“Imagine” was the inauguration of Sony’s yearlong Visionaries campaign, which aimed to pair creative innovators together with new Sony technology to unleash their unbounded potential.
Directed by and featuring RESET's Garth Davis (co-director of Top of the Lake) and shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda (
Life of Pi), the spot imagines the limitless potential of Davis' vision, as realized through the new 4K Ultra High Definition TV.
The spot sets several important milestones, as it is among first commercials to embrace true 4K both in production and delivery (with a companion piece being shown in 4K at retail locations), utilizing the technology that raises definition by four times that of your standard HD television. Additionally, the spaceship created by VFX company MPC is the largest asset ever created for TV. With a team of five highly skilled industry professionals, the ship was built in real world scale (1 billion bits!) and rivals the size of many individual assets for features.
"The Sony 4K Ultra HD TV really is a new way of looking at things, a new visual language. It's almost like you can walk into the picture," says Garth Davis. "One of the things unique to the TV is color. And the story we've been creating for this project is about celebrating color in lots of ways."
The commercial, shot on location in New Zealand with the Sony Cine-Alta F65 and F55 professional 4Kcameras, harnesses the revolutionary power of the Sony 4K Ultra HD TV to bring color and imagination to life. The narrative follows Davis' imagination; as he sits on a chair in the middle of the ocean, his world illuminates before him. Fires rage in the watery world. A crowd of people from the early 1900s rush through the water towards large ladders suspended to infinity. A fleet of medieval pirates' ships fire into the deep blue sea. Luscious reds and blues fill the picture, as a bluebird flutters across the screen and boundaries are erased between pure imagination and the physical capabilities of the Sony 4K Ultra HD TV.
"This was part of our Visionaries campaign for Sony," explains 180LA Creative Director Dave Horton. "The idea was to bring together two industry leaders to collaborate on a creation that brings Sony's technology to life. Here we've paired filmmaker Garth Davis with Academy Award-Winning Cinematographer Claudio Miranda to create a journey into Garth's imagination. A visual dream inspired by the incredible detail and beauty of Sony's new 4K television."
The campaign is designed to drive consumers to see and experience the Sony 4K TVs. View the spot at the link below, but for the real 4K experience, visit your nearest Sony Store or Magnolia Home Theater at Best Buy: