Three weeks ago, another wild and crazy video hit the internet like a freight train. Since that day, it has received over 2,600,000 views. What’s all the fuss? It is the biggest waterslide on earth being tested, successfully! In this 45 second video you can view someone flying over 100 feet in the air and landing in a small blue kiddie pool. Although this looked like great fun and we all wanted to believe it was true, the question everyone immediately began asking was, “Is this real or fake?”
It didn’t take much digging to find the correct answer. I’m sorry all you fellow slip-n-slide lovers, this video is not real. As a matter of fact, it was created as part of an elaborate and very well done viral ad to demonstrate the tools in the Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007 software package. After all, if that software can manage making this short movie, think of all the other applications that would be useful.
I have found the best explanation of this video here: https://newteevee.com According to this site, this is how the video was done, “It’s a case of creative compositing, meaning that the clip we get to see is based on multiple elements that were combined together to create a final video. A stuntman slides down the slide, secured by a rope. Then there’s a body flying through the air, which is animated. And finally, the big splash. He actually jumped from a wooden ramp into the pool. Of course, you don’t get to see any of this in the final clip, thanks to careful editing that makes it look like a single take.”
Bottom line, nobody expected this video to have this much success. The site above goes on to state, “The campaign was just meant to be for a German audience, but has gotten Twitter, blog and mainstream media responses from all over the world.”
There is still a part of me that wishes this video was real. I’ve always loved slip-n-slides!
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