Parts of the acclaimed Beijing Games opening ceremony on Friday were pre-recorded including some of its spectacular fireworks, Olympics organisers said on Tuesday.
The ceremony won rave reviews around the world for its use of fireworks and a series of perfectly choreographed sequences, watched by an estimated 1 billion people.
Some of the fireworks though did not actually go off that night.
"Some footage had been produced before the opening ceremony to provide theatrical effect," Beijing Games Executive Vice President Wang Wei told reporters.
Among the sections that were pro-produced were parts of a stunning fireworks display across the city, a series of fireworks "footprints" that led to the Bird's Nest stadium where the four-hour extravaganza was staged.
A night-time aerial shot traced the consecutive explosions on the ground as they approached the stadium.
"There were footprints of fireworks," Wang said.
"Some of them were genuinely produced. Some maybe were used from previously recorded material."