'The whole thing was a bit James Bond like'

As reported a few days ago, a major incident occurred on the Quantum of Solace set at Lake Garda, Italy when an Aston Martin DBS plunged into the lake after skidding off the nearby road.

In a report posted at The Telegraph, Fraser Dunn, the 29-year old who was driving the Aston Martin at the time, discussed the event.

Dunn, who was at a hospital in Arco near Trento in northern Italy said, ‘I’m doing very well considering what happened but I was very, very lucky.’

Dunn, an engineer and not a car stuntman, was knocked unconscious by the impact and didn’t come to until he had rode inside the car to the bottom of lake–a depth of approximately 150 feet.

‘I do feel lucky to be alive because I was knocked out by the force of the impact and when I came to the car was at the bottom of the lake–I have been told it was 150ft down,’ he said.

‘The whole thing was a bit James Bond like–I just kicked out of the car and swam to the surface–my lungs felt as if they were going to explode and my chest still hurts now.’

‘I have been with Aston Martin for five years and I have never bent one until now. I can’t believe I’m alive. I was very lucky.’

‘Apart from a few bruises I am fine and I hope to be out of hospital within a day or so. It’s actually very embarrassing and I’d like to try and forget the whole thing.’

Dunn further said: ‘I have been out here for a month filming and working with cars. I’m an engineer with Aston Martin and not a stuntman–although I feel like one now.’

‘I have had a lot of support from the production team and I’m very grateful to them although as I said I’d like to put it behind me.’

‘I have been with Aston Martin for five years and I have never bent one until now. I can’t believe I’m alive. I was very lucky. All I remember was that the road was wet and I wasn’t going that fast but the next thing I knew I came off and I ended up in the water.

I can’t have been going that fast as another engineer was following me in a Fiat Punto. The next thing I remember is swimming up to the surface and the rescue people being there. How I managed to get out I will never know.’

Although a team of divers and a crane were able to retrieve the Aston Martin from the bottom of the lake, it is completely irreparable with smashed windows and a caved in roof.

The vehicle is currently at a wrecker’s yard and will soon be moved to Aston Martin’s Italian office at Padova.

Click the following links to view the Aston Martin being retrieved from the lake:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' Press Conference Held This Past Weekend

WARNING: Possible spoilers

A press conference for Quantum of Solace was held this past weekend at Tremosine, Italy.

Focusing specifically on the filming at Lake Garda, the James Bond event featured second unit director Dan Bradley, executive producer Anthony Waye and line producer Guido Cerasuolo in attendance.

According to a report from BadTaste.it (via IESB.net), several details regarding the action-packed opening of the 007 film were revealed at the conference.

First up was the news that the Aston Martin DBS which took a dive into Lake Garda a few days ago did not slow down the production at the location. That specific vehicle was actually intended to make an appearance at the conference.

Second unit director Bradley mentioned that the Lake Garda sequence would make up approximately 11 minutes of the film’s running time. He further stated that this could increase if they were able to film more scenes in the upcoming days, but this was heavily dependent on the weather.

A posted translated email from BadTaste.it also reveals further information:

The scene is described as the first sequence of the movie–15 minutes or so where we see a spectacular car chase, a tremendous crash and then a gunfight. This scene is a Second Unit, directed by Dan Breadley. It’s a car chase along the Gardesana, a famous and beautiful road around the lake (which is the biggest lake in Italy), between Malcesine, Limone and Tremosine: they closed the road and mounted some cameras on some Aston Martins to do some camera car. The scenes involves 40 stuntmen (half italian and half european stuntmen), six doubles of Daniel Craig, many Aston Martin DBS (we published a video of the camera-car) and a Black Alfa Romeo 159 (a famous Italian Car), which was the bad guy’s car.

They’re going to shoot in Gargnano and Limone until 25 April. Daniel Craig is resting in London after filming in Siena and Chile, but he’ll be available to shoot some reverse shots if the weather is good. It’s almost sure he’ll be in Carrara between April 25 and May 13, where they’ll film some important scenes in the very famous quarries of marble, with a flying camera (I think they’ll use cables).

BadTaste.it

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Gemma Arterton On Mixing Glamour And Geekiness For Bond Girl Role

Gemma Arterton briefly spoke about her role as Bond girl Agent Fields on the red carpet during the recent premiere of comedy Three And Out.

Arterton, who most recently acted alongside Daniel Craig and several other Quantum of Solace stars during the shooting in Panama this past February and March, stated: ‘My Bond girl’s not really a Bond villain. She’s not glamorous or anything–she’s quite geeky. So I don’t know… it’s amazing what a haircut will do!’

‘I just went to work every day, and if I thought about it too much I’d freak out! But it was absolutely brilliant.’

