Production Design For 2014 Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony

For Russian-born Production Designer George Tsypin, work on creation of the Opening Ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic Games began in earnest at the beginning of 2012 with literally nothing but a blank page. Not only was Tsypin and his team going to design what the ceremony looked like, but he was actually going to co-write and co-direct the show, deciding exactly how to take the audience on an historical tour of Russian art, culture, history, geography and politics. Operating out of his studio in the famous 5Pointz building in Long Island City, New York, where he had designed the sets for Broadway's Little Mermaid and Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, Tsypin and company generated dozens of sketches, hundreds of model pieces in many different scales, floor-to-ceiling stacks of the asymmetrical Fisht Stadium venue, innumerable illustrations, hours of pre-visualization videos and yards of metric-scale drafting... all to celebrate the return of the Olympic Games to Russia.

The Olympics design team at the George Tsypin Opera Factory included:

George Tsypin – Production Designer (Co-Director and Co-Writer of the script)
Rob Bissinger – Art Director
Iosef Yusupov – Conceptual Designer
Anita La Scala – Assistant Art Director
Nathan Heverin – Senior Designer
Arthurs Virtmanis – Artist
Robert Pyzocha – Designer
Damon Pelletier – Designer
Tijana Bjelajiac – Designer
Jenny Tommos – Model Maker
Jurasama Arunchai – Graphic Artist
Jason Courson – Pre-Visualization Artist
Dennis Moyes – Pre-Visualization Draftsman
Carl Baldasso – Draftsman
Jonathan Spencer – Draftsman
Evan Adamson – Draftsman

Below are the 8 segments that the ceremony was broken down into, including mention of the various vendors world-wide who turned Typin's visions into metal and plastic and painted reality. Everyone at GTOF thanks the following shops and manufacturers for making our designs come to life on the grandest stage imaginable:

Segment 1: “Voices of Russia”
7 Islands built by Show Canada (Canada)
5 Clouds built by JC Joels (UK)
1 Sun by Howard Eaton (UK)
5 Olympic Snowflake/Rings by Stage One (UK)

Segment 4: “History of Russia: Medieval”
Troika by Visual Acts (Sweden)
Troika Sun by Stage One
Floating Domes by Imagine Inflatables (UK)
Inflatable Sculptures by Imagine Inflatables
Boyars by Michael Curry

Segment 5: "History of Russia: Imperial”

Columns by Show Canada

Segment 6: “History of Russia: 20th Century”
20th Century Lit Elements (Cone, Sphere, Rods) by Howard Eaton
20th Century Elements by Total Fabrications (UK)
Train by Total Fabrications
Buildings by JC Joels
Sculpture Fragments (Male Head, Female Head, Sickle, Hammer) by Airworks (Holland)

Segment 7: “Olympic Spirit: Symbol of Peace" (Doves)
Dove Illuminated Headdresses by Michael Curry

Segment 8: “Cosmos”
“Gods of Sport” Constellations by Tate
Orrey by Stage One