Goldeneye Photos

To avoid any ' off topic' posting 

I dug out my photos of the James Bond Mig 29 flying without wings incident for Grommit's sake and post them below.

While I was at it I scanned all the photos so thought some of you might be interested in seeing them.

In 1994 I was invited to get involved with the special effects unit for the Bond film Goldeneye, flying twin ducted fan Mig 29's (no turbines back then!). It was shot at Leavesden airfield studio near Watford, I did 10 days there in total, spread over a month or so, they wanted consistent grey skies so I would get a call the day before and as long as I could sort work, I would go. There were a few occasions when I couldn't make it and another pilot would fill in. Each day there were 3 pilots as the required sequences were for a 3 Mig formation.  

From memory there were at least 20 shooting days with a crew of at least a dozen filming plus a team of 6 model builders and us 3 pilots and a catering unit! In the film I don't think there was even 10 seconds of footage used from what we did! It gave me an understanding of why films cost so much to make  :ohmy:

I have lots of tales about the whole experience but for now will just post some photos.

One day we were flying in very strong wind and turbulence, one of the 3 models lost both wings during flight, just small triangular stubs were left at the leading edge. The models had taileron control with no ailerons, so the pilot was able to still fly a couple of circuits just on the fuselage lift, while deciding what to do next.

He attempted a landing but as soon as he extended the gear the thing fell out of the air!

The first 2 shots show it in flight the second one also shows one of the other models in the air as well and the 3rd was after the landing attempt, you can still see what little of the wing was still attached.

General shots of the Migs, they were fairly large but light, powered by twin ducted fans with OS 91 engines and pipes

Excellent Jon. That should amaze Gromit and hopefully suppress any doubts he had :lol:

More general shots and the milkfloat transporter!

Also in the milkfloat photo, note the full size Mig parked in front of the building behind. There were 2 of these which you saw as you drove onto the site for the first time. When you got close to them you realised they were just flat painted plywood :ohmy:

Anyone who has seen the film may remember the remote satellite base in the snow where the Migs were sent on their mission and we're taken out by the laser thing.

Here is the set built to the same scale as the models. We had to be very careful taking photos as we risked being chucked off the set as it was all top secret :evil:

Also some shots of the 3 Migs overflying the dish for one of the shots that was used in the film. The snowey mountain range in the background was also painted plywood!

Last one is the 3 ship take off shot, if you look on the right of the picture you can just see the scaffolding that they hung one of the cameras on.

One day the pilot closest to that side hit the scaffold, gave the camera man a fright :lol:

They built 6 of these Migs for this and had to rebuild 3 of them as well during the course of the filming. The third crash was because the pilot (not me :whistle: ) watched the wrong model, he was not invited back!

It was such a great thing to be part of and I got paid to do it, couldn't believe my luck!!

Thanks Jon,

It sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm going to have to dig out the film to have another look at it.

Were the Migs built from kits, or were they scratch built for the production?

I'm sorry I ever doubted you

Gromit

JonTappin wrote: In the film I don't think there was even 10 seconds of footage used from what we did! It gave me an understanding of why films cost so much to make

And today it would cost even more because they would use CGI and VFX instead of real models. When I look for Kathryn's name in the credits it amazes me that they list well over 50 employees from just one animation studio, with each one earning 30K plus.

Chris001 wrote: Thanks Jon,

It sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm going to have to dig out the film to have another look at it.

Were the Migs built from kits, or were they scratch built for the production?

I'm sorry I ever doubted you

Gromit

Good find in the video link Chris. That captures the entire output of our shoot, the take off and overfly of the dish, the rest was done on wires or in a studio using the same models but shells without any gear in them. It is quite easy to see the difference.

The explosion of the 2 in flight was originally planned to be done with the models in flight, packed with explosives, but they ran out of time with the airfield booking. Very disappointing that we didn't get to do that one!

We tried to talk them into letting us fly one of the models into the set for that crash scene, but they said the result would be too unpredictable. Shame really as that shot looked very unrealistic in the end.

The model effects Director was a guy called Derek Meddings who made all of the Thunderbirds tv programmes, I think you can see that influence in the film effects.

Regarding the models, I think they bought a set of molds from somewhere then used them as a basis for the Migs but with lots of their own mods.

The Eurocopter that you see taking off in front of the satellite dish was also an RC model but was flown by one of the model builders as none of us were any good with helis!