Bellagio Fountain Video Download
Bradley Zweig
Fountains of Bellagio (/bəˈlɒʒi.oʊ/ bə-LAH-zhi-oh) is a free attraction at the Bellagio resort, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It consists of a musical fountain show performed in an 8.5-acre (3.4 ha) man-made lake in front of the resort. The show uses 1,214 water nozzles and 4,792 lights. The fountains shoot as high as 460 feet. Stages are sometimes built on the lake to host events, such as musical performances, that incorporate the fountain show.
It was conceived by owner Steve Wynn, and built by the design firm WET. Work began on the fountain show in 1995, and it opened with the resort on October 15, 1998. The attraction was built for $40 million, making it one of the most expensive fountains in the world. The Fountains of Bellagio have appeared in numerous films. It is a signature attraction for Las Vegas, and one of the most photographed places in the United States. It was the largest fountain show in the world until The Dubai Fountain opened in 2009.
The Fountains of Bellagio opened on October 15, 1998, along with the Bellagio resort, both built on the former site of the Dunes hotel-casino.[1][2] The shows take place in a man-made lake in front of the resort.[3] The Bellagio and its fountain attraction were conceived by casino owner Steve Wynn.[4][5] The attraction was created by the design firm WET,[6][7] which had never created such a large project before. Work began on the attraction in 1995,[5][8] and it was completed at a cost of $40 million.[9] It was one of the most expensive fountains in the world.[10]
The fountains are among the most photographed places in the United States.[7][11][12][13] It was the largest fountain show in the world until The Dubai Fountain, also by WET, was opened in 2009.[14][15][16] After leaving the Bellagio in 2000, Wynn would later include a water show at his Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace resorts.[17][18][19]
More than 240,000 fountain shows had been performed at the Bellagio as of October 2018.[20] A new edition of the show, promoting the final season of Game of Thrones, was unveiled in 2019 and ran for two weeks.[21] Scenes from the television show were projected onto a wall of water formed by the fountains, and new technology was installed to shoot flames up from the surface of the water. Music from the series was also incorporated into the fountain show.[22][23]
The shows are widely visible and are typically viewed from the sidewalk along the Las Vegas Strip.[9][10][20] Shows are free and usually performed every half-hour from the afternoon until midnight.[30] A terrace overlooking the fountains has become a popular wedding spot, with the show coordinated to begin as couples kiss.[17][31]
The fountains are controlled through computer programming.[3][10] A control room overlooks the lake from a tower, and is staffed by an engineer who pushes a button to commence the fountain show.[25][32][33] Water can be shot as high as 460 feet,[34][35] up from 240 feet when the show debuted.[9] Water is shot up using compressed air at a pressure of up to 500 pounds per square inch.[3][25] Ten compressors are used to power the fountains.[33] Wind is taken into consideration and the fountains are adjusted if necessary, to keep the show synchronized and prevent pedestrians from getting wet.[25]
The lake also contains 798 mini-shooters, 192 super-shooters and 16 extreme-shooters, respectively capable of shooting water 100, 240 and 460 feet high.[20] The extreme-shooters were added in 2005.[25][39] Regular maintenance takes place on the equipment.[40] For instance, barnacles are routinely sandblasted off of the fountain mechanisms.[38] The attraction has 4,792 fountain lights.[33] Wynn considered using colored fountain lights, before settling on white ones, which he found more elegant.[32][4]
The water is choreographed by WET to match accompanying music and songs,[9][25] which are emitted by 183 speakers[20] built into lampposts.[3] Thirty additional speakers are used only for the bells of a bell tower.[36] Upon its debut, the fountain show included music from composer Gerard Schurmann and choreography by Kenny Ortega.[9] Choreography for the initial dozen songs took two months to complete, as each nozzle and light needed to be programmed individually.[10] It can take up to a week to choreograph two minutes' worth of music.[32] The choreography for each song is stored on computers.[33]
Electronic music was introduced in 2014, with three songs by Tiësto.[44] Other new songs have included Cher's "Believe" in 2018,[42] and Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" in 2019.[43] In April 2022, the resort unveiled another new fountain show set to the music of boy band BTS. More than 160,000 people had seen the show within four days of its opening.[45][46]
Approximately 12 million gallons are used each year for the fountain shows,[49] and the lake uses roughly 500 pounds of chlorine per day.[48] Several restaurants at the Bellagio resort are situated to overlook the lake.[52] The water temperature ranges from 50 degrees in the winter to 85 degrees in the summer.[38] It is frequented by ducks,[35][38] some of which have made it their permanent home.[53]
