DIE ANOTHER DAY, the latest James Bond extravaganza is produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and directed by Lee Tamahori.

In addition to contributing digital special effects and providing some stunning digital grading effects for the opening section of the film, Framestore CFC  provided some astonishing visuals for DIE ANOTHER DAY'S title sequence. The title song is written and performed by Madonna.

New Paths Over Familiar Ground
Bond film title sequences have become legends in their own right, and this latest addition looks set to join its illustrious predecessors. Like any self-respecting addition, the DIE ANOTHER DAY titles bring a new twist of their own to the genre. The sequence was designed and directed by Daniel Kleinman. The visual effects were supervised by Framestore CFC’s William Bartlett.

The titles follow a tense and action-filled pre-title sequence, in which James Bond infiltrates an enemy camp, is captured, escapes and chases his captors to their deaths, and is finally recaptured. At this point DIE ANOTHER DAY takes the unprecedented step of continuing the story during the titles. It does this by showing us glimpses of Bond undergoing gruelling torture at the hands of his captors. This is seen in the background or otherwise filtered through the sensibility of the title sequence. On one level the titles can be seen as a kind of dream sequence undergone by Bond as he endures his torture. We see the prisoner Bond’s face as it is thrust into an icy bath of water. Cue the music and titles.

The title sequence weaves together a number of features that will be familiar to connoisseurs of the Bond movies, including sinuous dancing girls, fire, ice and electrical motifs.

This elemental interplay takes off from some of the standard tools in the torturer’s kit. We see a red-hot poker transformed into a fiery finger, for example. James Bond’s chief tormentor, the Scorpion Girl, uses the poisonous arachnids as tools of her trade, and they appear in the titles as CG creatures.

Elements of Surprise
William Bartlett, who has worked with Kleinman on a number of previous projects, including earlier Bond titles and this year’s X-Box campaign had his work cut out realising Kleinman’s vision. The ‘firewoman’ is a striking example of this. The model, Jackie, was shot at Pinewood under an ultra-violet light. Bartlett speaks admiringly of her professionalism and endurance during this shoot – 9 hours wearing nothing but ultra-violet make-up, and no sitting down! The make-up provided a shadow-free, even skin texture. The texture was then treated with a number of sparks, with timing offsets that, when combined back together, give the impression of movement on the skin’s surface. This was then colourised, and glows were added to give the final result.

Similar pains were taken over the ‘ice woman’ effect. The model was shot using two different cameras, and also scanned. The 3D team could then match and rotoscope her. The ice skin texture is a tricky one, as it can look jelly-like if not handled carefully. Appropriate fissures and cracks that ‘sell’ the idea of a living ice sculpture were added, partly in 3D and partly in Inferno during the final composites.

Throughout the title sequence we see images of Bond’s torture distorted through the fire and ice, solarised or refracted through diamond-like facets. Finally, as the sequence and song draw to a close, and director Lee Tamahori’s name appears, we get a last shot of the Scorpion Girl peering through the slit of Bond’s cell door. We return to the ‘real’ world of the film, some sixteen months has passed, and a bearded, haggard 007 is about to return to the fray…

The titles for DIE ANOTHER DAY is a daring and up-to-the-minute reworking of the Bond traditions. In addition, they demonstrate beautifully the enormous range of visual effects on offer at Framestore CFC.