All Skiing
Pictures on this page courtesy Club 007
France
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Just
after New Year 1999, the second unit travelled to Chamonix in the French
Alps to film the new ski sequence for The World Is Not Enough. Scouting
for the location was finished by mid-December, and Collette reports that
local production was contracted to Kanzaman, a production company owned
by John Bernard (Bernard has said that Chamonix was picked because it was
close to an airport (Geneva), could accommodate a large production, and
of course, the scenery. Filming commenced January 11th, and is due
to be completed in early March. However, on 12th February, disaster struck.
The long hours of sunshine had loosened the snow on the mountains, and
several avalanches engulfed the mountainside and much of the town below.
Luckily the crew had chosen not to do any filming on that day because the
weather was poor, and instead helped in the rescue operation.
Interestingly,
none of the major stars who are actually meant to be doing the skiing (Pierce
Brosnan, Sophia Marceau) were present at the resort because their insurance
companies considered it too dangerous a location for them to be at (after
all, these people are very valuable!) |
 ..........
.
King Industries
(of which Elektra is the owner) are using a French-made helicopter to visit
and oversee the oil pipeline construction sites.
.
Eurocopter
Dauphin
Top
Speed: 171 mph
Range:
506 miles
Manufacturer:
Aerospatiale
1
pilot, 12 passengers
Designed
for corporate and public safety missions
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.
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The
French Alps are doubling for the Caucasus mountains in Central Asia. |
.
According
to the report, Eon started to pick doubles for the stars and local skiers
as extras in early December, and Francine Moreillon was picked as Sophia
Marceau's (Elektra) body double. Evidently the production is headquartered
at a former television studio.
..
Francine
Moreillon, decked out in the outfit Elektra will be dressed in. (Image
courtesy
Club
007 France)
.
....
The ski
chase sequence occurs while 007 and Elektra spend some quality time bonding
on the snow-covered Caucasus mountain slopes, and Elektra shows Bond the
oil pumping installations on the mountains. An assault team armed with
Russian weaponry attempts to assassinate them.
.
(This
shows one of the futuristic vehicles used in the chase. Image courtesy
Club
007 France)
..
.The
camera is mounted onto the rails. It looks more like something Q Branch
might have produced, don't you think?
(Image
courtesy Club 007 France)
..
(Here
we see the rails the camera is placed on, for dramatic tracking shots of
the chase.
(Image
courtesy Club 007 France)
.
Several
Paraskis have been constructed and used for some of the action scenes in
the ski sequence. For those who don't know what a paraski is, it's a cross
between a parachute and a gyrocopter. A set of skis with a small motor
on the back is attached to a canopy, and so the paraski can move forward
when the engine is turned on, and glide smoothly down when the engine is
turned off. It can also "ski" along on large expanses of snow. It's the
baddies who have these machines in TWINE, most likely using them to chase
Bond and Elektra down the mountainside. For some shots of the paraskis,
a crane was used to simulate the effect of a paraski moving past the side
of a mountain.
..
And
finally here is the piste map of Chamonix- one of the most popular and
respected of the French Ski resorts.
|
(Vic
"2nd Unit" Armstrong's director's chair, top. Above: Armstong and friend.
|
...
At the
end of March, Pierce Brosnan and Sophia Marceau were finally allowed to
the mountains for some 1st Unit photography. Previously, they had been
forbidden from travelling to the area by their insurance companies because
of all the trouble the resort had been having with avalanches. Now, with
the danger passed, they were allowed on piste. Unfortunately, bad luck
intervened again, and the crew fell about laughing when they found out
that Pierce couldn't even stand up straight in skis. Close up shots were
completed successfully, but for mid range shots a stand-in was substituted.
In
the end, everything seemed to go according to plan, and Club James Bond
president Laurent Perriot was there to greet the stars as they arrived
at the resort. Even producer
Michael G.
Wilson was present (pictured below).
...
Pierce
arrived to the slopes in style and seemed to be in high spirits. Laurent
Perriot, at Club James Bond France,
took the following snaps.
Pierce
gives us the thumbs-up.
(Courtesy
Club
James Bond)
|
Another
picture of Pierce looking very happy. Note the sleigh in the background,
with a camera mounted on it.
|
..
Pierce
and Sophia were seen together for most of the time whilst at the resort.
Laurent Perriot took the photographs below.
..
| In
one photograph, we can see Pierce and Sophie at the resort, and Sophie
wearing a large fur hat- compare it to the hat that her double Francine
Moreillon is wearing, near the top of the page.
Club
James Bond France President, Laurent Perriot, with producer Michael G.
Wilson
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Cool
guy:Pierce goes for a walk without skis.
(Courtesy
Club
James Bond)
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