GeekSugar

2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony: A High Tech Masterpiece

GeekSugar — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 06:00:27 PDT

Did you happen to catch NBC's broadcast of the opening ceremonies from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on Friday eve? What a sight it was! Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were installed across the entire stadium (even the roof!) and a LED screen, measuring 147 meters long and 22 meters wide was placed in the center of the stadium. And for the full futuristic effect, around 44,000 tiny LED beads, all different colors, were embedded within the LED screen as well as in the costumes of the performers. "We have combined creativity with the most complicated technologies in Olympic history to maximize the visual and sensory impact on the audience," said Yu Jianping, technical team leader for the opening.

To see just how magnificent the show was, check out my slideshow. And be sure to catch all the highlights and video footage from the games online!

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So Sweet! Candies iPhone Cases at Opening Ceremony

Kelly Schwarze — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:12:07 PST

Purveyors of all things chic and of-the-moment, Opening Ceremony has released its latest Spring import, and we're already craving more! iPhone cases from Japanese company Candies are making their adorable US debut. Candies creates all their cases from 100 percent natural silicone, free of nasty chemicals - good for you and Mother Earth.

Check out the range of cases including wheeled skate decks, cuddly cartoons, and bright graphics in the gallery.

It's a Collaborative Three-Way!

Noria Morales — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:41:58 PDT

With designer collaborations a dime a dozen, how do you keep it exciting? By adding a third to the party. Collaboration king (or queen) Opening Ceremony is partnering with Lane Crawford on a pop-up shop, and they enlisted designers Alexander Wang, Pamela Love, and Band of Outsiders to design exclusive pieces to mark the occasion. Here's a sneak peek at the pieces from each designer - Alex Wang did a tee-shirt, Pamela Love did a skull necklace, and Band of Outsiders did ties. If you won't be in Hong Kong for the pop-up shop, you can always shop it online.

If you could put together the ultimate designer collaboration three-way, who would it be? Tell us in the comments!

The Covet List: Rodarte x Opening Ceremony Lace Blazer

Noria Morales — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:00:04 PST

The Piece: Rodarte for Opening Ceremony Lace Blazer

The Investment: $725

Why We Covet: It's Rodarte. The Mulleavy sisters have become one of fashion's most highly respected designer duos, and their collections are the hard-to-acquire stuff of fantasy. Their collaboration with Opening Ceremony has all their romance and frills in functional silhouettes at a slightly lower price point, making it extremely covetable. Case in point: this incredibly detailed, ultra gorgeous floral guipire lace jacket that will be perfect for the soft dreaminess of Spring. It can look chic over a sleek silk column dress, flirty over a tank and jeans, or romantic with a flowy dress. It's got slight bell sleeves and a gently curved collar. It's something new that could be vintage, and we guarantee you could bring this out every season and get a million compliments.

Sneak Peek: Check Out the Adidas For Opening Ceremony Collection

Chi Diem Chau — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:20:43 PST

To get you excited for the upcoming London 2012 Summer Olympics, Opening Ceremony will be launching an exclusive collection with sporty brand Adidas. The Adidas Originals Collection for Opening Ceremony won't be available until early July, but you can take a first look at the line now, highlighting a structured printed anorak jacket with zip details, along with a black-and-red ensemble, comprised of a red sweatshirt and black quilted skirt. The collection, available at select Opening Ceremony stores and boutiques, will feature around 100 pieces of women's and men's clothing, ranging from $100 to $630, and shoes priced from $140 to $235. See more photos in the slideshow, then tell us what you think about the line in the comments section - would you wear it?

