Big Breakfast- Filming In Spain
A great deal of time was spent filming in Spain, spread over many months. The weather conditions were hot, arid, dusty. The schedule was, according to Pierce, difficult. Yet the crew managed to pull off admirably the job of getting all the various action and acting scenes finished safely and on time.
Last week The Big Breakfast teased viewers with a look behind the scenes. One of the locations was a desert-type landscape which plays host to a dilapidated nuclear testing facility, and this is where Bond meets Christmas Jones for the first time, and the the other, slightly more leafy locale features some strange looking "volcanic formations", which you can see for yourself below.




To help make sense of the photographs, we have included the transcript of the Big Breakfast segment:

Pierce Brosnan: "Locations and Bond - they go hand in hand, don't they, really. But we've had good ones, I've enjoyed them. It would be nice to be by a beach somewhere and have about ten weeks of it, and have a lighter schedule. But we don't."

Michael G. Wilson: "Right now we're shooting in the mountains around Baku in Azerbaijan. But this is in Spain, because there's nothing quite like this up in Azerbaijan." [No, I don't quite understand what he's on about either.]

Michael Apted: "I was looking for something that had a slightly magical quality to it, which is kind of hard to find, and we found this place here in Quenka in the middle of Spain, which has these magnificent objects, these great kind of volcanic creations here. Another location in Spain which is, I think, Kazakstahn, where we needed some kind of desert environment for a nuclear test facility."

Chris Corbould, Special Effects Supervisor: [On the big explosion in the mountainside] "There's approximately 250 gallons of petrol, and round about 15 kilos of gelignite. There's not much of the set left to have a second chance, so you've got to get it right first time. Although the flames only go out so far, the heat that radiates off them goes out twice as far."

Denise Richards: "All the explosions have been a little hotter than I thought. I know, sometimes they make me nervous, but it depends - they keep us very safe. But it's fun though, I love it."
The desert location (Nuclear Test Facility)
. Men in white suits:
The crew shoot scenes of Decommissioning scientists clad in white radiation suits entering the nuclear facility, whilst the sound engineer bangs the cameraman on the head with the boom.
. A long shot:
A long distance shot showing some kind of camp, probably used by the staff working in the facility.
. Hot stuff:
Denise Richards on why she enjoys watching the rigged explosions. Notice the entrance to the facility in the background.
. Watch out:
An explosion goes off near a jeep.
. Déjà Vu:
The same scene, except the smoke has had time to drift.
. Where there's smoke:
The crew fear they may have used too much petrol to ignite the BBQ.
. Renard causes chaos:
Renard recklessly leans out of the back of his jeep, threatening people with his gun. A scene which would not be particularly out of place in the streets of Los Angeles.
. Bond's in trouble:
Bond constructs a renegade BBQ only to find it sabotaged by members of the Special Effects unit.
. Bond saves Christmas:
Denise Richards gets scolded by the tyrannical Michael Apted.
Volcanic formations (Helicopters attack)
. Rocky Area with Troops:
The army gather in the midst of the volcanic formations.
. The Helicopter moves in:
A helicopter flies perilously close to a cliff.
. Sophie:
Elektra King.
. The Troops Attack:
A ferocious and bloody battle is fought, captured on film by skilled cameramen using the highly sophisticated technique of being pushed along a track.
. Bond takes 'em on:
Bond shoots into the sky (presumably at something- a helicopter perhaps?)
Elsewhere in Spain:
. Guggenheim:
The museum.
. Busy filming:
Spot the radiation hazard sign.
. Bond and Elektra:
Choosing their best route down the mountain. Probably upside-down, if these rumours about Pierce's skiing are anything to go by.
. Not amused:
Has difficulty standing up to jokes about his skis, never mind actually being able to stand up in skis...only kidding.
. Zukovsky and Christmas:
On the walkways in Baku- in the most serious of peril (and probably all Bond's fault).
A big thankyou to Peredur Glyn (peredur@llonnod.demon.co.uk) for all the pictures and the transcription!

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