What's your favourite effects achievement?

minigeff · May 2016

I found micro looking through my Archives book and she'd spotted the Z8 from TWINE ("nice shiny silver car daddy, beep beep!" she informed me) and after a careful hostage negotiation of trading a toy for daddy's rather expensive Bond book back it got me thinking;

What do people consider the greatest achievement for the SFX guys?*

I'm not talking about stunts, I'm on about the stuff that's been made for a bond film that's left us either cunningly fooled or awestruck or amazed.

Maybe a gadget watch from TWINE? The volcano set from YOLT? The vulcan bomber set from TB?

So thinking caps on, what's your favourite technical achievement of the real life Q's?

* This question came about due to the Z8 micro pointed out is not actually a BMW at all, it's a replica made in just 8 weeks specially for the film as at the time of filming BMW hadn't even built a usable Z8 themselves....

Charmed & Dangerous · May 2016

Great thread MG!

The Lotus Esprit from TSWLM - some of the underwater scenes really made me believe, back in 77, that it was a real Esprit which could become sub-mersible (if that's even a word). The way the wheels withdrew, the hull expanded, and the fins and tail rotors extended looked (and still looks) totally convincing. I'm not sure who dreamed it up, designed and built it, but it's genius. -{

Matt S · May 2016

The models impress me. I just love watching the space station in MR when it first appears, and then the way it blows up in pieces. Star Wars set the bar high for outer space special effects and MR did a fantastic job in its wake. Both the design and execution are very impressive.

Donald Grant · May 2016

First off Thunderball in general got me at a young age with respect to special effects. From Largo's cigarette case to Bond's rocket belt to all the scuba gear. Just awsome!

However, the single most awe inspiring gadget for me was the pocket sized re-breather that fit in a Romeo Y Julietta cigar tube. I have several different versions in my collection because of it. A great piece that was merely a prop, but looked like it really worked!

DG

superado · May 2016

For me, it's also the MR space footage. Per the making of video, each element of a scene was shot separately, e.g., the star field, space craft, space station, laser blasts, people, etc., but exposed on the same strip of film, so each time they had to rewind the film back into the camera and ran the risk of the film breaking at any point of the repeated winding. The documentary said that they pretty much did most of everything from scratch and innovation of old school techniques since none of the effects team members had any of the extensive experience that someone from ILM, Apogee, etc., would have.

Gadget Meister · May 2016

Anything involving foreground miniatures and the work of the late, great Derek Meddings. The BD5 through the hangar at Northolt (OP) and the Jetranger into Becton Gasworks (FYEO) these scenes still impress me today and without prior knowledge I defy anyone to spot them. {[]

Higgins · May 2016

To me, it's the Turbo Esprit from FYEO.

I still remember how impressed I was when I've first seen it in the cinema back in 1981.
I remember driving down 80 kms to a Lotus dealer to see it in the flesh - still have the pics.

And I am getting goosebumbs still when I see it.

The Yolt volcano set impresses me immensely still though this has not been the case on first viewing.
It took some time and reading to realize how amazing it was.

And the closeup Rolex shots from GF, LALD and TMWTGG, I've watched them over and over before I could afford my first Rolex

The Bond Experience · May 2016

I know it's not a typical favorite, but I am a fan of TND (well, most of it) and I loved all the bits that involved the Ericsson phone...to this day those scenes give me a "charge"...I also like how Bond uses it like a swiss army knife...I know some effects with it were practical, and some were done in post.

danjaq_0ff · May 2016

For me it has to be SC rug, it always had me fooled as a kid, and now Ed wears it with pride

Chriscoop · May 2016

I always enjoy the perla de Las dunas fire and explosion sequence, the way the explosions hurtle bodies about is pretty cool, I think this sequence is far superior to Blofeld's lair exploding in SP , some of the others I love closely echo those mentioned above.

Chriscoop · May 2016

danjaq_0ff wrote:

For me it has to be SC rug, it always had me fooled as a kid, and now Ed wears it with pride

Particularly in tb I think, that's some impressive toupe glue!!

MilleniumForce · May 2016

It may not be an effect, but I am impressed by how the underwater stuff was done in FYEO.

As for effects, I'd say Stromberg's lair is impressive considering we see stuff like the wet bike and the speedboat against it.

minigeff · May 2016

great responses guys!

for me, Goldeneye has always been a favourite film, I think the task of turning an old airfield into a studios just to make the film is an achievement in it's own right, but for the stuff seen on screen I think this film has got it all.

Favourite scenes?

