Wednesday 1 February 2012

Daniel Craig's Arse Not Up To Scratch

It seems like only eighteen days since we got our first unexciting glimpse (or "sneak peak" in modern parlance) of what to expect from Skyfall, and apparently what we could expect from Skyfall was Daniel Craig sitting about with his arse hanging out like a disgusting but undeniably buff builder.
But in a twist almost as unexpected as that time Sean Bean turned out to be the bad guy, it appears that that first official image WASN'T the first official image, despite its high resolution and global circulation. It's almost as if the first first official image wasn't quite good enough, so now there's a new and improved first official image or something, because this morning the second first official image was released, and there isn't a bum cleavage in sight:
What there is is a man who looks a bit like Chuck Norris mooching about in Shanghai waving a gun around like secret agents do when they want to remain incognito. Now I've been to Shanghai and I don't recognise this bit, so I can deduce from that that it's actually a set at Pinewood. I can also deduce that this is a shot from scene V64BA, shot on November 25th last year. How can I possibly know so much? Because I look at the internet a lot.
You might also notice, if you're as annoyingly anal as me, that wherever Bond is, it's somewhere that begins with "Qu" and "Inte". Quantum International immediately springs to mind, although Sam Mendes has already poo-pooed the continuation of the previous two films' story featuring the mysterious and slightly useless organisation. So... "Queen's Intelligence?" "Quality Intercourse"? "Quacking... uh... Interruption"?

Nope. It's obvious. It's "Quite Interesting". Yep, Bond has stumbled onto the set of QI and is about to blow Alan Davies' brains all over Stephen Fry's shirt. This film is going to be amazing.

5 comments :

  1. A clapper board with the lens (27mm) written on it is not standard practice. Sometimes additional camera info (non-standard frame rates, shutter angle, etc) is added but giving a space exclusively for the focal length of the lens (which would always be noted separately by the continuity supervisor anyway) suggests the VFX bods will have their mitts all over this sequence. Though probably for boringly prosaic reasons, like slipping in endless background plates shot on location.

    Incidentally, try securing the rental of any bloody camera cranes in Shanghai at the moment. 'The Bond' has nabbed bloody everything. Greedy bastards.

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    1. Balls. There was me just about to rent a camera crane in Shanghai as well.

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  2. Yes, all very nice, but no one has as yet answered the crucial question: why are his eyebrows grey?

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  3. Maybe someone should just ask Roger Deakins about the slate. Here is my quess based on my imagination. To help the editor sort his shots the slates have V or F for Video or Film followed by the shot number, 64 in this case. B is for background as this is a shot to be used in an effect and A denotes it is the first layer of the composite shot. Lens angle is important in marrying effects so it is on the slate so the editor does not have to look it up on the daily log. It is Interior Night and there is no clapper because the sound and video are already in sync.
    Anyway, if Sam Mendes or Roger Deakins have stumbled across this blog and have stopped laughing, it would be good to have the actual meaning behind the slate markings.

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  4. Nice spot eagle-eyes! Incidentally, I saw this still of Craig (not the pool one, that was new to me!) and thought oh no, James Bond's turning into Action Man... the Greatest Hero of them All! Next he'll be waking up with amnesi... wait, hasn't he already done that at some point?
    Can't say I like grizzly Bond. I prefer my Bond all snazzy... he can get messy but ultimately, will still straighten his goddamn tie as though he just doesn't give a -!
    =) Anyway. First comment here. Nice blog!

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