Just delving into the mailbag again.

A chap called Steve had asked me (amongst other questions)

"How long/brutal is the intense chase scene in Madagascar we have been hearing so much about?"

So let's head off to the south side of Grand Bahama where the units are working on this sequence at two separate locations. The main unit is on the Madagascar shanty town set hidden amongst the foliage and undergrowth. The call sheet for today advises proper footwear as snakes can cause problems for the unwary so if you'll excuse me, Steve, we'll bypass them and go straight on down the road for a few hundred yards to where the 2nd unit are currently based.

This is a slice of land belonging to the Bahamian Ministry of Defence where long ago, some hopeful entrepreneur started to build a hotel. That didn't get very far but tourism's loss is our gain - with the addition of enough steel girders to build a second hotel, it makes a very convincing construction site.

Bond will have to chase his villain, Mollaka, across this site and it won't surprise you to learn, there'll be a certain amount of damage to the location as he does so. Again, the emphasis here, as stunt co-ordinator, Gary Powell reminds me, is on doing it for real.

"People have been sort of swamped over recent years with CGI stuff and I think they are actually getting bored of it now. So to go back to the route of actually doing it for real is definitely more satisfying, and hopefully for the public too who will be more satisfied knowing they are actually seeing real people taking real chances."

He's working with another Bond veteran, Visual Effects Co-ordinator, Chris Corbould, who feels just as strongly about this.

"I am passionate about my art, you know. I will fight tooth and nail to do it for real. I mean obviously if there is a danger element or a cost element , those are probably the only two reasons that I will back off and admit defeat, but no, we're trying to do a lot for real on this. If it's possible to do it for real it's probably the best way to do it."

Having a new Bond who is as committed to this approach as they are has certainly helped them achieve their aims. But they are also fortunate in the casting of Mollaka who is played by free-runner, Sebastien Foucan; as physically able a performer as any I have ever seen. Let me see if I can track him down for you.

Until then.
Yarborough