The seven foot two inch man mountain with steel teeth first appears in The Spy Who Loved Me as Karl Stromberg’s enforcer. Jaws initially attempts to obtain a microfilm of the plans of Stromberg’s submarine tracking system from Max Kalba in Cairo. After James Bond and Mayor Anya Amasova steal the film, Jaws attacks them on a train but Bond kicks him out of the window. He tries again in Sardinia but is again unsuccessful. Later in Stromberg’s Atlantis base, Bond uses an electromagnet to lift Jaws by his teeth and drop him into a shark tank. Somehow he survives.
In Moonraker, aerospace mogul Hugo Drax, hires Jaws to work for him. Jaws attempts to kill Bond at the Rio Carnival and then again on the cable cars at Sugarloaf Mountain. Jaws crashes at high speed into the control station where having emerged from the rubble he meets Dolly and the pair immediately fall in love.
Jaws travels with Drax to his secret rocket base where he helps with security issues (including chasing Bond over a waterfall). Then with Dolly he travels to Drax’s space station where he realises if Drax succeeds with his plan to repopulate the earth with beautiful people he and Dolly will be eliminated. He switches side and fights Drax’s men to free a Moonraker shuttle so Bond and Holly can escape the exploding space station. When it looks like Jaws and Dolly will die in space, he opens a bottle of champagne and speaks his only words in the two movies, “Well, here’s to us.”
Focus Of The Week: George Lazenby
George Lazenby’s confidence, striking good looks and charm made him a natural choice to become the successor to Sean Connery as James Bond.
Growing up in Australia, George Lazenby (born 5 September, 1939) always dreamed big. He moved to Canberra in his teens and through perseverance became the leader of a rock ‘n’ roll band and a booker for larger acts coming from Sydney. Lazenby relates this to his performance as 007: “I was basically doing it just to get out there. I didn’t know I wanted to be an entertainer at the time. But, what was in the back of mind, I guess, was to show off, to be somebody. And that’s why, I think, when Bond came up, the odds were I’d get it because I wanted it more than anybody else.”
Lazenby moved to London and lined up a job as a car salesman quickly progressing to selling Mercedes on Park Lane. His looks gained the notice of photographer Chard Jenkins and he quickly became one of the highest paid male models in Europe. After meeting casting director Maggie Abbott, Lazenby was inspired to audition for James Bond and set about turning himself into the perfect candidate. Purchasing a suit that had been made for Sean Connery for You Only Live Twice but wasn’t used, he then went to Connery’s barber at the Dorchester Hotel asking for the Bond actor’s hairstyle not knowing that Bond producer Cubby Broccoli was in the next door chair.
After meeting with co-producer Harry Saltzman, Lazenby confessed to director Peter Hunt that he had no real acting experience. Nevertheless Hunt told him if they stuck together, he could turn him into the new Bond. His physical exuberance and energy secured him the role. Cubby Broccoli said of him: “Lazenby, in my judgement, made a good James Bond, He could have easily fallen into the trap of doing a smart but fatal imitation of Sean. Instead, he fought his corner as a fledgling actor, avoided tricks and gave a surprisingly effective performance.”
A long term commitment to 007 never materialised. Lazenby departed the series after just one memorable performance in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).
Focus Of The Week: Hugo Drax
Aerospace mogul Hugo Drax plans to launch a deadly gas attack on earth from space to wipe out the human race. He then wants to repopulate it with hand-picked, genetically ideal humans and create an “ultimate dynasty”.
Drax is, as James Bond notes, “obsessed with space.” He has built an aerospace empire in Southern California, including a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the Moonraker, a space shuttle created ostensibly for NASA. Drax has also launched a personally funded training program for a new astronaut corps, reputedly to man the Moonraker fleet. In fact, he has built the shuttles and trained the astronauts to help him carry out his master plan.
