Shen Xiao, Associate Professor of School of Theater, Film and Television of Communication University of China (CUC), was deeply involved in the program arrangement, short film creation and scene designing of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
Shen Xiao at the rehearsal of the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics
Some of Shen Xiao’s co-productions
The handicapped telling their moving stories
“As a member of CUC, it is a build-up of experience as well as a cause to participate in the directorial team.” Being the only professor of media studies in the team, Shen Xiao took full advantage of his expertise. At the very beginning of the planning stage, he pointed out the possible risks about audio-visual language in view of his own broadcasting experience during the 2012 London Summer Olympics and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and made sufficient preparation in visual presentation, which opened up a brand-new way of thinking for the team.
“While the opening and closing ceremonies of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics featured sublime concepts, cultural elements and grand scenes, the Paralympics ceremonies aim to draw attention to the disabled performers’ character in a medium shot,” Shen Xiao introduced.
Chief director Zhang Yimou supervising on the spot
Creation team of “Lighting the Emblem” performance
Rehearsal of “Lighting the Emblem” performance
Xia Boyu, the only double amputee in the world to reach the summit of Mount Everest at the age of 69, was invited to the performance of Lighting the Emblem in the closing ceremony. “In view of Xia’s physical condition, to achieve the necessary artistic expressions through theatrical performance and choreographic elements was unpractical for him. Although the directorial team created a great number of movements, it has been quite difficult to decide the final plan.” Finally, Shen and another theater director came up with the idea that Xia could perform in the simplest and most direct way of “walking”. Shen created a sequence for Xia, particularly highlighting his difficult yet determined steps so as to better interpret the simple and abstract concept.
ShenXiao is designing shots for Xia and Zilong (the child in the second picture)
“Even the tiniest detail holds the joint effort of countless people.” Shen said frankly, the directorial team went through “brainstorming” every day. When the show of displaying the Emblem of the Paralympics 2022 hit a bottleneck, the team spent quite a long time in adjusting and polishing it, and they didn’t even finalize plans until a month and a half before the closing performance.
During the final discussion, director Shen Chen put forward the core concept of the show: “parallel plays”, that is by assigning performers at eight points around the circular performance area. The showwhich aimed at conveying warmth and hope was carried out by every performer at the same time in the same space. At the end of the performance, a blind person slowly raised his hands, revealing the “mini emblem” on his palm, followed by all other performers on stage. Shen Xiao conferred with the director of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), tabling a proposal that the camera slowly tilt upward as the blind person raised his hand, since a visual cohesion would best create a soul-stirring atmosphere. The show eventually achieved great success and the chief director Zhang Yimou spoke highly of the visual effects.
Director Shen Chen and Shen Xiao are busy with work on the scene
Shen Xiao and the blind saxophonist Wang Qi
Stunning highlights in the show of displaying the emblem
Splendid performances in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics
Shen Xiao was deeply moved by the optimism, perseverance and bravery of the handicapped. “The opening and closing ceremonies are all about the stories of the handicapped, who live an even fuller life despite their physical or mental disabilities. They impressed the whole creation team and it is our responsibility to pass on their sublime spirit to the world.”
Winter Paralympics Waltz performance
Three early mornings will make a day
Shen Xiao in class
Being an expert in productions, Shen Xiao is also a scholar with high academic standard. Years of study and research has equipped him with solid skills of traditional culture and a subject background of both liberal arts and science, which have provided him with a broad interdisciplinary and inter-sectional academic view. For him, inspiration of all creation must be drawn from the sufficient academic accumulation.
As the youngest associate professor in the Faculty of Arts, Shen Xiao has already had 4 academic monographs and more than 50 articles published. In addition, he has made a series of significant breakthrough in academia: His paper Multimedia Education and Cultural Diversity in Colleges and Universities Centered on Humanistic Philosophy was included in the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) in 2018.
Shen Xiao has papers published in the top journal of Science Citation Index (SCI)
In March 2022, Shen made an even greater academic breakthrough by publishing his paper A Novel Wireless Resource Management for the 6G-Enabled High-Density Internet of Things on the world’s top journal IEEE Wireless Communication, which also included another of Shen Xiao’s paper treating of Deep Learning that would be published in May.
ShenXiao’s academic monographs
Shen Xiao firmly believes in the saying “Three early mornings will make a day.” For more than ten years, he would get up at five in the morning to read books. It is owing to this good habit that he has come up with numerous innovative academic insights and brought forth new ideas in practice. “Reading enables us to examine ourselves, feel the world and communicate with great minds. Therefore, I often ask my students not only to get a good knowledge of literature, history and philosophy through reading classics, but also acquire access to the advanced technology by exploring the cutting-edge scientific journals. Once they have laid solid theoretical basis for practice, they are able to break down barriers and come up with more stunning creative ideas.”
A mentor as well as a friend staying true to his original intention
Shen Xiao always gives priority to his responsibility as a teacher. Even though Shen Xiao was occupied with the rehearsal of the opening and closing ceremonies in the Bird’s Nest (the National Stadium in Beijing), he still took his personal spare time to prepare online lessons for the undergraduates. Furthermore, he regularly led postgraduate seminars, guiding students on academic writing pertinent to the creation of the opening and closing ceremonies. He perfectly combined professional practice with teaching, and won a good reputation among his students. 14 of Shen Xiao’s undergraduates and postgraduates participated in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, showing their youthful enthusiasm and professional quality of media.
Shen Xiao and his undergraduate class of 2020
As an excellent headteacher, Shen Xiao treats his students with care. In the students’ eyes, Shen Xiao is not only a mentor but also a friend. Shen Xiao has his own way of class-building—“What students need is guidance, of which I only show them the right direction and let them decide their own life. In general, a strong academic atmosphere contributes to a good atmosphere among the class.” Shen Xiao encourages his students to work hard, to broaden their horizon and to accumulate experience by seizing every opportunity and various resources to get involved in social practice.
As a media professional, a teacher and a scholar, Shen Xiao has always stayed true to his original intention, and he hopes that his attitude will motivate more media professionals in the new era.
Editor: Ginson Lim
Chief Editor:Zheng Shuyu
Advisor:Zhang Xu