Link Time: See Opening Ceremony's Fall '11 Lookbook

FabSugar — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:40:38 PDT

Check out Opening Ceremony's Fall '11 lookbook - Fashionologie
See Heidi Klum's Spring collection for New Balance - InStyle
Online retailers will be allowed to participate in this year's Fashion's Night Out - The Cut
Michael by Michael Kors Joan bag: an ode to Mom - Bag Snob
Dolce & Gabbana are throwing a party for Justin Bieber - Vogue UK Daily
Miu Miu launches e-commerce site - Miu Miu
Inside Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief pop-up shop - Racked
Keira Knightley toughens up - Teen Vogue
Five things we love about the new Suno e-commerce site - Lucky
Window into the world of Daphne Guinness and friends - Vogue Daily
The best rain gear for April showers - StyleList

Jake Gyllenhaal Suits Up and Begins Judging the Berlin Film Festival

Katie Henry — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:27:17 PST

Jake Gyllenhaal, wearing a Salvatore Ferragamo suit, joined his fellow jurors last night at the opening ceremony for the 62nd annual Berlin Film Festival. Jake touched down in Germany earlier this week and got a warm reception from fans and the festival's director, Dieter Kosslick. The competition officially kicked off yesterday with the world premiere of Diane Kruger's Farewell, My Queen. There are 18 films in the running this year with each hoping to take home the Golden Bear trophy for best feature. In addition to Diane's movie, Jake will also have the opportunity to judge Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey, which is scheduled to premiere tomorrow night.

Angelina Jolie Wears White For an Important Tea in Germany

Lauren Turner — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:00:00 PST

Angelina Jolie had a meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in Berlin today. She and Guido sat down for tea to discuss Angelina's role with the UNHCR. Angelina made time for the important chat before getting ready to hit the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival tomorrow. Her In the Land of Blood and Honey is in the running for best feature along with Diane Kruger's Farewell, My Queen and 16 others. Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the festival's judges, and he helped kick things off at yesterday's opening ceremony. The overseas trip hasn't been all about work for Angelina, since she took Maddox, Pax, and Shiloh to Legoland. The Jolie-Pitts will soon return to the US, since Angelina is set to be a presenter at the Oscars on Feb. 26.

The Muppets' Music Man Bret McKenzie on His Oscar Nod and Taking a Silly Job Seriously

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:50:41 PST

Bret McKenzie is up for an exceedingly rare honor this year, with his ballad "Man or Muppet" earning one of just two nominations in the Oscars' best song category. I caught up with The Muppets' musical supervisor today at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to chat about the awards attention and the unique experience of penning music for Kermit and company. The New Zealand native talked about fighting the temptation to use the word "motherfrogger" in his songwriting and the roundabout way he came on board The Muppets project in the first place. Bret - who previously was best known as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords - also shared his hopes of bringing FOC to the big screen. Check out our conversation below:

PopSugar: It's got to be an honor to be nominated for an Oscar, but also in a year when the Academy only bothered to nominate two songs.
Bret McKenzie: They barely nominated anyone! When I found out, it sounded like there'd been a mistake, and yeah, it's a huge honor. It's great and it's really exciting, and I'm not complaining that there's only two nominees the year I'm nominated. I mean, this is the best chance I'll have of winning an Oscar, ever. It couldn't have been better, unless there was just one nomination, and then it would be a very dull ceremony . . . There's a lot of legendary musicians - tunesmiths - in that list of possible nominations. So it's all very surreal to think that I got in ahead of Elton John.

PS: And Madonna. Those two had a little rivalry going on.
BM: I know. I got nervous about what Elton John's husband was going to say about me. It's crazy, and it's great for The Muppets film, because we're all really proud of the film and it wasn't ever really going to get a best actor. Hey, Jason's good, that's not what I mean, but Kermit, Miss Piggy - they can't win these awards - and comedies don't generally get recognized at these awards ceremonies, so it's kind of cool. It's almost like the film as a whole is being recognized with this category.

For more from our chat with Bret, including what he says about his plans for a Flight of the Conchords film, coaching Jason Segel, and the pressure he felt on the project, just

