Surely a late candidate for one of the best adverts of the year is the incredible video by Toshiba advertising their range of REGZA SV LCD TVs.
The advert – part one of two – shows an armchair being lofted 98,268 feet to the edge of space by a helium balloon.
Launched from the Black Rock Desert, the advert was shot by Haris Zambarloukos, and was made possible via the construction of a custom-built camera rig made by John Powell of JP Aerospace.
The chair was made of biodegradable balsa wood to make it light enough to make the 83 minute journey up towards space, with four rig-mounted independent GPS systems accurately recording the spectacular journey.
Facts about the shoot:
- The shots were taken at a staggering 98,268 feet above the earth using Toshiba’s own cameras
- To reach the altitude required and to conform with Federal Aviation Administration regulations, the weight of the rig had to be carefully managed to a weight of no more than four pounds
- Tied to the rig was a specially created full-sized model chair made of biodegradable balsa wood – the chair was made by a company called Artem and cost about £2,500
- Launch coordinates of the rig were – 119 degrees, 14 minutes by 40 degrees, 48 minute (12 miles North-East of the town of Gerlach, Nevada)
- The quality of the footage from the Toshiba IK-HR1S cameras was: 1920×1080 pixel count; 1080i @ 50hz; 100 Mbps
- The temperature dropped to minus 90 degrees when the chair reached 52,037 feet
- The chair took 83 minutes to reach an altitude of 98,268 feet where it broke and took just 24 minutes to fall back down to earth with the rig.