John Steers, Derek Meddings, Burt Luxford, Ken Adams, Peter Lamont, Nick Finlayson, Andy Smith, Chris Corbould, inspiring geniuses all of them.

Thunderpussy · May 2016

So many scenes and effects {[]

I've always been impress with foreground minitures ( when I found out what they were)

)
as used in TLD for the horses running over the bridge from the Russians, the microjet Hanger
sequence at the start of OP.
All the practical effects on the DB5 and Lotus, even little things like How the screens work
in MR, the mirror dropping to reveal the tv screen and later with the oil painting that switches
to show "the chemical formula of a plant".
The Tanker in TSWLM, a model

given how big it was. ?..... I'm rambling a bit but those
are just off the top of my head.
The Bond films have been lucky to have found such great talent to work on them, all helping
to make them the success the are.

ppw3o6r · May 2016

Where does Donkey start? Thunderball kicked it all off for me. What John Stears and his team did with the Vulcan bomber mock up & miniatures and Jordan Klein did with the underwater kit has simply not been bettered in any movie! It goes without saying just how special BMT216A was/is. Like Mantis I have a hang up for the JB988 Gadget Phone as the 3 variants utilised on screen was the first time a prop looked commercially made even though it wasn't. Again from TND there was the pre-titles sequence folding Sterling AR180 rifle which is an incredible piece of kit in practical, SFX folding & rubber stunt form.
One prop having seen it in the flesh which this Donkey loves is Patrice's practical folding rifle from Skyfall. It is not clearly seen on screen but this is one very clever piece of kit and like the Tankbuster in Die Another Day it actually discharges blank cartridges from its heavily cut down Accuracy International snipers rifle inside the steel folding frame/casing & although not commonly known, the only contribution a certain luggage manufacturer made was to wrap the aluminium side panels and the tube of the carry handle/sight in black leather

Finally the 3D printed PPKS from Skyfall because like everyone else & his dog I was convinced it was a real firearm even when I saw it in the flesh in its Bulldog case behind the scenes at Designing 007 for the first time -{

welshboy78 · May 2016

I love the way they CGI'ed Higgybums trainers out of TND where he starred as an extra!

Great thread BTW - I'm also going with the lotus as it was magic when I was a kid!!!

Thunderpussy · May 2016

On seeing the first clip from TSWLM, every toy car I had was played with in the bath, or kitchen
sink.

) it was simply stunning for a 70s kid.

welshboy78 · May 2016

Thunderpussy wrote:

On seeing the first clip from TSWLM, every toy car I have is to this day still played with in the bath, or kitchen
sink. )

Fixed that for you

Thunderpussy · May 2016

) I still dabble.

CarsonDyle · May 2016

For me it has to be the scorpion in Skyfall. It didn't even occur to me that it was CGI until I saw the extras on the DVD. And that is the secret to a great special effect, especially CGI... the audience shouldn't even think "hey, great effect", they should just accept.

Peppermill · May 2016

My choice would be the exploding barn in the PTS of Octopussy.

Gadget Meister · May 2016

Peppermill, do you mean the aircraft hangar? This was a Derek Meddings model and was filmed at Oakley Airfield, coincidently about two miles from Letherslade Farm where the Great Train Robbers hid out after the raid in the early 60s.

Peppermill · May 2016

Gadget Meister wrote:

Peppermill, do you mean the aircraft hangar? This was a Derek Meddings model and was filmed at Oakley Airfield, coincidently about two miles from Letherslade Farm where the Great Train Robbers hid out after the raid in the early 60s.

Cool little fact! Yes, the model that explodes after Bond goes through it in his jet. I love it that they glued every single panel on there by hand. It makes for such a great effect seeing all those panels fly off.

minigeff · May 2016

Peppermill wrote:

Gadget Meister wrote:

Peppermill, do you mean the aircraft hangar? This was a Derek Meddings model and was filmed at Oakley Airfield, coincidently about two miles from Letherslade Farm where the Great Train Robbers hid out after the raid in the early 60s.

Cool little fact! Yes, the model that explodes after Bond goes through it in his jet. I love it that they glued every single panel on there by hand. It makes for such a great effect seeing all those panels fly off.

indeed, bit similar to the "time to leave" barn in TLD

Rainier Wolfcastle · May 2016

Great topic - although shouldn't it rather be in the films forum?
(Although I am glad about every thread here that's not about ties, shirts or shoes!)

