Friday Funny: Engineering Bright Ideas With Sheep, Dogs, And LEDs

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

Anyone who has seen border collie sheep herding competitions knows how well trained these animals are. But what happens when you invite inventive Welshmen, amazing border collies, and responsive flocks of sheep to take those talents away from the field of competition? Throw in some LED lighting technology and dramatic background music, and see what happens in this video.

Alas, while the essence of this advertisement (and yes, it was an ad for Samsung televisions) is true, there was some computer “enhancement” involved in the shoot to improve the visual effects. Yes, the participants are genuine Welsh sheep herders (lead by Welsh national sheep herding champion Gerry Lewis) and the herding is real, but there is a significant amount of clever post production work going on to make the magic happen.

This video was made in 2009, but what would happen if it were retried today? Modern LED bulb technology can do some pretty amazing things. (And so can computer post production manipulations, for that matter.) But when engineering minds combine with creativity, some holiday light displays could certainly rival the concepts presented in this video. Any facility manager/engineering types tempted to try their hand at a stunt like this?