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Marc Forster hired Dennis Gassner to realise the film’s ambitious soundstage sets.
“I think Marc felt that in the last film, Daniel brought a new energy to it, but it still held onto a lot of the old feeling of the previous films,” Gassner explained. “When Marc came in, he said ‘I think we should change that’”. This included entirely redesigning the MI6 headquarters at Pinewood Studios, which Gassner described as "a totally new look for Judi Dench. I thought she was a bit tired in the last film, so... let’s bring her into a new world”.
Gassner explained that his extravagant designs were inspired by Daniel Craig’s “great, angular, textured face, and wonderful blue eyes”. They have also been likened to the early work of original Bond production designer, Sir Ken Adam who visited Gassner's set for the Perla de las Dunas Hotel [whose great domed skylight recalled Adam's striking interrogation chamber in Dr. No (1962)] during filming on the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios.
Before filming the fiery destruction of the eco-hotel, special effects coordinator, Chris Corbould and his team conducted numerous explosion, fire, and collapsing ceiling tests with Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko so that they could focus on their performances rather than the action surrounding them.