For me it's the MR PTS with the 747 shuttle carrier aircraft. When I saw it for the first time I thought that this was footage from the real 747 SCA and the Enterprise - only after it exploded I realized that they couldn't really blow up a real 747, could they?!
After seeing it again later and looking more closely, maybe the interior lighting could be a bit less uniform but I still think that the 747 model and the shuttle start look very realistic. Of course the modelwork involving the shuttles and space station is also great but like Star Wars it was clear that those could not be real - the 747 was different.

minigeff · May 2016

Rainier Wolfcastle wrote:

Great topic - although shouldn't it rather be in the films forum?
(Although I am glad about every thread here that's not about ties, shirts or shoes!)

yeah i did think that, but there again many of the opinions mentioned so far are available as merchandise in some form, be it models or props from various sources.

like your thoughts about MR, personally I think it's a great film, up until it goes all pew pew lasers.

Matt S · May 2016

Rainier Wolfcastle wrote:

Great topic - although shouldn't it rather be in the films forum?
(Although I am glad about every thread here that's not about ties, shirts or shoes!)

For me it's the MR PTS with the 747 shuttle carrier aircraft. When I saw it for the first time I thought that this was footage from the real 747 SCA and the Enterprise - only after it exploded I realized that they couldn't really blow up a real 747, could they?!
After seeing it again later and looking more closely, maybe the interior lighting could be a bit less uniform but I still think that the 747 model and the shuttle start look very realistic. Of course the modelwork involving the shuttles and space station is also great but like Star Wars it was clear that those could not be real - the 747 was different.

That was a brilliant piece of work! Unrealistic in reality, but completely believable in the film.

Thunderbird 2 · May 2016

OOh well done Mini G , this is my kind of topic!! - By the way who mentioned Derek Meddings?

Where do I start? Most of the Bond films have great effect moments, I have to agree with the Space Station and Shuttle fleet in Moonraker. Every time I watch the film I'm wowed at the detail, esp since Mr Meddings was only allowed the budget to build the entire station in one scale. It doesn't show on screen.

Second place belongs to the use of the SIS Building miniature in TWINE. The way the model is integrated in the live action and set pieces works well, and for me, was much better than the somewhat washed out CGI of both SF and SP. Mind you, I love the Thames Boat chase, its my favorite chase sequence of the lot.

Others I love...

Use of Miniatures - TMWTGG The "Mushroom" TSWLM - , Atlantis, The Liparus and the Boatus are all beautifully realised and look convincing. AVTAK - "Portacabin blimp launch" TWINE - BMW drive past the oil fields. DAD - The Ice palace. CR-06 The Skyfleet airliner and its hanger. I thought Airbus played ball till I saw a pic of the models and the real AE380 in flight!

Honourable mentions TLD - Bridge collapse, Hercules explosion.

The cars are real! - GF, TLD, DAD, QoS, - Aston use, TSWLM, FYEO both Lotus's.

Where can I buy one of those?! - Little Nellie, The Acrostar, The Q Boat, Moon's Hovercraft.

Nice view, I'll take it! Any set piece by Sir Ken Adam, or Peter Lamont. The big and bold things like the GF Fort Knox, YOLT Volcano etc speak for themselves, but even subtler elements such as M's office in the Brosnan era, & CR-06, Q's lab in GF, FYEO and TWINE have lovely touches to them.

My favorite I didn't know it was a real effect moment has to be the police car that gets thrown into the air by the jet engines of a taking off plane at Miami airport in CR-06. I thought a miniature or CGI had been used. The fact real cars were crane winched into the air to get that one shot speaks volumes.

CGI definitely has its uses, but it feels better when you know its a real moment.

Tennyson · May 2016

i love the Venice building collapse in CR - i really thought it was happening when i first saw the film, and i was an adult! A great mix of miniature modelling, full size gimbal sets and cgi made something of a realistic experience... I loved SP, but felt the Mexico building collapse was poor in comparison to this, and was 10 years later!

Charmed & Dangerous · May 2016

Although only a small moment, but it was the first Bond film I saw and the moment which got me hooked on Bond: in DAF when Bond takes the lift (elevator) to the top of the Whyte House, then uses a piton gun before swinging out into space so he can gain access to the roof. I was awe-struck, it just looked so real (at the time).

Golrush007 · May 2016

One special effect that gives me great pleasure is the big wide shot of the space shuttle as it climbs up into space in Moonraker. What I love is not just the beauty of the shot, but the simplicity with which it was achieved, ie simply filling a model space shuttle with salt to create the flowing contrail beneath the rocket engines. So clever, and and so effective!

What's your favourite effects achievement?

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