Abstracts & Papers
Architecture in Bond movies
Architectural design in movies - or, in "film speak", the production design - is more than just an aesthetic feature that remains in the background while the plot unfolds. Although the audience tends to ignore the way a movie is "built", film architecture is crucial to the structure of plot and characters. How we perceive a character depends to a considerable degree on the ambience created by the physical environment - cities, buildings, interiors - in which he is presented. Production design also defines the geographical and temporal settings of the film, outside of which the plot cannot function. Finally, architecture is one of the central components that shape the symbolism of a film as whole.
From the war rooms of Dr. No, Goldfinger or Drax to Bond's own world of casinos and interchangeable hotel rooms, the architecture sets the tone of every 007 movie: power, luxury and risk. We take a closer look at the work of Ken Adam, who designed the sets for most Bond movies up to 1979, and try to compare his often utopian scenarios to the architecture of the more recent movies.
|
