extreme long-shot where the fireworks continue. We see a close-up of the flame with the stadium in the background and the camera pans out to another extreme long-shot. A medium-shot of the fire-bird cauldron is shown as a whole and moves back to the extreme long-shot. The pyrotechnic show continues and we see a long shot of the cauldron and the camera moves back out for a final extreme long-shot. The last shot we see is a medium-shot of the lit fire-bird.
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| The different cauldrons at London 2012 and Sochi 2014 |
Both the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games and the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games showed us state-of-the-art ways of representing the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron. They were both spectacular and mind-blowing. They were also very different, London 2012 showed the world that something different can be done, not having the sole flame lighter, or the cauldron visible to everyone. It gave us a view from the inside, all centre-staged, not being enormous, trying to give us the sense of ground-breaking creativity without the need of being gigantic, a more cultural ceremony. Sochi 2014 may not have been as creative as London and followed the more common rules of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. The lighting of the flame was external to the stadium and because of that they made it as huge as possible. It showed us that as we progress and as time goes by everything is becoming bigger, magnitude above all. Celebrations may show that: the more, the merrier and in this case the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic games excelled, but if we focus on creativity and innovation the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games blew us all away.
