Was that Steve Wynn, Encore commercial real?

Friday, Jan. 2, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Mr. Sun, I had assumed the commercial where Steve Wynn sits on the crest of Encore and dangles his legs over the edge was done with CGI — computer-generated imagery. A friend told me it was real. Can you resolve the dispute?

• • •

The television commercial in which Wynn perches atop his new copper-colored hotel like it’s a billion-dollar lawn chair is no product of Hollywood trickery.

In the Encore ad, Wynn reprises the commercial he did for Wynn Las Vegas, in which he stood atop that hotel.

As proof Wynn was really there, the hotel prepared a behind-the-scenes video showing the preparations for the shoot on and above the 48-story hotel. Wynn rehearses his lines with director Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour,” “X-Men: The Last Stand”). The casino developer is shown walking up the building’s sloping rooftop and then seated at its pinnacle with his legs crossed and dangling 675 feet above the ground. A camera-carrying chopper hovers nearby.

“This should lay the question to rest,” the narrator says. “Yes, Steve really was on the building.”

(The video, along with the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore ads, can be viewed at encorelasvegas.com or on YouTube)

It may not convince the moon-landing-was-faked crowd, but Mr. Sun is a believer.

Questions for Mr. Sun should be sent to page8@lasvegassun.com.