The most difficult thing to succeed with the arrow in Barcelona’s pebetero 92 was that it was not noticed that there was a trick
1992 was a year that will be remembered for many years in Spain. More than thirty years ago, but the economic and social footprint left Olympics of Barcelonathe Seville Expo And everything that surrounded both events still does not blur at all. Although we already know that “There was trick“Even in details as memorable as the flame arrow lighting the pebetero at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. What (we thought) happened. The torch entered the stadium in the hands of the largest Spanish medalist at that time, Palist Herminio Menéndez. Juan Antonio San Epifanio -EPI-, player of the Spanish Basketball Team, was in charge of taking it to the point where the Paralympic Arch Arch of Antonio Rebollo champion was waiting for him. The torch turned on an athlete’s arrow, which fired it through 86 meters from the stadium until it fell into the pebetero, lighting the Olympic flame between the clamor of the crowd of 50,000 people who crowded the stadium (plus 3.5 billion that watched him on television. What really happened. Rebollo faced A series of challenges that on television were not entirely clear. To start, the stadium was dark, so he had to take the dark shot, with the sole exception of a reflection indicated by the direction in which the Pebetero was. But the truth is that the arrow not only did the pebetero right, but should not do it: it had to pass a few meters away. The camera shot would make the rest, in a triquiñuela of perspectives that film directors know well and that makes it very complicated for the viewer to measure the distances. That is why there was an expert from the cinema. A film trick. To carry out the trick, there was Ábades Reyesveteran special effects designer and absolute reference of the sector in our cinema. He collaborated in more than 350 feature films, but it is in this event where he led to his most watched trick on a global scale. He won nine Goya awards and his are the effects of films such as ‘Oh, Carmela!’, It turns on yes or yes. Abades placed two of his collaborators outside the enclosure to pick up the arrow that would not have impacted the pebetero. Meanwhile, he would take care that the gas that came out of the pebetero became inflamed, something that would have happened in any case. That is, although Rebollo would have failed by many more meters than the planned and the perspective of the camera would have been useless, the flame would have turned on. Test and error. Of course, it was not the first time Rebollo shot the arrow. There were a series of essays in which Ábades could, for example, experiment with different materials for projectiles, and find one that would not go out during the flight. And they could also verify that it was not recommended that the date impact the alleged target, because it could spoil the gas outlet. A series of useless precautions because the illusion was simply perfect. Header | RTVE In Xataka | The three technological innovations that would change the history of the Olympic Games forever
