Preparations 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

danny boyle, director of opening ceremony

boyle acknowledged extravagance of 2008 opening ceremony impossible act follow — can t bigger beijing — , realisation had in fact liberated team creatively. said ..obviously m not going try , build on beijing, because how you? can t, , wouldn t want to, re going beginning. re going try , give impression re rethinking , restarting, because ve (opening ceremonies) escalated since los angeles in 1984. ve tried top each time , can t after beijing. beijing s budget had been £65m, whereas london s final budget £27m, twice original provision. london stadium had same number of seats beijing s, half size; intimacy of scale meant boyle felt achieve personal , connecting.

the different sections of ceremony designed reflect aspects of british history , culture, title isles of wonder partly inspired shakespeare s play tempest (particularly caliban s not afeard speech), , partly g. k. chesterton aphorism: world shall perish not lack of wonders, lack of wonder.

in july 2010, boyle started brainstorming ideas designer mark tildesley, writer frank cottrell boyce , costume designer suttirat anne larlarb. considered british , non-british larlarb able offer view of world thought britain meant. cottrell boyce had given boyle copy of pandaemonium, (named after capital of hell in paradise lost) humphrey jennings, collated contemporary reports industrial revolution. had become traditional during opening ceremony produce olympic rings in spectacular manner. cottrell boyce commented danny had clear idea in first 15 minutes had have great, startling image go around world; had climax made people go oh god! . boyle decided journey pastoral industrial, ending forging of olympic rings image.

the ten distinct chapters on team started work gradually compressed 3 principal movements: violent transition green , pleasant land pandemonium of industrial revolution, salute nhs , children s literature, , celebration of pop culture, technology , digital revolution.

danny boyle, in ceremony programme.

when boyle returned work on ceremony in spring of 2011 asked rick smith of underworld, whom had worked on several film projects theatrical production of mary shelley s frankenstein, musical director. @ same time team moved 3 mills studio complex in east london, 4x4 metre scale model of stadium built. security reasons, single cgi-assisted version of ceremony kept on editor sascha dhillon s laptop; needing had come studio.

the cast included professional performers , 7,500 volunteers. boyle considered volunteers valuable commodity of . in november 2011 auditioned @ 3 mills, , rehearsals began in earnest in spring 2012 @ open-air site @ dagenham (the abandoned ford plant), in foul weather. although key contributors had sign non-disclosure agreements , elements codenamed, boyle placed immense trust in volunteers asking them save surprise , not leak information. further volunteers recruited security , marshalling, , support technical crew. 3 weeks before ceremony, mark rylance, have taken leading part, pulled out after family bereavement , replaced kenneth branagh.

the olympic bell, largest harmonically tuned bell in world, weighing 23 tonnes, had been cast in brass under direction of whitechapel bell foundry royal eijsbouts of netherlands, , hung in stadium. inscribed line caliban s speech in tempest: not afeard, isle full of noises .

boyle gave significant emphasis london 2012 theme inspire generation , devised programme relying heavily on children , young people, , built around themes relate young. 25 schools in 6 original east london host boroughs used recruit child volunteers performance, , 170 sixth formers (16–18-year-olds), between them speaking more 50 languages, recruited colleges.

on 12 june 2012 @ press conference, boyle had promised huge set of rural britain, include village cricket team, farm animals, model of glastonbury tor, maypole , rain-producing cloud. intention represent rural , urban landscape of britain. design include mosh pit @ each end of set, 1 people celebrating rock festival , other last night of proms. boyle promised ceremony feel involved; said, hope reveal how peculiar , contrary – , how there s also, hope, warmth . of set designed real grass turf , soil. use of animals (40 sheep, 12 horses, 3 cows, 2 goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, 9 geese , 3 sheep dogs, looked after 34 animal handlers) drew criticism people ethical treatment of animals (peta). boyle, being advised rspca, assured peta animals cared for. after press conference, commentary in uk press negative , attracted hundreds of comments online supporting...the view opening ceremony disaster.

the overwhelming majority of music used british. team worked next door office of musical director closing ceremony, david arnold, , hearing each other s music there scramble claim particular song first. a.r. rahman, worked boyle on slumdog millionaire , 127 hours, composed punjabi song nimma nimma showcase indian influence in uk, according boyle s wishes. more indian music scheduled inclusion in medley. paul mccartney ceremony s closing act.

sebastian coe instrumental in asking queen take part, responding positively when boyle first pitched happy , glorious film sequence featuring queen. boyle suggested queen played either lookalike, or world-class actress such helen mirren, in location double buckingham palace. coe asked princess anne, british member of ioc , locog, thought, , told him ask queen. coe presented idea queen s deputy private secretary. boyle surprised hear queen happy play herself, , wanted speaking part. filming took place in late march 2012, , happy , glorious produced bbc, opening film sequence journey along thames.

changes still being made programme in final days before ceremony: bmx bike section dropped due time constraints, , pandemonium , thanks..tim sections edited down. in 2016 boyle recounted how had come under pressure junior minister jeremy hunt cut nhs section, had saved threatening resign , take volunteers him.

two full dress , technical rehearsals took place in olympic stadium, on 23 , 25 july, in front of audience of 60,000 comprising volunteers, cast members families, competition winners, , others connected games. boyle asked them not spoil surprise (#savethesurprise) billions watch on friday night.