With a taste for the finer things, Drax lives in a French chateau brought stone by stone to California. It is here that Bond meets Drax and survives an attempted assignation attempt in a centrifuge chamber. Drax’s other base, for the launch site for his shuttles, lies deep in the South American jungle inside a ruined Mayan temple.
While supposedly building the Moonraker fleet for the US government, Drax secretly manufactures and launches an orbiting space station. Drax’s scientists have also distilled a nerve gas, derived from a rare orchid indigenous to the Amazon jungle, that only kills humans. Drax plans to transport his astronauts into space, rain down the deadly nerve gas in globes onto the Earth and kill all humanity. When Bond discovers the plan he finds Drax’s jungle launch station and with the help of Dr. Goodhead travels to Drax’s space station to confront him. During the fight Bond shoots Drax with his wrist watch dart gun, pushes him into an air lock and ejects him into space. Bond and Dr. Goodhead then destroy the poisonous gas-filled globes before they can strike the Earth.
Focus Of The Week: Mayor Anya Amasova
Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), Agent XXX of the KGB, works with Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me to locate and recover two hijacked nuclear submarines. After returning from vacation, KGB chief General Gogol instructs Amasova that the nuclear submarine Potemkin has disappeared and that also her KGB lover Sergei Barsov has been killed by the British Secret Service. In Egypt, Anya pursues the submarine tracking system microfilm offered for sale by Max Kalba. There she first encounters 007 at the pyramids of Giza while meeting contact Aziz Fekkesh. She meets Bond again at The Mujaba Club where the pair shares knowledge of each other’s dossiers and attempt to bid for the microfilm. When Karl Stromberg’s henchman Jaws kills Kalba, Anya and Bond follow the giant to retrieve the microfilm, which Anya wins for the KGB by blowing narcotic dust from a trick cigarette into Bond’s face. But when she contacts General Gogol she discovers the Soviets and the British have now agreed to pool their resources meaning she needs to work with Bond again. After surviving another attack by Jaws, Anya discovers that 007 killed her KGB lover and vows to get revenge when the mission is over. Realising that shipping magnate Stromberg is behind the nuclear submarine hijack, Bond and Anya head to Stromberg’s Liparus supertanker but Anya is captured and taken to his marine research laboratory – Atlantis. Bond rescues Amasova and they flee in Stromberg’s escape pod where she must decide whether to fulfill her vow to kill Bond or not.
Focus Of The Week: Octopussy
Octopussy (Maud Adams) is the head of a secret order of female bandits and smugglers. She lives at The Floating Palace on Lake Pichola, Udaipur, India, a man-made island populated solely by women and only accessible via her private barge. Partnered with exiled Afghan prince Kamal Kahn in a $300 million jewellery smuggling operation she runs a European circus that provides the perfect cover for this operation’s activities. Her father was Major Dexter Smythe a leading authority on octopi who gave his daughter her pet name. Octopussy first meets Bond when he sneaks into her compound to find information about the death of 009. She tries to induce Bond to work for her unaware that her partner Khan wants 007 dead. Having been betrayed by Khan (when he replaces smuggled jewels with an atomic bomb on board her circus train), she seeks revenge on Khan by using her highly trained guards to attack Khan’s Monsoon Palace.
Guy Hamilton Passes Away
Director Guy Hamilton has passed away at the age of 93. “We mourn the loss of our dear friend Guy Hamilton who firmly distilled the Bond formula in his much celebrated direction of Goldfinger and continued to entertain audiences with Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun. We celebrate his enormous contribution to the Bond films,” said Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Sir Ken Adam
Sir Ken Adam has passed away at the age of 95. The legendary Oscar-winning Production Designer worked on seven Bond Films including Dr .No, Thunderball and The Spy Who Loved Me. He was responsible for creating some of the most memorable sets from the Bond films including Blofeld’s volcano lair in You Only Live Twice, the interior of Fort Knox from Goldfinger and the supertanker set from The Spy Who Loved Me. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: “The Bond family mourns the passing of our beloved friend Sir Ken Adam who was so responsible for the visual style of the James Bond films from their inception. A genius and a gentleman he will be deeply missed.”
