Giant Puppet Video - Is it real or CG?

[ChinoXL]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56jr2RZej18&mode=related&search=

This is a very cool video I found while lurking myspace - i'm not sure if this has already been posted or not - but i'm wondering who made this video and what it was used for - there seems to be multiple videos of this puppet and all different..hmm

 

[Buck-Beaver]

It's for a jeans commercial (supposedly) being shot in Iceland. It is apparently real, and if it is it's an incredible feat. Probably the biggest marionette ever, bigger than even the stuff that Royal De Luxe does.

 

[Vic Romano]

That's real!?!? How'd they get him to move as quick as they did?

 

[Fozzie Bear]

AMAZING!! Wow. I need a 100-foot tall Muley.

Or a 100-foot tall Marshmallow Man, either one.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I did some digging because I was suspicious about a few aspects of the video and I'm starting to lean towards it not being real. I've posted some stuff about this on PuppetVision, but the few people I know in Reykjavik say no one heard anything about this. I also emailed a pilot I know who has some experience with helicopters and he says while it's probably not impossible to do, he thinks they would have been crazy to do it "for real" when they could do it much more safely with CG.

Either way, I'd love to get the whole story about this!

 

[TheCreatureWork]

It is fake, for a number of reasons
1) There is a duo blade heli and two singles- the amount of concentration to keep them from smashing into eachother would be next to impossible.
2) They seem to be calculated in their camera work and blocking techniques. People placed in the scenes to give the marionette scale.
3) The government would never allowed a 1000lbs marionette swing all over their city never mind "crashing" down into busy streets. Plus the added threat of helicopters colliding into something and falling to the ground.
4)There isn't a clear shot- I know if I was part of the planning team I would have at least someone I know video taping it or getting a couple of snap shots. I know nobody sits around with a HD camera waiting for something to happen but come on! At least a 3 megapixel shot would be nice.
5) All the Marionette is wearing is JEANS! I think Andrew is right, it is a fake and the marketing monkeys of some jean company are getting what they want...advertising through word of mouth.

However, if the footage is real, way to go! And boy do I have egg on my face, but it will be a CG egg of course!

 

[TheCreatureWork]

Sorry, but I am really tired...can you tell from my incoherent babble? I should have just said I agree with BuckBeaver

 

[practicecactus]

TheCreatureWork makes valid points, my intial thoughts were all of them too.

But also..making Jeans of that size?..impossible.

Youtube seems to be down, so I can't see any of the footage but I have to go with my gut feeling. This would be all over the news if it was real.
I mean, you can find photos of the upcoming Tranformers from the movie but nothing on this? It's gotta be CG.

EDIT: Ok, I can see the vids on youtube now..Painfully CG. The weight is badly animated on him and it's rediculous that these people are so close.
And the precision required from the pilots, the way it changes direction and moves so quickly would mean the helicptors would have to moving fast, and with cables to worry about not hitting and the weight they're moving..ugh.

Which brings me back to thinking about these people that posted it on youtube. Where did they get the footage?..fake accounts? paid to partake in a viral campain?
None of them seem to have personal footage, just stuff from the net or tv or whatever..Just some similarites and weird vibe to them. Very Odd.

 

[Punch'n'Judy]

It is a fake. I was emailed by a company looking for marionettists for a jeans commercial where a small marionette was to be shot green screen and then scaled up to look as large as its surroundings. This is the finished product!

 

[Beauregard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d604qgmBPlo&NR - Here is another interesting giant puppet...and this one is real, I'm sure of it.