Special effects master Chris Corbould talks Bond, Batman and his BAFTA nomination

MILLIONS of moviegoers saw The Dark Knight and Quantum of Solace but few of them could have known just how much both films owed to a special effects guru from Little Bookham.

Chris Corbould has been nominated for special visual effects Baftas for his work on the Batman sequel and the 22nd Bond movie - reports Get Surrey.

His work on The Dark Knight, which was the second highest grossing film in history, has also earned him a trip to Hollywood later this month after he was nominated for an Oscar.

The Bafta ceremony on Sunday at the Royal Opera House in London marks the fifth and sixth nominations for the 50-year-old, who has worked in the film industry for 35 years.

“I started straight from school when I applied for a job at the bottom level and my first job was on Tommy,” he said.

“I was really into The Who at the time. That was my first job in the film industry and I got the bug from there.

“It’s quite bizarre because I started out to be a scientist. When I went onto a set I got a buzz and I spent the next eight years learning to be an engineer.”

As special effects supervisor, Corbould takes charge of a team of technicians producing effects such as explosions, weather conditions and other stunt sequences.

The father of two, who lives in Little Bookham with his wife Lynn, has worked on 12 Bond films, the first of which was 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.

“Bond is always a challenge because they do everything for real,” he said. “The toughest part of Quantum of Solace was probably the final climatic destruction of the villain’s lair where Daniel (Craig) was very much in the thick of the explosions and fire.

“I’m very respectful of Daniel and his abilities,” he added.

Much of Corbould’s work involves mechanical engineering or hydraulics and his knowledge in this field was crucial when it came to constructing one of The Dark Knight’s standout sequences.

“The scene where the truck flipped over was the most challenging because we were right in the banking district of Chicago, so it was quite confined,” he admitted.

The Baftas take place this Sunday, February 8, while the 81st Academy Awards will be held on February 22 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

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