Naomie Harris Interview
Naomie Harris on returning for her second Bond film.
Spectre is available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD https://007store.com/products/copy-of-spectre-blu-ray-dvd
Zoe Tahir Interview
Zoe Tahir, Bond Hair Designer is nominated for Best Contemporary Hair Styling for her work on Spectre at the 2016 Make-Up Artist and Hair Style Guild Awards this weekend. Here she explains some of Spectre’s iconic hair styles….
1.
“The dresses, the movement and the unity of the group inspired me for this sequence. I instantly knew I wanted the dancers on wheels to look like identical peg dolls, this then led to the idea of making their wigs from wool. It was clear they needed centre partings, waves and balls of wool for buns, finished off with traditional flowers.”
2.
“I initially struggled logically with this look, Lea really wanted vintage glamour and the dress did suggest it but I like a bit of realism and she’s on a train in the middle of a desert with no beauty salon I presume. Then I figured what the heck it’s a Bond film and this girl can pull apart and reassemble a gun in less than 10 seconds flat, she can for sure throw a few rollers in her hair!”
3.
“The hair for this scene evolved on its own, the weather was fierce and the more windswept it got the better it looked. Nothing like a sandstorm for some sexy Bond hair!”
4.
“I love Daniel’s hair in this scene, he has just travelled across a lake with a hat on so I wanted his hair to look disheveled and relaxed. I love the texture and movement, a nice change from the perfect hair he usually has and it really suits him.”
Steve Begg Spectre Interview
As the Visual Effects Supervisor, what does your role cover?
I am responsible for the execution and technical design of all the Visual Effects in the movie. I have to closely liaise mainly with the Director, but also production designer, cameraman and editor, in order to make sure that our work blends in with everyone’s else’s take of the movie. I also delegate and monitor the work to the various companies that supply the VFX. There were six on this due to the workload of 1500+ VFX shots and a very short post production time, 12 weeks, where we do most of our work.
What’s the difference between your role and the Special Effects Supervisor?
The Special Effects Supervisor’s responsibility is primarily all real, practical effects on the sets and locations, from bullet hits, fires, explosions, smoke and rigs, involving the actors and stunt guys. My role is more keeping an eye on and suggesting ways of shooting shots and sequences where we will be adding CGI elements afterwards in post production. There is a big crossover though when we want to use miniatures. I come from a miniature effects background but because they are usually huge scale on a Bond film, (we call them ‘Maxitures’ or ‘Bigatures’) there are huge rigs and effects required. So the Special Effects Department usually get as heavily involved as VFX.
What were the challenges involved with the opening Sequence in Mexico City?
There were loads. From adding another 10-20 thousand CG extras to extend the crowds beyond the 1500 that we had on location. Then the opening sequence where we had to seamlessly blend together six shots photographed in different locations into one big tracking shot ending with Daniel Craig and a lady friend going into a bedroom from a Mexico hotel location to a Pinewood set piece, then out the window back to a Mexico City rooftop location. We never really lost sight of him, which normally helps with the blend-wipes. Thanks to the attention to detail by our Steadicam operator, Sam chose a take were their body positions, camera distance and motion matched from one cut to another. Then there’s the helicopter fight, which had most of our work on the movie.
What involvement did you have in the collapsing building sequence in Mexico?
We were involved in every shot up to the gunfight but the bulk of the work for us was immediately after the suitcase explosion where we tilt up following a crack rising up the building’s face as seen from Bonds POV. The whole image is CGI. Then as Bond starts to run the whole facade begins to topple towards him, again fully CGI but the actual impact is a blend where we took the timing of the impact, done by Chris Corbould’s SFX team on a huge rig on the Pinewood backlot, with a stunt double for Bond. Everything else after is a combination of minimal set pieces as Bond falls through the building with a huge overlay of CG rubble, debris dust etc.
