![]() Instead they had plenty of ground level cameras set up and they had a third bob’ built as a camera unit running behind but the problem was that as it was heavier with all the camera gear, it would tend to catch up. Jordan was keen to use his rig on the bobsled run, flying with his feet brushing the treetops, following the bobs but it quickly became apparent that this was complex in terms of timing and not a lot of time was spent on these shots. Peter Hunt had described this to Glen as the most important piece of action in the whole film. The sequence has Blofeld in one bobsled with Bond in a second, chasing him as they race down a bob-run. Much of the footage was shot in March and April on a bobsleigh run that had been newly constructed for the film close to the village of Murren. In terms of the bobsleigh sequence there has been a lot of misinformation so I turned to John Glen who was second unit director, both talking to him and using his memoirs as a source. ![]() ![]() The footage from this set-up helped create what was then a mind-blowing skiing sequence particularly in the high glacial areas but it should always be added that other cameramen were involved not least the talented skier Willy Bogner and Alex Barbey, a skiing cameraman from Basle. Through its natural but limited gyroscopic properties it would also dampen some of the pitch, yaw and vibration, but nonetheless, the downward wash from the helicopter blades would have made filming hazardous to say the least. The rig was designed to counter the natural spinning that would occur, while giving Jordan the freedom to film from a variety of angles. The take-off sequence had the Alouette hovering above ground, Jordan strapping on the harness before being lifted into the air. Taking an existing parachute shroud line and body harness set-up, this was attached to the hoop while Jordan would hang at least 25 feet below, with the camera mounted on a rudimentary gimbal. It was put together by Marshalls of Cambridge. The rig was devised by Johnny Jordan and helicopter pilot John Crewdson, of the British-based Film Aviation Services, and consisted of a steel hoop about the diameter of a parachute canopy that was attached to the skids of Crewdson’s Alouette. The photograph shows Johnny Jordan and the rig he’d created so he could film ski sequences and bobsleigh action for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).
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