Portsmouth standing in for Shanghai now...

Napoleon Plural

More cut back news, I'm afraid. Second location has shifted from Shanghai to Portsmouth (see below). Scenes are being shot at night, so it's thought it could be used as a backdrop as not many people will be aware of what the luxury city is really like.



They're looking for Oriental-looking extras in the Portsmouth area, it's a boon cos a lot of Chinese restaurants have shut recently.

Thoughts?

dickiebart

Wow cutbacks indeed! Where is the budget actually going then? The cast must have cost a lot I suppose.

HowardB

Has anyone thought that maybe it was always planned to be filmed this way....real location exteriors and studio sets? I don't think we need to be sitting around wringing our hands and fretting that "Skyfall" is going to look like some direct to DVD B-flick. Some of the greatest films of all time were filmed entirely on studio backlots. What matters is what gets up on the screen when all is said and done. "Skyfall" has a very good director, a fine production designer and one of the greatest DP's ever. If anything the film will look great. Also for anyone who is concerned about the film being shot on digital video, I just read that Deakins shot "True Grit" in the same format as "Skyfall" and that film looked fantastic (I had no idea when I saw it that it was shot in digital video).

James Suzuki

Thank you howard b i was getting depressed :007)

Loeffelholz

xboy614 wrote:

Thank you howard b i was getting depressed :007)

It's an easy temptation to fall prey to...In DN, the first day of shooting, it was Connery at the airport, so that they could get that authentic feel---and of course other exterior shots, such as the beach, etc...but interiors were done at Pinewood, well away from Kingston, or Crab Key.

Anything they can do, in this post-Utopian (U.S. election 2008) economy, to save money and keep the circus in business, is just smart business.

Golrush007

I couldn't agree more with your sentiments, HowardB. Film is all about illusion anyway. They could shoot just about anywhere and make you believe it is China. Although the Bonds have a history of travel to exotic locations, the realities of film-making are such that you might well get a better product by filming in a totally different locale. It is the skill of the director, DOP and crew that makes this possible. I mean, QoS, did a lot of travelling to different locations and it wasn't a very successful film in the eyes of many fans. As Loeffelholz said, every film is a business venture, and the trick is to achieve a great film, with high production values etc. in the most efficient, economical way possible.

BTW, just in response to your True Grit remark, I'm basically 100% sure that they shot on 35mm. Check out the technical specs page on IMDB. Also if you watch the behind-the-scenes you will see that they are shooting on film cameras. But nonetheless, I have no qualms about Deakins shooting on digital. I think the film will look great - he is one of the greatest DOPs working today, and he will make the digital technology work to serve the film. Digital technology has caught up with celluloid at last.

HowardB

You are correct, Sir. My mistake, "True Grit" was shot in 35mm. Deakins last film "Now" was shot using the Alexa Digital camera. I must have misread or misremembered what I read. If Deakins is good with digital, I'm good with digital, lol. One of the nice things about shooting digital is that the camera allows very long takes.

Thunderpussy

My only fear, is that the Bonds don't have a great history with CGI. it usually looks crap.

Moore Than

The Bond films have quite a tradition of substituting one place for another. My initial reaction is neutral, it's a case of wait and see. As for CGI, I am not really a fan in general. When it works well it's fine, but when it does not work it looks awful.

zaphod

Moore Than wrote:

The Bond films have quite a tradition of substituting one place for another. My initial reaction is neutral, it's a case of wait and see. As for CGI, I am not really a fan in general. When it works well it's fine, but when it does not work it looks awful.

When it works well we don't notice it.

IanT

Who says that the production has shifted from Shanghai to Portsmouth? Sources please...

We already know that another UK location is filling in for Shanghai airport. I believe Epsom racecourse stood in for St Petersburg airport in GE but scenes were still filmed there. It might be that the Sail in Portsmouth may be filling in for a Shanghai location integral to the plot.

I think the Tabs are jumping on the "cheap Bond locations" bandwagon. We don't know in what context Bognor will be used yet.

Predator

Well, Dunsfold doubled for Miami in CR ... as has been said, there's been a long history of this from the Bond filming past.

I am not so surprised, since Shanghai has two primary focal points: the new skyline and developments, and the historic Bund. The Bund is full of European trading office buildings (as is Portsmouth, albeit not nearly so extensive), while Portsmouth has increasing numbers of modern sky rise offices/apartments. I reckon I might have picked Liverpool over Portsmouth, but as a Hampshire resident, I'm delighted that Bond is coming! A mix of London and Portsmouth locations and some back project tech could easily nail it I reckon:


As for Bognor, who knows?! I wonder if it has something to do with the rumoured Goan railways scenes ...

HowardB

We don't even know how long the scenes in Shanghai will be. Could be 15 minutes, a half hour or less than 5minutes of the entire film. This seems to be much ado about nothing. Apparently substituting locations, etc has been the norm in most Bond films. I don't believe Connery ever really set foot in Miami in Goldfinger.

Mr Beech

Doesn't seem so bad to me. I bet I'll be fooled!

welshboy78

Well the second unit are reported to have been in Shanghai filming big city shots according to mi6 site hence if true and mixed in with UK on the street footage we will be fooled regardless

Napoleon Plural

Furthermore, this is to stand in for the Aston Martin DB5:



Frankly, I reckon someone's gonna notice.

I mean, the numberplate certainly isn't the same.

Thoughts?

welshboy78

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Furthermore, this is to stand in for the Aston Martin DB5:



Frankly, I reckon someone's gonna notice.

I mean, the numberplate certainly isn't the same.

Thoughts?

) ) ) )

Careful mate this might trigger off more rumous lol

oscar rubio

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Furthermore, this is to stand in for the Aston Martin DB5:



Frankly, I reckon someone's gonna notice.

I mean, the numberplate certainly isn't the same.

Thoughts?

Better that DB5 ) -{

The Domino Effect

It doesn't matter how enormous or limitless your budget is, if Shanghai is in just a couple of scenes and you can shoot those close to home instead of jetting off to China or wherever for a week or two, why wouldn't you? Location filming not only has enormous costs, but they are also very time consuming for all involved from scouting the locations, to obtaining the film permits (which might be a nightmare in China, I don't know) to actually filming the scenes. Unless that location is integral to the scene and the movie and cannot be decently replicated elsewhere, it would always be wise to see if you could do it closer to home. It doesn't necessarily mean that the budget has been slashed, just that common sense and simple logistics are dictating.

Hardyboy

I was just thinking of this. . .Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes place entirely in and around San Francisco, yet actually very little of it was shot in SF--instead, good ol' Vancouver stood in for it. How often did I notice this? Not at all. I've been to SF a few times; but I didn't concern myself that you didn't see the Golden Gate bridge every time someone looked out the window, that streetcars weren't the standard mode of transportation, and that everyone didn't wind around Lombard Street on their way to work. So long as what's on the screen is interesting and not distracting, the authenticity of the locale shouldn't be a problem.

Thunderpussy

And I believe many of the apes weren't real apes. )

superdaddy

I just thought they were well trained.

Napoleon Plural

Erm, just dropping in to day this thread was a wind-up, never thought it would get this far. Portsmouth is not standing in for Shanghai. Maybe if I'd gone with my original choice of Blackpool you'd have spotted it...

Mr Beech

)

They are definitely going to fool us with Bognor Regis if we were tricked this easily.

Tokyo Matt

I don't get it?

So this is a wind up Napoleon?

So the Robin Reliant car is going to be in the new film?
Or the Robin Reliant isn't going to be in the new film?

Napoleon Plural

It's there alright, but I was joking about the colour. Universal Export is being renamed Trotter Independent Trading...