American Cinematographer - December 1999 - 68

Armstrong's goal was to have
Brosnan swinging on a chain just
inches ahead of

by Ron Magid

caution

The James Bond franchise may be

the final holdout from the world

of

digital technology. During the

course

of 19 films, the creators of the

It's

by far the most economical way
of doing it, otherwise there's so much
time wasted and energy wasted -
especially if you've got the actors

fact that the most

there for

prided themselves on the
spectacular images
are
created almost entirely in¬
camera. "The thing about Bond films
is that the spectacular footage is all

situations,

Apted. "On The World Is Not Enough,
we used digital effects very sparingly.
dangerous and people
truly man against
man, or man against nature, and I
think it shows. It takes a hell of a long
do the stunts. It is

time to shoot those kinds of scenes,

which is why I

had a second unit that
running the whole time I was."
Indeed, the emphasis on real
action put a special burden and
emphasis on the film's second unit,
which was helmed by veteran stunt¬
man
Vic Armstrong, who had
handled the same assignment on the
previous Bond film, Tomorrow Never
Dies. Armstrong began his lengthy
association with the secret agent in
the glory days of the late '60s, playing
a Chinese assassin sliding down a
rope in You Only Live Twice, and then
stunt-doubling George Lazenby in
On Her Majesty's Secret Service and
Roger Moore in Live and Let Die. He

was

both the

stunt

coordinator and

a

the world.

wherever I

you

have to try to

somebody else's style, and do
what they want. You're part of a team,
but that's what the game is all about."
Generally, Armstrong's second
unit would come in after Apted's first
unit had finished shooting with the
principal actors. "We did the major
sequences that way - including the

Kenny puts
want

it:

on

a camera
the river, on

cinematographer in Jonathan Taylor,
a super technician and a very
talented lad. On every shot we did,
we

tried

fire¬

to

make beautiful action

on

do it

completely safely,

the shot

on

Pinewood

were

behind him, which was hell for the
focus pullers because I only wanted
to

do the

stunt once.

"There was a lot of pressure on

everybody to get the shot. The special
effects crew were cracking themselves
because they had to fire the 'bangs' at
certain lengths. If one of those things
had been wired up wrong, which I've
seen in the past, and one went off
prematurely or out of sequence -i.e., in front of Pierce

a

very

visual

sequence.

Even

-

he'd have

gone right through the fire, you
know? Although we dressed him up

fire-retardant suit and other

protective

all backlit with fire and steam,

the famed Bond stage at
Studios. As Brosnan

the chain, a series of pyro
triggered just seconds
after the actor passed each of the
charges. "You can see the fireball
chasing Pierce, right on his ass,"
Armstrong says gleefully. "Because of
the long lens on the shot, the explo¬
sions were going off 10 to 15 feet
effects

in

was

you

swung on

the

The night sequence with
helicopters attacking the factory

all sides. "If you're

going
do it
with doubles," Armstrong says. "This
is a classic case of putting an actor in
the same position I've been in before
myself, so I imagined that if I was
hanging there on that chain. I wasn't
thinking like I was somebody who
selfishly wants a spectacular shot."
Armstrong and his crew set up
to

sequences.

and it's

match

unit

who's

the

tough, because

first

skis, underwater. I've also got a great

and shot

Say Never Again,
Timothy Dalton's
first Bond, License to Kill. Armstrong
remarks, "Second units are really

Michael's

good old insert unit!"
Perhaps the hardest part of
doing good second-unit work is slav¬
ishly following the dictates of the first
unit. "Sometimes you just have to
subjugate your own instincts to make
it cut with what's already there,"
Armstrong admits. "When you go
into second-unit work, you have to
understand that your objective is to
match the other parts of the movie,
which can be pretty tricky. You need
to have a good crew with you. You
have to get a good A.D. like Terry
Madden, and a grip like Kenny
Appethal, whom I think is the best in

stuntman on Never
tests on

would go

we

and shoot whole sequences

became the

franchise: it is

limited time. But there

a

times when

off
and then
put the actors into them. In those

were

real stuff," states director Michael

I think that's the hallmark of the

64 December 1999

boat, ski and helicopter sequences.

series have

was

an enormous

ball, which called for tremendous

a

gear, the element of
danger was still there. It was a money

shot, and it worked

-

Pierce is

as

skiing sequences were all backlit."
Armstrong sometimes had to
place movie stars - as opposed to

safe

trained

delivering the level of excitement that

fire. For

stuntmen

-

in the line of

the first unit
had shot Bond making his escape
from an exploding nuclear facility
using a stunt double, but Armstrong
was asked to pick up some close-ups
of Pierce Brosnan. He quickly real¬
ized that he could stage the entire gag
with the star in a single shot.
one

sequence,

as

pie and the scene looks great."

Still, Armstrong insists that no
challenge was too great in terms of
Bond fans

crave.

"This show

was

pretty tough, but I had great backing
from the production, which gave me
whatever I wanted," he enthuses. "I

spent the budget of a medium-size
film

just

on

delivered the

the second unit, but we
goods!"
■
American Cinematographer - December 1999

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