Early Skyfall Footage Shot in London

No sooner had the 'Skyfall' press conference taken place at the Corinthia Hotel near London's Whitehall on Thursday November 3 than the crew were making use of locations in and around the Whitehall area on Thursday and Friday, and again, on Saturday November 5 at Smithfield Market, in Clerkenwell.

An observer from the JBIFC was able to briefly catch some of the activity at the famous Smithfield Market on the Saturday, having made his way from the nearby Farringdon Tube Station and down Charterhouse Street. Some of the shooting took place near the West Smithfield part of the Market complex, while other activities were seen near Gate 20 at the Market, and in nearby streets. The weather was quite overcast and grey at times. Security was very tight and onlookers were strongly discouraged from taking photos. Nevertheless, a couple of very annoying freelance photographers also hung around.

The Unit lorries appeared to be making use of some of the storage facilities offered by the Market complex. Key members of the cast involved in the day's activities included a bearded and casually-dressed Daniel Craig, together with Rory Kinnear (reprising his role from 'Quantum of Solace'), and Dame Judi Dench (dressed in a smart navy-blue outfit). A bearded Sam Mendes, sporting a scarf, grey anorak and jeans, was on hand to oversee and direct activities and, at one point, Bond producer Michael G. Wilson also arrived on the scene to observe some of the day's proceedings and chat to the crew, including to Mendes.

A Jaguar XJL and a Range Rover were used in some of the scenes, followed at one point by a London taxi (although the latter was not part of the official convoy, and appeared to be in the background to create an authentic London street atmosphere). Rory Kinnear was filmed sitting in the front seat of the Range Rover, which appeared to be the lead car, while Daniel Craig as 007 sat in the back of the Rover. Dame Judi as 'M' was seen sitting in the follow-up car. The Range Rover used specially modified camera equipment, designed to get closeup shots from within the car and from the passenger's perspective. Interestingly, the Range Rover had the number plate OV60 GKY, which reminded onlookers of 'Sky' (but this was probably a coincidence).

There were long periods of waiting in between the brief action sequences while cameras and equipment were adjusted and re-adjusted, and the shorter daylight available as the autumn nights draw in appeared to add to the pressure. Some of the small band of curious onlookers appeared to get bored and drifted away. At one point, Dame Judi was spotted occupying herself by reading the arts Review section of Saturday's 'Guardian' newspaper while she waited patiently for takes. However, she must have been very happy that the day's shooting was taking place in the Clerkenwell area, as it is a stone's throw from where she has her London flat, which is near Hampstead Heath. Other sequences shot in the area included some armed security guards standing outside a gated entrance to a building.

Principal photography on 'Skyfall' began at Pinewood Studios the following Monday (November 7).

Please note: The above report has been edited and self-censored to remove spoilers.