Arterton also denied that she went on a fitness regime to prepare for the role. ‘I actually put loads of weight on,’ she said. ‘Well, not loads of weight–but some weight when I was trying to lose it so I could be all toned. But that’s not my character–she’s not really that sort of Bond girl.’

Commenting on her rapid rise to fame since appearing in 2007’s St. Trinian’s and now in Quantum of Solace, she said: ‘It’s been insane. I can’t really explain it. It’s been actually out of this world and brilliant and scary and exciting.’

Click here for a photo of Arterton on the red carpet.

Stay tuned to the CBn main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' – Official Blog Report #5

The official Quantum of Solace blog has been updated today with another crew member from the 22nd James Bond film: director of photography Roberto Schaefer.

Describing his job, Schaefer states: ‘Besides directing the photography, you’re directing the lighting, the camera positions, movement, setting up the shots…’

‘The process is organic, but it also has a base proecedure that’s built into it so that we don’t just arrive here on the day of shooting and start saying “Well, what should we do?”‘

After a brief scene showing Schaefer and director Marc Forster in discussion, he said: ‘Marc and I wil go through a scene and he’ll tell me how he wants to block it.’

‘After about the first week of shooting, looking at the dailies, I was suddenly hit that we were doing a very retro, future kind of Bond film. I guess we’re just trying to make it visually stimulating.’

In addition to working together on Quantum of Solace, Schaefer has been the director of photography on almost all of Forster’s previous films, including The Kite Runner, Stranger Than Fiction and Monster’s Ball.

Stay tuned to the CBn main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Aston Martin DBS Accidentally Plunges Into Lake Garda

In one of the more shocking bits of news related to the Quantum of Solace, one of the Aston Martin DBS vehicles accidentally flew off a lakeside road and plunged into Italy’s Lake Garda this past morning.

An official release detailing the event:

Bond car plunges into Lake Garda

James Bond’s iconic Aston Martin has been fished out of Lake Garda in northern Italy.

It had plunged into the water while being driven to the set of the latest 007 film.

Producers of Quantum of Solace, which stars Daniel Craig, said the car was being delivered to the set in heavy rain when the vehicle veered off the lakeside road.

Italian TV has shown footage of the smashed, black car being hoisted out of the water.

Producers said the driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

The film is due for release later this year.

The car smashed through 20 meters of protective railings and fell 8 meters before hitting the lake, where it then sunk an additional 55 meters. Luckily, the driver in the Aston at the time, Fraser Dunn, was able to get himself out of the car before it hit the water.

Quantum of Solace executive producer Anthony Waye stated that Dunn suffered superficial wounds and would be released from the hospital soon.

Click the following links to view the Aston Martin being retrieved from the lake:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Videos: Aston Martin On 'Quantum of Solace' Set At Lake Garda

WARNING: Possible spoilers

As 007 fans are no doubt aware, much of the Quantum of Solace filming this month has been centered around the Aston Martin DBS at Italy’s Lake Garda.

James Bond’s iconic car will have a starring role in the film’s opening chase sequence and CommanderBond.net has come across not one, not two, but three videos highlighting the preparations and filming of the sequence.

Along with several new photographs of the Bond car posted here on the CBn Forums, the first video is available to watch online at Mediaset Video.

The following two can both be found online at YouTube. As a special note, the third video highlights the bullet holes in one of the (many!) Aston Martin vehicles that are an aftereffect from the action scene. Check them out:

Video 2:

Video 3:

As previously noted on CBn, a local report noted that the ‘most spectacular sequence of all will see Bond’s classic Aston Martin tearing away from the scene of a collision at breakneck speed, leaving behind a car and a truck. The truck then explodes into flames and ends up in the lake.’

The report further added that a specially designed net will catch the truck before it actually lands in the water.’

A follow-up article adds that more than 50 cars will be involved in crash in the sequence.

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Winehouse Spokesperson Denies Rumours

It’s been a rumour dating back to late 2006, but a spokesperson for Amy Winehouse today denied claims the singer is currently recording the title track to this year’s James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

The representative tells People, “Amy has been in the studio working on songs for her new album with [producer] Mark Ronson. Recording for anything else is pure speculation.”

The rumour mill went into overdrive last week when British rag The Sun proclaimed the artist and her producer were headed Ronson’s country retreat in Henley to begin laying down the track.

The news comes despite a quote 007 producer Michael G. Wilson in the April edition of Total Film magazine: “[Amy] could do a wonderful job. We’ll have to wait and see if she can do it.”

A poll on the CBn Forums found that over 64 percent of respondents would approve of Winehouse performing the Quantum of Solace theme song.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the most up-to-date James Bond news on the web.

No Difference Between Bond Blockbusters And Indie Films, Says Daniel Craig

What’s the difference in working on a mammoth James Bond production like Quantum of Solace and a British indie film such as Flashbacks of a Fool?

Not much, according to Daniel Craig.

