The sky is the limit when it comes to promoting the Nvidia Shield Android TV gaming and entertainment set-top box. There’s no better way to demonstrate this than with one of its latest ads, which features skydiver Jeff Provenzano. He also happens to be strapped into a makeshift living room before being dropped from a cargo plane 10,000 feet in the air, with a cat nearby.
As part of the Rule the Living Room campaign, Provenzano got to relax and get in some Ultra Street Fighter IV before pulling the ripcord on his parachute while the living room fell to the earth. Was this a real stunt or was it faked Given all the graphics technology that’s at Nvidia’s disposal, it could be either or both. Speculating is half the fun.
[a]listdaily spoke to David Wright, Executive Creative Director at Nvidia, to see what went into the making of a living room free-fall.
The general rule is to be bold, so when we asked how Nvidia came up with the idea of the living room free-fall video, he replied “Living rooms are starting to grow out of control. Cable boxes, DVRs, game consoles, Blu-ray players and more are cluttering home entertainment systems. SHIELD cuts through the chaos. What better way to depict this, than to show someone in total control of the most chaotic, dangerous living room known to man This is why we decided to film someone using SHIELD while free-falling from 10,000 feet.”
Being cool and in control, even when your living space is out of control, is all part of the Rule the Living Room campaign. “Rule the Living Room is about taking back control of your entertainment options,” Wright explains. “Instead of needing multiple sources to enjoy the media you want, SHIELD provides a single option for the best movies, music, TV shows, apps and games — all at up to 4K resolutions.”
Given how Nvidia is known for advanced graphics technology, so it’s hard to tell whether the video, or parts of it, were faked. When asked whether fans appreciated the speculative nature of the video, Wright stated, “Fan reaction has been very positive. We’ve seen a lot of engagement with the video. Many fans can’t believe that it’d be real. With our GPU capabilities, we can’t find fault in their disbelief.”
But if we were to assume that the video were real, then how many round of Ultra Street Fighter IV did Provenzano play while falling in mid-air “It takes approximately one minute to free-fall 10,000 feet.” Wright states. “Depending on how good his opponent was, he may have enough time to finish a complete match.”
Fans are likely to keep guessing about the nature of video for quite some time, but whatever conclusion they reach, Nvidia reminds us that, “No cats were harmed in the making of this film.” The same cannot be said about the living room setup after it hit the earth.
