National Geographic get weightless

Global - Corresponding with its upcoming Space Week, National Geographic Channels has launched the world's first zero gravity idents filmed onboard a specially-adapted Boeing 727 aircraft.

The advertising agency in charge of the project was Brothers and Sisters. Creative directors Steve Shannon and Lee Parker, of the agency and National Geographic Channel UK respectively, together with the crew of 14 people experienced 17 parabolic dives, giving them just eight and a half minutes in total to film the idents. They brought on board the National Geographic's iconic yellow border, 20 cubes of jelly, a rack of pool balls, four balloons, two apples, several torches and four packs of M&M's.

The campaign aims to give viewers: "A new window on the world to see something extraordinary. There were no second chances, no re-takes when filming this campaign, so we didn't know exactly what idents would be successful, but thanks to intricate planning and a bit of luck on the day, we exceeded even our own expectations," Brothers and Sisters' Shannon said.

The campaign took over six months of planning before the shoot and has launched across 166 countries on television and online.