Stages are sometimes set up on the lake for events or musical performances that incorporate the dancing fountains.[60][28] Britney Spears performed on the lake for the 2001 Billboard Music Awards,[61][62] and Drake did the same during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards.[60][28][63] Panic! at the Disco performed in 2018.[64]
The lake was scheduled to host a portion of the 2020 NFL Draft. A floating red-carpet stage was to be constructed on the lake, with players transported there by boat.[68] However, these plans were canceled due to the pandemic, with the draft being held through videoconferencing instead.[69] Las Vegas was subsequently awarded the 2022 NFL Draft, which features the return of the floating stage concept on the Bellagio lake.[70][71] The fountains were also incorporated into the 2022 NHL All-Star Skills Competition, which took place on the lake.[72][73]
In 2012, the Fountains of Bellagio were included on TripAdvisor's list of "most talked about attractions" from around the world, based on tourist reviews. It was one of 16 attractions featured on the list.[74] In TripAdvisor's 2013 Travelers' Choice awards, the fountains were ranked the number-one tourist attraction in the U.S. and number 12 worldwide.[75][76]
In 2019, Celine Dion and James Corden performed on the lake, singing "My Heart Will Go On" while riding on a boat past the dancing fountains. The performance, reenacting a scene from the film Titanic (1997), was part of Corden's Carpool Karaoke segment on The Late Late Show.[88][89]
To refresh your memory, it's a wordless, post-climax scene where the whole crew (minus the apprehended Danny Ocean) gathers in front of the Bellagio to watch the fountain. The camera tracks down the line, showing the men one by one, and they all seem struck by the beauty of the water display. A lush symphonic version of "Clair de Lune" plays in the background. Then they all go their separate ways. So that it kinda punctuates the end of their mega-job.
Of course, it's a fun heist movie. The criminals are going to be the charming heroes, and the audience is going to be on their side. That can all be achieved with some directorial distance, however. And for the most part, Ocean's Eleven is hands off, morally speaking. It doesn't really comment on the rightness or wrongness of the characters' actions. Except in that wonky fountain scene.
Not to my knowledge, although you may try calling the Bellagio concierge to see if they can make an exception. Each song is choreographed and synced to the fountains so I doubt they are able to take requests
The Bellagio remains open all weekend to guests not attending F1, and the fountains will keep running the whole time. Inside, the ground floor is filled with guests enjoying gambling, food, drinks, shopping and the gardens.
I found the fountains difficult to shoot at night and get decent exposures. I could either expose for the fountain lights and suffer the dark background or expose for the background and let the fountain lights blow out. Tough choice. As you can see, for most of my shots I chose to expose for the fountains.
It didn't take me long to figure out you want to be upwind from the show. The first time I tried shooting the fountains I was downwind, and while it felt good on the skin on a very hot night it was a hassle trying to keep the camera and lens dry.
The fountains were beautiful but a pain to shot. What drove me crazy was after my camera was set and I found some settings that were working the show would hit a dramatic moment and the fountains would go up and the lighting got a lot brighter making my settings useless. By the time I changed the settings they would lower the lights again. What I ended up doing was staying for a few shows, for one show I exposed for the lower lighting effects and then for the next show I exposed for the high points.
Very nice colorful picture of the fountain. I love the water show and could watch it all day and night. I will be going to Veags within the next few months on my annual Vegas trip. It will be the first trip with my 717 and I will take plenty of pictures. In years past with my 35 mm I always had to think of the film and developing cost. Now I will go hog wild. Thanks for sharing the picture with us.
BTS members Jungkook, V and J-Hope experienced the fountains themselves last week, as they took in the sights around Vegas prior to their show. Video posted to the Bellagio Twitter account sees the guys counting down to the start of the show while capturing photos and videos on their Samsung phones.
The Fountains of Bellagio is a daily experience in Vegas, with shows every 30 minutes, between 3pm to 7pm Monday through Friday and every 15 minutes from 7pm to midnight. On weekends, the fountains run every 30 minutes from noon to 7pm and every 15 minutes from 7pm to midnight.
760c119bf3