I know not everyone will care about movie making here at the VSL blog but I am a big Ian Fleming & James Bond fan. If you like the movies you may find this great article about making the latest "Bond" film with all digital movie cameras very interesting:
http://www.hdvideopro.com/display/features/secret-agent-man.html
Definitely not shot with consumer DSLRs but a really engaging look at how the movie industry works.
http://www.hdvideopro.com/display/features/secret-agent-man.html
Definitely not shot with consumer DSLRs but a really engaging look at how the movie industry works.
The movies generally are campy, action-y and over-produced (but incredibly fun) but the books, mostly written in the 1950's, are a whole other story. They are written with ample visual description and are now like a time machine allowing readers to see a world before our time through the eyes of a brilliant and cynical observer. Go grab an old Ian Fleming novel and lose yourself for an afternoon. Guilty pleasure but pleasure indeed.
I loved reading the Ian Fleming "Bond" books. I had to get rid of my copies when I got married as part of a mandatory downsizing. If any VSL readers do get the urge to read one I would suggest starting with the first novel in the series, "Casino Royale".
ReplyDeleteI have always preferred the Matt Helm books myself. Start with "Death of a Citizen" and read through "Murder's Row" for a good feel for the character. I keep hearing of plans to make them as serious movies, rather than the Bond spoofs starring Dean Martin, but it never seems to happen.
ReplyDeleteharumph. Matt Helm. Maybe. But Bond absolutely.
DeleteWhen talent, vision, creativity (and lots of money)
ReplyDeletecollide a new world can take shape on the silver screen.
I discovered Fleming's Bond books back in my high school days before the first movie was released. I read all Fleming's books back then, including the travel guidebook. I really should go back and re-read the Bond books. It's been over 40 years since I last read them.
ReplyDeleteI think the only Ian Fleming book I ever read was 'Dr. No', but that has was so far in the past I can hardly remember it. For fictional spy stories set to film I really liked the BBC productions of 'Tinker Taylor...' and 'Smileys People'. I was a teenager when the first Bond films appeared and sure, they were fun and all that. But now, 50 years later I tried to watch "From Russia With Love" and just couldn't sit through the whole thing. Never get tired of 'Bullitt' though.
ReplyDeleteJohn Robison
Some times ago I bought the entire serie of novels on Ebay (in English, softcovers, second-hand), and I'm enjoying it immensely (presently I'm reading the short-stories collection "For Your Eyes Only"). And I'm a great fan of Daniel Craig, it seems to me the one that captures more correctly the original Bond character.
ReplyDeleteDeakins is a master and my favorite cinematographer...what he's done with Shawsank Redemption, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, are simply amazing.
ReplyDelete