How do VFX and SFX work together?
On these kind of movies you have to work very closely. Visual effects, special effects and stunts have to be successfully combined to create believable action scenes. It usually starts with a stunt or practical effect that needs a bit of invisible CG Sellotape to blend the lot together. The great thing is that it all starts in the real world and has to have a ‘real world’ feel, so if our stuff looks lightweight and animated, then we’ve failed.
Talk us through the fight on the helicopter and how VFX were used.
We were told a few weeks before we started shooting in Mexico that we couldn’t do the more dangerous helicopter stunts, barrel rolls etc, over the Zócalo Square due to the altitude in Mexico City. I had a feeling that was coming so I’d always had a backup plan of shooting these shots over an airfield elsewhere with the stunt helicopter, then replacing the airfield putting a full CG square, crowd and Mexico City below the helicopter, with motion-captured CG doubles fighting inside, which is what we did. We went this route rather than shooting an empty square and putting in a CG helicopter because neither Sam nor myself felt you would get believable composition and movement in the shots from that approach. All the interior and close shots of the helicopter fight were shot in a dummy helicopter fuselage on an SFX gimbal in blue-screen stage at Pinewood. Our job was to put in the spinning backgrounds of Mexico City. Because they would have reflected all of the lights, camera crew and blue-screen, I had them take out the windows and bubble canopy on the dummy helicopter. CG versions were added in later by us with reflections of the sky and city to help sell the illusion.
How involved were you in the explosion in Morocco that earned the Guinness World Record?
The entire sequence once Bond was in the crater was shot on a flat desert plain near the real crater mountain exterior you see earlier as he approaches, with minimal sets and flats for the actors to react to and it gave the camera crew something to lineup on. Everything else buildings, domes, crater walls were created by us. The explosion was mainly real and full scale created by Chris Corbould and his team. Basically there were minimal buildings in those shots, as they would be added in post and roto-scoped in and around the engulfing detonations. Chris used a lot of high explosives and thousands of gallons of gasoline to get the sequential, advancing explosion effect. It was a very tricky shot for us, blending the buildings into and behind the explosions.
How did you go about MI6’s destruction?
I’d considered miniatures for the MI6 building demolition and the collapsing building in Mexico, but the elaborate camera move that had originally been planned (simplified a little later) for the opening sequence ruled out miniatures for me. Also, the sheer scale of the MI6 building didn’t really lend itself to miniatures. The problem with a collapsing model is it has to be structurally strong enough to support itself but weak enough to break into thousands of bits of debris. That’s very difficult to do on a miniature scale. I’ve never seen a miniature building collapse believably without looking like a load of Lego bits. So we went with an entirely CG approach for its destruction.
What impact did filming at night in the centre of London have on the visual effects?
It was massive! Not only did we have to paint out movie lights that were coming into shots (very difficult as they’d flare across the lens), we had to create the foliage on the trees throughout London in the sequences shot April-May, look barren and wintry to match footage that had been shot earlier in the production in December the year before.
How do you go about filming something like the helicopter crash on Westminster Bridge?
This was shot on the 007 stage at Pinewood. It involved a full-scale prop helicopter flown on wires crashing onto a partial set piece of Westminster Bridge. Not only did we add CG rotor blades to the aircraft, but the entire environment. Whilst the bridge was built on the 007 Stage and an enormous translight put in place to depict the scenery either side. We had to extend the bridge, adding the whole of Westminster and police blockades at the ends of the bridge with flashing lights, all put in afterwards. Every single shot in that sequence where you see Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes and Léa Seydoux has CG backgrounds added in. A lot of work!
What VFX sequence took up the most time and planning?
The opening shot and helicopter fight. We spent months pre-visualising both. The previs was most useful in demonstrating to Sam Mendes and Hoyte van Hoytema the DOP, the trickiness and potential problems in blending together shots that were shot in different locations months and continents apart.