In a new interview at Rotten Tomatoes, the 007 star discussed working on both films; Flashbacks of a Fool having just premiered this past week and Quantum of Solace due out in October/November.

‘I honestly think that on set there’s very little difference,’ Craig said. ‘On set there’s two cameras, maybe, the crew and if you’re shooting dialogue and scenes with actors it’s the same. The difference comes in when suddenly there are explosions and napalm going off everywhere. But actually the atmosphere is very similar.’

As noted previously, Craig’s debut as Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale has since helped the actor in getting smaller, independent films–like Flashbacks–made.

‘I’ve never, ever done films because I should do them, and if I have ever done that it’s usually been an unpleasant experience. I’ve only ever really enjoyed and liked films I’ve done because I’ve wanted to do them.’ – Daniel Craig

‘It’s been useful. Suddenly people are listening to me like I’ve got an opinion which is really disturbing!’ he said with a laugh. ‘I’ve kind-of got to have one! That’s quite nice in a way–sort-of facing up, championing something and believing in something. It’s a nice place to be. And, you know, I like [director and close friend] Baillie Walsh, I think he’s got a huge amount of talent, so saying to someone, “I like this guy,” is really very easy.’

Speaking specifically about Quantum of Solace, Craig said that despite the critical and commercial praise Casino Royale received, the pressure was still very much on.

‘I don’t think you can say there’s less pressure when you make a $200m movie–the pressure is plain to see. We’ve got to make it as good as if not better than the last one, that’s the only thing that matters. I’m no less nervous than I was but I’m very happy with what we’ve put together for this one. Marc Forster’s come on board and he’s taking care of a lot of things that I just don’t need to think about and I’m just getting on with it. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable with it. It’s James Bond, I don’t know if I’ll ever get to that place and get Zen about it–it’s not that kind of role. But I’m enjoying what we’ve shot of this and I’m planning to enjoy as much as I can of this filming process, because otherwise why do it?’

Working alongside Mathieu Amalric (villain Dominic Greene) has also been enjoyable for Craig. ‘I’m over the moon about it,’ he said. ‘We worked together very briefly on Munich, but I didn’t actually have any scenes with him on that. Now I’ve got to know him, and that Schnabel movie he’s just done is brilliant.’

As several fans have noticed, despite his enormous popularity as James Bond, Craig is keeping just as busy with several other films; Flashbacks being one example as well as The Golden Compass and the forthcoming Defiance and I, Lucifer.

Explaining how he chooses what projects to work on, Craig said: ‘Someone asked whether it was important to make a smaller movie after making a Bond movie, but I’ve never, ever done films because I should do them, and if I have ever done that it’s usually been an unpleasant experience. I’ve only ever really enjoyed and liked films I’ve done because I’ve wanted to do them. And that’s absolutely on an individual basis. Doing a film and saying, I’ve done a really dark film and now I have to do a comedy… That’s not me. If a script comes along and it’s dark I’ll absolutely do it and take the consequences. I’m not fussed about the image that goes along with it.’

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

More 'Quantum' Filming Tidbits From Italy

WARNING: Possible spoilers

With the Quantum of Solace production currently filming much of the action-packed opening sequences throughout Italy, details have come in on a few notable dates.

According to a recent article from the La Nazione newspaper, filming on the 22nd James Bond film will soon be taking place at the Tuscan city of Carrara.

As earlier reported on CommanderBond.net, this location will mark the transition of the film’s opening chase between 007 and the pursuing police from the shores of Lake Garda to the Canalgrande and Fantiscritti quarries.

The La Nazione article mentions a filming start date of 25 April at the Fantiscritti while an international press conference will be hosted at Carrera on 5 May. No specific details were given as to which cast and/or crew members from the film will be attending the conference.

Currently, the Quantum of Solace is at work at Lake Garda. Click here for photographs of the Aston Martin DBS being prepared for filming in the sequence.

For further, in depth details about the Quantum of Solace filming in Italy, check out CBn’s overview: Part I | Part II.

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' – Official Blog Reports #3 And #4

The official Quantum of Solace blog has been updated with two new video interviews with crew members from the 22nd James Bond film.

The first of the two new interviews is with Ana Endara, the extras casting director in Panama.

Endara discusses how she first contacted the Bolivian Embassy upon learning the country would be featured in the film. She also mentions casting some of the extras from an indigenous tribe in Panama and the process they must go through in getting to the set each day.

The second interview is with 2nd assistant director Toby Hefferman.

On set in Panama, Heffman explains that he works alongside the first AD in coordinating the backround, cars and other crew members.

‘We get up early and get in a few hours before call,’ he says. ‘Get actors, extras and everything ready. Throughout the day, it’s very diverse. From one scene it can be 750 extras like we’re doing now or it can be two actors doing nothing in a room, but each have their complications.

Watch both Quantum of Solace video blogs online here and here.

Stay tuned to the CBn main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.