Cast of thousands help officially launch London 2012

It has taken 10,000 volunteers, cast and crew rehearsing night and day for weeks, but today marks the culimination of all that hard work as the London 2012 Olympic Games is officially opened.

There have already been 157 cast rehearsals for the opening ceremony, with volunteer performers giving up their evenings and weekends to take part in 37 rehearsals at the new site in Barking & Dagenham where detailed preparations for both the Olympic Opening and Closing ceremonies are taking place.

There are 12,956 props, 23,000 costumes and teams have spent weeks sewing 24,570 buttons onto the outfits for just one of the opening sequences of the ceremony.

In the Olympic Stadium itself the installation includes 1,100 automated lamps, 1,000 conventional lamps, 500 LED fixtures, and 32 follow spots. This will be accompanied by a million watt sounds system using more than 500 speakers and 50 tonnes of associated sound gear.

Work has also been taking place around the clock to install the set for the opening scene of the Ceremony, which is called ‘Green and Pleasant’. On entry to the Olympic Stadium in East London the audience will see a scene that represents a traditional and idyllic view of the British countryside.

The whole of the field of play in the Stadium will be transformed into the rolling British countryside as the London 2012 Ceremonies Team creates one of the largest sets ever built. The set will be complete with meadows, fields and rivers, and featuring families taking picnics, sport being played on the village green and farmers tilling the soil whilst real farmyard animals graze – including 12 horses, three cows, two goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, nine geese, 70 sheep, and three sheep dogs. Each of the four nations will be represented by their national flower– the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and flax from Northern Ireland.

Danny Boyle, London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Artistic Director, said: “The Ceremony is an attempt to capture a picture of ourselves as a nation, where we have come from and where we want to be.

“The best part of telling that story has been working with our 10,000 volunteers. I’ve been astounded by the selfless dedication of the volunteers, they are the purest embodiment of the Olympic spirit and represent the best of who we are as a nation.”

The BBC is the ‘London 2012 Olympic Ceremonies Featured Film Producer’ and has  made two short films for the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

With the title ‘Isles of Wonder’, the first film will be at the very opening of the show. The other will appear later.

The ceremony itself starts at 9pm tonight, with live coverage on BBC1 taking place throughout the evening.