Costa Rica is known for its tropical climate, beaches, wildlife, and memorable sceneries. But how would you imagine if suppose we tell you that one of Costa Rica’s volcano once exploded flower petals and leaves instead of lava? In 2013, a town in Costa Rica was flooded with eight million flower petals. The bizarre and eye-catching view was part of SONY’s advertisement campaign for the new 4K Ultra HD TV line.
McCann London, an international advertising agency, organized the beautiful display of flowers near Irazu Volcano in the Cordillera Central of Costa Rica. The creative team, together with the residents and locals of the village, took more than two weeks to gather 8 million flower petals, which weighs around 3.5 tons.
McCann used several wind machines to diffuse the petals and leaves near the Irazu Volcano and around the town, creating an incredible flower petal display in every pixel of the Sony 4K Ultra HD TV.
Director Jaron Albertin ensures that even though the editing team added some visual effects, most portion of the entire video advertisement is real. The video aims to present the ultra-high-definition of the screen’s proficient color and sharp display efficiency.
To achieve the effectiveness and performance of the TV line, the pixels to accommodate the 4K TV screen should be 8 million; hence, the use of 8 million flower petals and leaves.
With the help of photographer Nick Meek, McCann and the Sony team created colorful and radiant shots of petals flooding the fields, streams, streets, and covering every rooftop of the Cordillera Central.
How the Advertisement was Made
The advertisement showcases how the newest 4K line is four times the detail of the previous Sony 1080p, which the advertising agency made surreal in the beautiful landscapes of Costa Rica.
The country is outstandingly beautiful even before the colorful petals are shown. In the opening seconds of the ad, the team captured a comprehensive view of the Irazu Volcano. The camera captures the delicate texture of the clouds below lush green hills and mountains.
Right from the picturesque volcano, the video continues to display millions of flower petals and leaves at the center of the volcano. The colorful petals even bubble up as if it is completely boiling until it erupted and showered the small town with crisp and vibrant petals. The camera used to film the video closely is the Sony F65, which has the highest resolution capability in the market.
As opposed to the typical advertisement, the flower volcano ad does not incorporate computer-generated imagery. All the shots from the first second until the end was shot in 4K with Sony’s comprehensive F65 and F55 cameras.
The colorful petals were not literally arranged in the active part of the crater. Sony imported 3-ton equipment to make the ad a reality, along with a British special effects team. It took a team of around eleven personnel to create the live-action using air cannons, giant fans/wind machines, and a 35×35 meter cloth to produce a boiling-like crater.
The 3.5 tons of colorful petals and leaves are a combination of real flowers and biodegradable materials; hence, the management ensures that the materials placed throughout the town of Costa Rica are safe and have no negative effect on the environment.
Sony’s Spectacular Advertisements
Sony has been innovating their ads throughout the years. The flower volcano ad is just one of the few spectacular ads Sony advertised for their new lines of sets. It will be recalled that in 2005, Sony released thousands of colorful Bouncy Balls in the streets of San Francisco. The ad, even the music, was mesmerized by the viewers. The commercial promotes Sony’s new Bravia High-Definition LCD screen.
In 2006, Sony created the Paint Fireworks in Glasgow. Who loves that random clown running in panic towards the end of the ad? The video ad aims to advertise the Bravia LCD Television on that year.
A year after, Sony released the Rolling Bunnies to promote another Bravia LCD Television screen.
In 2008, Sony created yet an amazing ad called Foam City, which flooded the downtown of Miami. The foam was loved by the people, young and old alike. The ad promotes the Handycam, α, and Cyber-Shot new digital camera brand.
These are just a few of Sony’s colorful adverts that wowed the world, and for sure, a lot more are expected to be witnessed. As quoted by Director Albertin, “My overall goal is to do it for real as much as possible and also, to go as big as possible.”
Conclusion
It is a common sight for volcanic eruptions that the colors red, yellow, orange, and grey can be seen from the entire sides of a volcano.
However, it is a unique and creative sight to witness layers of radiantly colored flower petals, from white, pink, purple, yellow, and red, flying off the volcano crater, tumbling across the grounds, rivers, and streams of Costa Rica.
The once lush green jungles of Costa Rica became a multi-colored rain forest. Sony’s video ad created yet once again, spectacular and outstanding effects that sure is beyond the imagination.