Which Visual Effect in Spectre are you most proud of?
I think the opening continuous shot as it’s the most un-Bond like effects shot there has been, and I think it pleasantly caught a lot of people by surprise, and, the little CG mouse that comes out in the hotel room and ultimately runs into a hole in the wall revealing the secret hiding place that Bond has been looking for in Tangier. I’m very happy with that as most people can tell when they see a massive building collapsing in a city like London that it’s probably CG, but not necessarily a little mouse. Most people bought it as a real mouse!
Chris Corbould Interview
The Special Effects Supervisor of Spectre, who has just been awarded a Guinness World Records™ title for the Largest Film Stunt Explosion, on keeping things real, filming in challenging locations and his favourite Spectre stunts…
Q Sam Mendes has a philosophy of ‘doing things for real’. What challenges does this bring?
Sam is a big advocate of “doing things for real”. He has vast experience in directing and producing theatre where everything is for real and I believe that he is most comfortable in an environment where actors can react to real events occurring around them. However he is also a total pragmatist and quickly sees the sense when the CGI option is the most practical one or even better, a mixture of the two. Although Sam has very specific ideas about how the action is to play, his main priority is the storyline and characters, vital ingredients for a good film.
Q How do you go about shooting a big scene, such as the car chase in Austria?
The following description is a basic method of preparing for an action scene but sometimes the order of these processes may differ according to Director and Producer preferences. The first stage of the process usually involves sitting round a table and discussing the scene as written in the script with the Director, Director of Photography, 2nd Unit Director, VFX Supervisor, 1st Assistant AD, Stunt Coordinator and myself. This is really a fact finding mission where everybody pitches in ideas and methodologies of how and where to shoot the sequence. After this meeting the Director usually instructs a storyboard artist to produce a pictorial book showing each individual shot that will make up the sequence. Once this document is produced the same creative team would then probably meet again and further discuss all aspects of the filming process. In the background the Director will have given instructions to the locations department about key areas that need to be located to film the sequence, Once photos have been shown to the Director a location scout with the creative team takes place to visit the various options to film the scenes. It is sometimes a fine juggling act to decide on a location that the Director likes but also that is logistically right for every department to do their job.
The job of preparing the Special Effects for the scene then commences with each individual effect broken down and analysed by myself and senior SFX crew. We will discuss mechanical rigs, types of explosions, crew levels and scheduling of equipment/crew movements. Next comes one of the most important stages which is the testing phase. Every rig and explosion is tested and videoed, sometimes many times. Once results have been achieved that I am happy with I will sit down with the Director for his input into the tests. This procedure may be repeated several times until the Director is confident and happy with all aspects.
We can then begin the logistical phase of loading equipment and materials ready to be transported to the location. In the case of the Austrian sequence the list comprised of 10 Land Rover Defenders, 7 Range Rover SVR, 6 BN2 Islander Planes, 4 Double Track Skidoos, 2 x100 Ton Cranes, 2 Glider Winches, 12 shipping containers of equipment/materials and a final total of 30 SFX Technicians. Once the equipment has arrived the second phase of testing takes place in the snowy conditions required for the sequence. These conditions obviously bring a new set of challenges to deal with but it is all part of the process. One particular part of the sequence involved hanging a full size plane on wires between two cranes which were 450 metres apart. The plane was winched forwards at 50 mph to give the impression that it was flying down a narrow valley of trees with branches clipping the wingtips. This would obviously have been too risky to do with a real flying plane. However, at one stage we had to slow down the plane on wires as it started to glide on its own.
Finally the shooting crew will arrive and film every part of the jigsaw needed to edit together the final cut. There is much improvisation along the way as many diverse problems raise their head but the crew, headed by Ian lowe, were experienced, competent and dedicated to deal with every eventuality.
When the sequence is complete and the film is approved by the Director the whole unit is packed up and either returned to the UK or moved onto the next location, which on Spectre, was Rome.
Q What was the biggest challenge of shooting so many scenes, in various locations all over the world?
As you can see from the description above the logistics are very extensive. On Spectre we filmed in four different countries apart from the UK, namely, Austria, Italy, Mexico and Morocco each having its own set of challenges. Obviously one of the biggest challenges is making sure we have the right crew and equipment in the right place at the right time. We also have to allow for the different climates such as the sub zero temperatures of Austria to the 50 degree heat of the Moroccan desert.
Q Talk us through the Aston Martin DB10 and Jaguar C-X75, what modifications did you make to them?
We worked very closely with both Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover/Williams to adapt the cars to perform all the requirements of the film. Particular detail was paid to the suspension system as both cars were required to do high speed jumps during the sequence. Neil Layton, my vehicle technical coordinator, was in constant discussions with both companies to ensure maximum specifications for each vehicle and the results were amazing. It was also fun to reintroduce some “optional extras”, namely gadgets, to the car which I know is a favourite for all Bond fans. I had previously collaborated with Aston Martin and Jaguar on Die Another Day where both companies excelled themselves in helping us create a fantastic sequence on an ice lake in Iceland. The chase in Spectre is even more spectacular.
Q For Spectre you had 10 Aston Martin DB10s that were made especially for the film. Does filming with a bespoke car bring an added pressure and are you ever worried about not having enough cars?
It’s a funny thing because I only found out that they had made ten cars near the end of the film. We were filming with only eight cars and at times came close to running out. There were two pristine hero cars, two cars with rooftop remote driving pods and four stunt rigged cars, two of which had the gadgets fitted to. So although we had eight cars, most of them had specific roles to play and were not necessarily quickly interchangeable. It is a constant worry that there is the potential for a shortage of cars and consequently they are nurtured throughout the film so that they don’t fail mechanically. I certainly would have slept better if I had known that there were two more cars at our disposal, maybe that’s why they didn’t tell us.
Q Spectre is your 14th Bond film. How do you feel your role as Special Effects Supervisor has developed over your time working on Bond?
The role of Special Effects Supervisor has developed immensely over the years. Obviously the introduction of digital effects was a massive change to the way we work but in addition, the use of computers to control hydraulics, pneumatics, winches and rigs is greatly advantageous. The crews have generally got much larger and the emphasis tends to be very engineering orientated. I have found over the years that I have tended to work closer and closer with the Director on script ideas and action concepts and consequently, I now have a yearning to direct myself.
Q Out of all the scenes you shot in Spectre which one is your favourite?
I have two favourite scenes, one being a full size helicopter crash and the other, was the huge explosion in Morocco. The helicopter crash was executed in a similar way to the underground train in Skyfall except that this time we had to deal with much faster speeds whilst puppeteering it to spin sideways as it came to a halt. Dan Homewood was my project leader on both the train and helicopter rigs but now is wondering what we might have to crash on Bond 25.
Q Spectre was awarded a Guinness World Records™ title for the Largest Film Stunt Explosion, what was it like to arrange that stunt in Morocco?
The explosion in Morocco was interesting in that I didn’t just want to do a huge explosion. I wanted it to have shape and a progression as it spread through all the connecting buildings over an area of ten football fields. Conveniently, we were filming in the desert in Morocco without a pane of glass or habited building for miles around, both of which are normal cause for concern when doing an explosion of this size. It also gave me the opportunity of using the fairly new technology of programmeable detonators where each detonator is programmed to a thousandth of a second. I was introduced to the system by Charlie Adcock of Event Horizon Ltd. He advises me on all the large scale pyrotechnics that I dream up and together we produce some spectacular results.
Q And which was the most difficult to film and why?
The most difficult scene to film was the collapsing building where Bond is running across a rooftop as it collapses behind him. We guided a section of building down a track which impacted on a breakaway area of rooftop causing the three floors below Bond to collapse. It was a very close collaboration between Special Effects and VFX. It took us a long time to develop and feel confident that we had all the safety measures in place to achieve the shot. Once the impact had taken place Bond falls through the building in a chain reaction of collapsing levels, all of which were controlled using hydraulic mechanisms and safety systems. Project leader Kevin Herd and my team spent many hours deliberating over different methods to achieve this effect
Q Empire reported that you enjoy the mechanical side of big rigs more than blowing things up. What is it that you find so appealing about these mechanical rigs in particular?
I do love the whole process of working with my team to research, develop, fabricate, test and film the big mechanical rigs. There is something challenging about the problem-solving process and inspirational about the dedication of my creative engineers to look at all options to overcome the obstacles. Rigs such as the Casino Royale sinking house, the Skyfall underground train crash and The World Is Not Enough caviar house sequence are typical examples. There is no other feeling that compares when the whole plan comes together and spectacular footage has been achieved after months of hard work.
Q What are your thoughts on CGI? Is it more of a help or a hindrance to your role as Special Effects Supervisor?
CGI is seldom a hindrance and is a fantastic tool when used wisely. Some of my practical effects would not be possible without the help of CGI and many of my effects are greatly enhanced by digital tweaking. CGI has also made filming a much safer environment to work in as many extra safety features are digitally removed whereas this was not possible a few years ago. I personally believe that our two departments work in complete harmony these days to produce the most realistic effects.
Q What element of your job do you enjoy most?
Coming up with the creative ideas to feed to the Director giving him all the possible ingredients to formulate the most exciting sequence for the audience. I also get a great thrill from seeing my Special Effects crew rise to every challenge and work tirelessly to produce a fantastic end result. This includes the workshop supervisors, floor supervisors, senior technicians, CAD designers, engineers and especially Lynne, my buyer/coordinator/wife who has been responsible for purchasing every item of Special Effects equipment and materials for my films over the last twenty years, along with being my spiritual backbone . I also enjoy working with a lot of the unsung heroes of the film industry like the construction crews, electricians, propmen, accounts personnel, production office personnel, drivers, assistant directors, location dept etc. They are rarely mentioned but are vital to the success of any film.
Q Are there any particular difficulties when it comes to shooting scenes in large cities?
Large cities can be problematic. Rome is a classic example. The city comprises of two thousand year old buildings and we wanted to do a 100 mph chase with two supercars through it. Naturally there was some hesitation on their part and all credit to the locations department for gaining the permissions. The knock on to Special Effects was that the cars involved had to be 100 per cent reliable. Our prime concern is for the safety of the drivers but another major concern was the wellbeing of Rome’s historic architecture. The cars were meticulously tested almost to the point of destruction so that we were confident that mechanical failure would not occur. Many features of the cars were strengthened and adapted to cope with the rigorous weeks ahead.
Q What is your favourite part of being the Special Effects Supervisor for Bond?
I love being given the opportunity and resources to showcase my skills and the talent of my crew. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have repeatedly encouraged me to explore new ideas and have consistently supported me in my wildest dreams. I was honoured to have worked with Cubby Broccoli on a few of my earlier films but I am now even more honoured to have remained part of the Bond family franchise over the last fourteen films. I adore my crew and many of them, including long standing floor supervisor Peter Notley, have been with me since I supervised GoldenEye I have also really enjoyed working with Daniel Craig who has been a huge part of our success. He consistently wants to be involved with all aspects of Special Effects, even rehearsing with us during his down time to achieve the most realistic results.
Global James Bond Day
Today, Monday 5th October, is official Global James Bond Day – a celebration of 53 years of the Bond franchise. This date marks the anniversary of the release of Dr. No in 1962. This special day of celebrations first began in 2012 when the Bond films celebrated their golden anniversary with events all around the globe and the release of the theme song for Skyfall by Adele. This year the day is marked with the release of the official video for Writing’s On The Wall, the theme song for Spectre, by Sam Smith.