read more! PS: What was the biggest unexpected challenge for you writing music for the film? I know you talked about one draft of a song where you referred to a Muppet as a piece of felt and were told you couldn't do that. BM: Yeah. Little piece of felt, and you couldn't say things like motherfrogger, even though it's very tempting. There were lots of hard parts to it. The Muppets can't sing certain notes. They can't sing too high or the voice changes and doesn't sound like the right character. There were so many weird things. I spent hours recording penguins and rats, and what's weird is that it's such a silly job, but you have to take it very seriously. So I would be in the studio for days, maybe a whole day recording penguins, and then I'm like, "I'm not happy with how the penguins are sounding! Where's penguin four?" You know, getting demanding. "We lost penguin track four! I can't hear the penguin!" PS: I was watching the movie again last night and watching Jason Segel's performance of "Man or Muppet." Did you coach him on any of his rockstar moves? Because he pretty much nailed it. BM: He nailed it. That's my favorite moment in the film. When he buckles down in the rain, that was one of my favorite shots. I was so proud of what James [Bobin, the director] and those guys achieved, because I wasn't there on set, I just saw them syncing the video, and I was like, "Wow, guys. You nailed it." What we did do in the studio, as Jason and I had a technique where I would sing a line, and he'd watch me through the window, and then he'd sing it back. So we did this thing where, I was really into the drama of it. So, I was like, "Am I a Muppppettt?" [balling his hands into fists] And he'd be like, OK, record. "Am I a Muppppettt!" So we kind of worked together to get that style. PS: Did it shatter some of your childhood illusions to have the guy that does Miss Piggy's voice come work with you [in the recording studio]? BM: Yeah. Well, it wasn't Frank Oz. The guy Eric, who does it now, yeah. That was strange. And the day that we recorded Kermit the Frog doing "Rainbow Connection" - I was sort of pinching myself, because that was probably one of the real moments for me where I realized that my world had really changed. That I'd come from New Zealand, I'd grown up with Kermit the Frog, and now I was in Hollywood in a studio recording Kermit the Frog. It felt like worlds had collided. PS: Was there pressure knowing there was already this great catalog of Muppet songs? To try to add to that or top it in some way? BM: I knew I wouldn't top "Rainbow Connection," but I was very intimidated, but the way I worked on the job was it actually started with me just writing one song, so I didn't feel the pressure of writing the whole movie. I think it would have been different if I'd been hired from the outset to do all the music. So I wrote one, then another, and gradually wrote more and more, so that helped. PS: What song did you write first? BM: The opening song. That's the one they needed, that's the one James asked me to write first. The script was probably on a second draft, and they were in preproduction, so I came in quite late. And the way they were doing it was, they got 100s of demos submitted from all sorts of songwriters, and surprisingly - even though they got some really great people to do demos - people weren't quite hitting the right tone. The Muppet tone. I'd just come off the Conchords tour and I had some time, and James asked if I was interested in doing that opening song, because he had a kind of specific thing he needed from that song. He needed it to be really Muppet-y, that song, and he had a great idea for the whole town joining in, it starting off small and becoming a big musical number, and that came together really well. PS: Is this experience maybe something you want to bring to a Flight of the Conchords movie? BM: Yeah, exactly. Having done this movie now, we're in a much better place to do a Conchords film, because James is more experienced - well, we're all more experienced. Not specifically, but James Bobin - well, we're all very keen to do another studio musical, because I really enjoyed being able to do comedy musical numbers on such a grand scale, and I think next time, I really think it will just get better and better. Because it's such a fun genre, and we've done like 50 songs for TV now, and now The Muppets movie, and I feel like we've accidentally sort of become musical comedy experts. PS: What do you imagine Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords are up to these days, in their universe? BM: In the Lower East Side? That's a good question. I reckon they probably got a regular gig now. Like, at a Chinese restaurant. Photo courtesy Disney

Hunger Games Beauty: Get Katniss's Opening Ceremonies Look

Allure — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:05:14 PST

We're happy to present this story from our friends at Allure:

Every time a new image is released from The Hunger Games, fans react like it's a gift from their sponsor flying in by silver parachute. (If you don't know what that means, you still have 55 days to read the book before the premiere.

But we have to admit, even we squealed a bit over this new picture, which shows Katniss before the chariot ride in the opening ceremonies. Her dress, which earns her the nickname "Girl on Fire," is amazing; but what we're really impressed with is the smoldering makeup. In the book, Katniss describes her face in this scene as "relatively clear of makeup, just a bit of highlighting here and there." But from the looks of the photo, makeup artist Ve Neill either didn't read the book (we're guessing probably not so likely) or took some creative license (and we don't mind!). Here's how she got the look: