Meg Simmonds Q&A

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EON’s archivist, Meg Simmonds, is the author of Bond By Design: The Art of the James Bond Films which is published on 1 October…

The designs behind landmark sets including Stromberg’s Atlantis base in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Blofeld’s Volcano Lair in You Only Live Twice (1967) feature in the book. Is there a set design that is your personal favourite and what is the story behind its design?
It is so difficult to just choose one. The six rough concepts of the Rumpus Room in Goldfinger (1964) and the six rough concepts for SPECTRE’s HQ in Thunderball (1965) are collectively my favourites. Once Sir Ken Adam had an idea for a set, he worked very fast. You can feel his excitement for the project and see it develop. These roughs illustrate part of the creative process and the viewer gets to witness what is discarded and what is kept. I love that behind-the-scenes insight.

Do you have a favourite Bond gadget design from the book? Tell us why.
Yes, it isn’t a very obvious choice. Bond’s Secondary Homer Concepts by Michael White, Goldfinger, (1964). This concept includes a variety of ideas and next to the sketch of a homer in a toothbrush is written ‘Ridiculous!’. From the very beginning the producers Broccoli and Saltzman encouraged everyone on the production team to be actively involved in the creative process, what Sir Ken Adam referred to as the ‘democratic debating society’. This concept shows one of the art directors experimenting with ideas and once again rejecting some of them. It is great fun to be contributing to the ingredients of the collaboratively creative Bond soup that keeps a popular icon vital for the audience.

In Bond by Design the reader sees everything from the earliest hand-drawn set sketches from Dr. No (1962) to a digital illustration from the latest James Bond film Spectre (2015). How has the design process behind Bond evolved over the years?
The design process has evolved along with technology. For instance in the early 1960s you did not have the ability to photocopy or scan, therefore original art was created and shared. In all of Sir Ken Adam’s concepts you will find a mass of little pin holes in the corners because these were working pieces of art, taken on and off a pin board for different departments to look at and use as a reference. In the 70s and 80s you begin to get photocopies of storyboards and concepts. The pin holes are reduced. And today you don’t have a physical piece of original art – you have a digital file – no pin holes whatsoever. In the 1960s very few sequences were storyboarded as the pace of the films and editing was slower than today. In the 1990s practically the entire film is storyboarded due to an increase in fast action sequences. Storyboard sequences today are being replaced with ‘previsual’ sequences which are digitally animated and provide more information about camera movement. Each new way the designs are executed increases the ability and speed to make changes and inform a large crew quickly.

Tell us more about some of the previously unseen designs that feature in the book?
In most of our publications that cover the behind-the-scenes process of film making there is only a minimal amount of space to illustrate the concepts behind the design process and therefore the same handful of final pieces are published over and over again. I’m so pleased that this book focuses in on this one aspect. 75 per cent of the concepts in this book haven’t been published before, to my knowledge.

How long does it take to design a Bond film?
The design process starts very early and continues throughout the film-making process to the very end. For Bond films – I’d say the average time it takes is about one year – give or take a few months.

How do you acquire items for the Archive? What’s the rarest/most
expensive?
Luckily most of the concepts and technical drawings were kept from the very beginning. Production Designer Peter Lamont was instrumental in making sure these were kept safe between films. The oldest Ken Adam concepts are the most valuable because of their age and because he set such precedent in the modern approach to designing Bond sets.

How did you become EON’s Archivist?
I worked with Jerry Juroe in the Publicity Department on The Living Daylights in 1987 providing picture research for some special 25th anniversary publications. In 1995 digital image scanning became accessible to the public. Producer Michael Wilson agreed that we should start a digital archive of images. At the same time Jane Wilson, Michael’s wife, suggested that we make an inventory and start a proper archive of all the physical assets, such as props, costumes and concept art. So Jane, Iris Rose, the Production Coordinator back in the 1980s and 90s, and I spent several days unlocking offices and garages peppered around Pinewood to begin the process of creating an inventory of all the physical Bond assets. I had a team of researchers headed by Tim Ryan from the GoldenEye art department start identifying some of the obscure objects and creating a database. It has just continued to grow from there.

Did you find iconic pieces of Bond history missing once you identified and inventoried everything that was kept?
Yes, Many pieces were inadvertently given away. We had to buy back Oddjob’s bowler hat! Many of the vehicles were sold off by the production company when the promotional period for a particular film ended. Thanks to dedicated Bond fans in the Ian Fleming Foundation many of these were tracked down and restored. They have collaborated with us on our Bond In Motion exhibition now located in Covent Garden. Right up to the 1990s the costumes were always given away or sold to cast and crew members at the end of filming – so I’ve had to keep my eye on auctions for those. Researching the art work for this book led me to get in touch with Robert Laing’s family. His son Martin has followed in his footsteps and is a very successful production designer. I met with Martin and his mother, Maureen, and they showed me original artwork from Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Live And Let Die that I didn’t know existed. That was a thrilling moment. Many of those pieces are included in this book.

Who do you think will enjoy this book?
I hope that anyone who is interested in the film making process and design will enjoy seeing the variety of styles and approaches employed over the years in visualising and making Bond’s world real.

Bond By Design: The Art of the James Bond Films by Meg Simmonds, is published by DK on 1 October 2015, £35.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241185998/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0MDHKQ6F7TGDFBBRNX2X&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=577049067&pf_rd_i=desktop

https://www.waterstones.com/book/bond-by-design-the-art-of-the-james-bond-films/9780241185995

Aston Martin DB9 GT Bond Edition

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Aston Martin are celebrating the 50 year partnership with James Bond and the release of Spectre by launching the strictly limited edition DB9 GT Bond Edition. Limited to 150 examples worldwide, the model is based on the recently launched DB9 GT but with some Bond additions. On the exterior the car has unique
Spectre silver paint and discreet ‘007 Bond Edition’ badging, while inside it has unique numbered sill plaques featuring the 007 logo, gun barrel embroidery on the rear seat divider and a special Bond Edition start-up screen.
The car also comes with some Bond-themed accessories including a 21” Globe-Trotter trolley case with embossed leather luggage tag and an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m James Bond Limited Edition watch complete with an Aston Martin strap. The new DB9 GT Bond Edition is available to order in markets around the world from today, priced at £165,000.

Patrick Macnee (1922-2015)

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Patrick Macnee has sadly passed away at the age of 93. In a career full of memorable roles, Patrick starred as Sir Godfrey Tibbett alongside Roger Moore in A View To A Kill (1985). Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

Sir Christopher Lee Passes Away

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Sir Christopher Lee has passed away at the age of 93. One of Britain’s greatest actors, he will always be remembered for playing the classic villain Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974).
Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

Louis Jourdan (1921-2015)

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We are very sad to learn that Louis Jourdan has passed away at the age of 93. The French actor will always be remembered for playing one of the great Bond villains, Kamal Khan, in Octopussy (1983) and Gaston Lachaille in Gigi (1958). Our deepest sympathies go out to his family.

Maud Adams Q&A

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Andrea Anders from The Man With The Golden Gun answers your questions…

Q Bret Swanie: Which other “Bond girl” would you have wanted to play.
A I never thought about that but, I think the franchise has done a great job in making sure the “Bond girls” are strong characters and contemporary. I have really enjoyed Judi Dench and will miss her participation. Not a “Bond girl” role but that would have been fun to play.

Q Steven Bayman: Knowing the impact that it had had on your life by becoming a Bond Girl, did you hesitate in accepting the role of Octopussy, because of all the media furore that comes with each film?
A I never hesitated. It was such a treat to be able to once again work with Roger Moore, the producer Cubby Broccoli and the crew I had come to like so much. Being offered the title role of Octopussy also was a real honour.

Q Vitaly Man: Which Bond film was most fun?
A I enjoyed them both, to a large degree because I was lucky to have Roger Moore as “my” Bond. Britt Ekland also became a good friend during GOLDEN GUN and we spent a lot of our free time together doing “girlie” things like shopping and gossiping.

Q Paul Rankin: What was it like working with Roger Moore?
A He was always very supportive, a real team player and kept everybody in good spirits during the filming.

Q Chris Lethbridge: How did your expectations compare with your experience?
A I was just trying to focus on doing my job and hoped for the best as I really didn’t understand just how big Bond was in the beginning. It was a bit daunting at first, when I realised what I had gotten involved with and also to get so much personal attention. Although I had made three feature length movies prior and you always hope for success, I had never worked on a movie where there was so much expectation, before we’d even shot one frame. Also, I never expected “Bond” to become such a long running franchise and that my participation would have such a lasting effect on my professional life. Kudos to Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who deserve a lot of credit for keeping Bond relevant, meeting and often exceeding, the continued high expectations every time a new film is released.

Q Daniel Sam Ohiomah: How was it acting alongside Christopher Lee?
A He was a real gentleman during the filming and extremely professional coupled with a very dry sense of humour.  I really didn’t know that much about him other than his Dracula interpretation at first but, I’m so grateful to have met and had the pleasure to have worked with this talented and wonderful man.

Q Phil Quinones: If you had the chance to do the roles again, would there be anything you would do differently?
A Gosh, I know I would have played both roles differently now that I have much more experience and confidence as an actor.

Britt Ekland Q&A

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Swedish actress Britt Ekland plays Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun. Here, she answers your questions…

Q Mark Roberts: What are your fondest memories of The Man With The Golden Gun?
A There are so many but just being in Cubby Broccoli’s office and being told the part of Mary Goodnight was mine is forever etched in my memory. Flying with my children to Bangkok, filming in such an exotic place was very special. Meeting and becoming friends with Maud Adams and always having a great time together and working with Roger, who was the most non star-like actor I’d ever worked with. None of that staying in the trailer and only coming on set for the scene, he was always warm and jokey with everyone and had a very different sense of humor.

Q Michael Kramer: How much fun was it working with Roger Moore? And what was the best part about filming with him?
A The best part of working with Roger was that he made you feel good about yourself and confident and that is a quality not a lot of actors have. It’s very scary to come on set and work with a famous star and even though I had co-starred in several American and English movies, I still felt very insecure! Roger did like to joke around and used to tease me and Maud, calling us Mud and Bert! Roger is a very charming man and it was ultimately one of the best movies I ever worked on, a very enjoyable time in my life.

Q Bruce Pahde: What scene was the most physically demanding for you?
A Any scene where you wear a bikini is demanding but I think the scenes where Roger and I run from the explosions were difficult because of timing and of course if you watch the film you’ll see me, trying to throw myself on the ground as my bottom was too close to the explosive and Roger yanking me up and just kept going. Also running in high heel shoes, well wedges, is not easy.

Q Jeremy Pampuch: What was your favourite location to shoot for the film and why?
A I liked Bangkok but it was very hot and humid and very bad air quality, still is, I went back a couple of years ago and nothing had changed! Phuket was incredible, no hotels or tourists just miles and miles of empty white beaches. I enjoyed Hong Kong very much and used to spend my free time wandering around looking in antique shops.

 

Sir Christopher Lee Q&A

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Sir Christopher Lee plays one of the most iconic Bond villains, Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun. We asked for your questions to put to him and here’s what the great man had to say.

Q Joe McConkie: Sir Christopher Lee, what was it like working with Hervé Villechaize?
A He was a delightful man and very professional. He was also very amusing.

Q Simon Mortimer: How did you prepare for the role? You were so memorable and it has stood the test of time.
A You naturally read the script. You meet the Director, Guy Hamilton, and you discuss the best way of presenting the character, who was much more agreeable than the character described by Ian Fleming in his book. He was more civilized and had a very strong sense of humour.

Q Kade Bittick: What was your personal favourite scene to shoot in the film?
A I think when we all had lunch – Roger Moore, Britt Ekland and myself and it was during this meal that I suggested a one on one duel. I also said I liked Britt Ekland in a bikini; no concealed weapons. There was another scene that was cut which showed at the beginning how untrustworthy Scaramanga was because he claimed he only needed one bullet (to kill Bond). In it Roger Moore, 007, throws a bottle towards me behind the rocks and I use my one bullet to shoot it down – which makes Bond assume that I have no others. In fact, I had another bullet in my belt buckle, so I was able to reload the gun.

Q Montrose Patriot: What was it like to film in Phuket when the location was unknown to the Western world?
A Phuket was then an unknown little village. Our producer, the late Cubby Broccoli, had literally transformed some of the houses so they could be lived in by the cast and crew. That’s what makes a producer. He also flew in our meals by helicopter.

Q Craig Edwards: As a step-cousin of Ian Fleming did that make the role more attractive to you?
A In the book, The Man with the Golden Gun, the villain was in fact a very nasty piece of work who went around shooting at everything, including bottles in bars and harmless animals and birds. We were able to make Scaramanga a much more interesting character. He was charming, but lethal.

Q Harrison Lee Wilkinson: If you could have portrayed any Bond villain other than Scaramanga who would it have been and why?
A Ian Fleming and I used to play a lot of golf together down near Sandwich. One day before the first Bond was made, he asked me if I had read the book ‘Dr. No’. I said I had and enjoyed it very much. He said to me “I would like you to play Dr. No” and of course I was very thrilled with the idea. But Ian could be slightly forgetful and by the time he mentioned it to the two producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman they had cast a fine actor, Joseph Wiseman, in the role.

Q Greg Templar: Did you and Sir Roger get on well?
A Roger and I have been close friends for 65 years. We have worked together a couple of times during that period but nothing on the scale of the Bond film. We keep in touch regularly and it is always a great pleasure to see him and talk to him, because we share many memories.

Q Louis Pitsch: How does playing a Bond villain compare to other villainous characters you have portrayed throughout your career?
A I don’t think one can make any comparison in this case. I have over the years played many dangerous and formidable characters. Some existed and others did not. Scaramanga was an invention of Ian Fleming’s and I have been told that he named the character after a school boy at Eton whom he disliked. Also, there is a naval dockyard outside Athens called Scaramanga and I have been there. So although in the film he is a fictional character there are reasons for him being called by that name. Incidentally, I remember asking many doctors about the third nipple and I was told that it was by no means unusual.

David Arnold And Don Black Interviews

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David Arnold

We asked you for your questions for David Arnold. We chose the best ones and put them to the Bond composer…

Q Travis McClain: Are there any specific instruments you try to find a way to use in your scores? If so, what are they and where would we notice where you’ve sneaked them in?

A David Arnold: I love the sounds of deep low strings… cellos, low violas and low violins… it’s a velvety rich dark sound, and alongside dark trombone chords and French horns gives you that foreboding but sensual Bond sound. I also love the sound of harp and alto flute. Most notably, all of these sounds are in “Night At The Opera” from Quantum Of Solace. The flute/harp combination is something John Barry made famous in his work for the Bond films that he scored.

Q Ricardo Elorza Bobadilla: What turns any score into a Bond movie score beyond the use of the theme here and there? Thank you.

A David Arnold: You’ll get a million different answers to this question… but for me it’s a sense of danger, mystery, an undercurrent of violence and a slightly perverse sense of romanticism. To represent those elements in a musical form should get you close to the sound of a Bond score.

Q Sebastian Johnson: What was your favourite scene to score?

A David Arnold: I liked the scene between Bond and Elektra (in The World Is Not Enough) when they’re in the bedroom and being tender with each other… probably because I liked the theme I came up with for her and it played well in this scene. “A Night At The Opera” from QOS and “Surrender” from Tomorrow Never Dies were highlights.

Q Matthew Soberman: Not counting your own, what’s your favourite Bond theme?

A David Arnold: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.   

Q Andres Quiroga: What made you approach Chris Cornell for the song “You Know My Name”? That was a match made in heaven.

A David Arnold: We wanted a singer who sounded like Daniel Craig looked and moved. Chris has the power, grit and, when needed, sensitivity to welcome the audience into the world of Casino Royale. 

Q Richard Grant: What piece of music that you wrote for the Bond series are you proudest of?

A David Arnold: I like quite a lot of cues over the years, it’s difficult to say which  is a  favourite… but I suppose as it was the theme that got me in to the Eon/Bond family in the first place… I’ll go for “Surrender” from Tomorrow Never Dies.

Q Juha Mäkinen: Who is you favourite composer, in other words a “hero to you”?

A David Arnold: John Barry… who else???? 

Don Black

Oscar-winning Lyricist Don Black worked on the theme songs for Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever and Tomorrow Never Dies among others. Here, he answers your questions…. 

Q Wingless Angel: Is there anyone who hasn’t sung a Bond theme that you wish would, or had?

A Don Black: Bette Midler because she has this kind of a wink with everything she does. There’s something sexy and witty which are great ingredients for a Bond theme.

Q Nicolás Suszczyk: What was the hardest song to write? The one that took hours and hours to find the words?

A Don Black: Probably The Man With The Golden Gun because John Barry wasn’t that happy with his tune and he changed it quite a few times, which was very unusual for him.

Q Bond Blog: What’s in your opinion the best Bond song ever and why?

A Don Black: This is really a personal thing. I was managing the singer Matt Munro when we got the assignment for From Russia With Love. The song is lovely and every time I hear it, it brings back so many memories for me. I remember Lionel Bart who wrote it, coming round and singing it in my ear. I have so many great memories associated with that song.

Q Marcus Eastop: Do you have any anecdotes about any of the artists you have worked with – for instance Dame Shirley Bassey?

A Don Black: Well I’ve got hundreds! The thing about Shirley Bassey is that she doesn’t sing songs she lives them. When Terry Wogan introduces a Shirley Bassey record on the radio he says, “She doesn’t just sing songs, she bites lumps out of them”.  I love Shirley Bassey and the way she attacks everything. She’s an absolute joy to work with and you know you’re going to get a sensational performance whatever she does.

Q Justin Whitby: Which is your favourite Bond lyric of all the ones you wrote and why?

A Don Black: Diamonds Are Forever… I’ve always thought a Bond song should be provocative and sensual. There’s something about the song that seduces you into it. 

Q Clayton Hodson: What past music or artists have inspired your work and how so?

A Don Black: All the greats like Sinatra, Streisand. I was brought up to love all the great song writers like Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, The Great American Songbook always influenced me. 

Q Stephen Perry Williams: What did you use for inspiration for your lyrics, for example, did you read the book or the script, or did you get to see footage from the movie?

A Don Black: I don’t really, I like to get a sense of it – I like someone to tell me what it’s all about in a sentence. I just need to know the nuts and bolts of it, I often don’t read the script I just want to get straight to the heart of the story.

Q Derek Martz: How does writing a Bond theme differ from writing “normal” songs?

A Don Black: You’ve got to over write in a way, you’ve got to lure people into it. The best songs are the ones when you want to know what happens next, you hear the opening line and it’s a story. With a lot of songs you don’t need to do this, you just have to make people feel good, but with a Bond song the emphasis on the song should be seduction to gradually lure the listeners in.

Q Vasilios Sotiropoulos: In the lyrics to Thunderball, who do you talk about as being ‘He’? Is it Bond, No. 1, or Largo?

A Don Black: I was thinking about Bond, thinking ‘He always runs while others walk’. In my mind it was James Bond, but I guess it could work for Largo too.

Richard Kiel (1939-2014)

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We are very sad to hear that Richard Kiel has passed away at the age of 74. He will be remembered as one of Bond’s greatest ever adversaries appearing as Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). “We are deeply saddened at the passing of our beloved friend Richard Kiel. He was a true gentleman and will be forever remembered by the entire Bond family,” Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Derek Watkins, RIP

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We were saddened to hear about the passing of trumpet player Derek Watkins. A legend in his field, Derek had the distinction of playing on every single James Bond soundtrack from Dr. No to Skyfall. 

Our thoughts are with his family. 

You can find out more about Derek’s work here. 

Welcome To 007.com

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Over the next year and beyond we’ll be bringing you all the official news on the production of the 23rd Bond film, SKYFALL, as well as all the action from around the world as we celebrate 50 Years Of 007. Long-time Bond co-producer Michael G. Wilson kicks off 2012 with this video. Check back for new and exclusive content and remember to follow Bond on Twitter (@007) and Facebook (Facebook.com/JamesBond007) for regular updates.

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