Skyfall: Scene by Scene
The sequence that follows is one of the film’s most engaging set pieces. In his commentary for Skyfall, Mendes speaks about his deliberate use of parallel editing to weave multiple storylines together: “What we’re able to do is tell three stories simultaneously: Bond obviously chasing Silva, Q following Bond on the combination of CCTV and graphics and M simultaneously fighting for her job and her life, you could say, in this inquiry into MI6.” The sequence begins as Q starts to hack into Silva’s computer. While he’s working, Mendes cuts away to a shot of Silva sitting cross-legged in his cell and moments later to the inquiry into MI6. As the sequence continues, this use of parallel editing to show multiple storylines helps to engage the audience by making the sequence more exciting. After a long shot of the inquiry – where they are “gathered to address important issues concerning the future of our national security” – Mendes cuts to a shot of Silva in his cell, stretching his arms and sighing, then to the guard who asks, “Going somewhere?” He cuts back to Silva who smiles malevolently and zips up his jumpsuit. At the inquiry, the interrogation of M continues. This scene features a lot of dialogue and, cutting back to Silva as he starts to escape, helps to punctuate the scene and engage the audience.
When Q and Bond infiltrate Silva’s laptop, Mendes cuts to a full shot showing several trapdoors in Q Branch opening. “What’s going on?” Q asks. “Why are the doors open?” The camera dollies in on Bond’s icy expression, dramatic music starts playing and he runs out of frame. This combination of dialogue, camera movement, acting and music helps to convey that Silva has escaped.
His means of escape is explained using camera techniques in a series of subsequent shots. First there is a close up of the screen saying ‘SYSTEM SECURITY BREACH’. “Can someone tell me how the hell he got into our system?” Q asks. Mendes cuts to a shot of Q looking down at the laptop, then a shot of the laptop which says ’NOT SUCH A CLEVER BOY”. Cutting back to the reverse shot of Q, Mendes dollies down to reveal Q removing the ethernet cables from the laptop. “Oh shit, oh shit,” he says. “He hacked us.” This combination of acting, camera movement and editing is used to explain how Silva escapes MI6.
When Bond descends into subterranean London, parallel editing, camera movement and sound help to create suspense and engage the audience when he’s trapped in front of an oncoming train. “Oh good,” Bond notes dryly. “There’s a train coming.” Mendes cuts to a point of view shot of a train speeding through the tunnel. This point of view shot is highly engaging, encouraging the audience to identify with the plight of Bond. He cuts back to Q, the intensity of the soundtrack increasing, then back to Bond as he slams into the door repeatedly. This use of parallel editing increases suspense by drawing out the moment. Cutting back to Q, Mendes dollies in on his concerned expression. Another cut to the computer screen shows the train closing in. As the music continues to build, the pace of the editing increases. There is a quick succession of shots – the oncoming train, Bond firing his weapon, the door bursting open – before Bond hurls himself to safety and the train speeds past.
Another moment in the chase that is particularly engaging is when Bond realises Silva has boarded a train. Here, audience engagement is achieved mainly through the use of camera movement, acting and sound. “Bond,” Q says, pausing for a moment. “Get on the train.” Mendes cuts to a shot with Bond in the foreground, sighing with frustration as the train leaves the platform behind him. He cuts to a wider tracking shot as Bond pursues the speeding train. Thomas Newman’s score rises dramatically. There are several shots from inside the train as it speeds away from Bond. He runs past the camera and it lingers for a moment on an elderly couple watching him curiously. The music approaches its crescendo and Bond throws himself onto the train at the last second. Mendes cuts back to the couple. “He’s keen to get home,” the man observes dryly. This moment of humour in helps to punctuate the chase sequence and make it more engaging. This use of humour continues when Mendes cuts to a point of view shot from the perspective of the train driver, Bond tapping on the window. He cuts back to a shot of the wide-eyed woman. “Health and safety,” he says, when she opens the door to the carriage.
The three storylines reach their climax as Silva, disguised as a policeman, descends on the inquiry. The scene starts to reach its climax as Silva emerges from the London Underground. Thomas Newman’s score features driving strings reminiscent of Bernard Hermann, helping to increase the suspense. Silva gets into a police car. As he’s driving away, he takes a gun from one of his accomplices, dead eyed and stony faced.
Here editing helps to convey how close Silva is to M, the audience hears her voice before she appears on screen. “Today I’ve repeatedly heard how irrelevant my department has become,” she says. “Why do we need agents? The Double-O section? Isn’t it all rather quaint? Well, I suppose I see a different world than you do. And the truth is that what I see frightens me. I’m frightened because our enemies are no longer known to us. They do not exist on a map. They’re not nations. They are individuals. Look around you. Who do you fear? Can you see a face? A uniform? A flag? No. Our world is not more transparent now. It’s more opaque. It’s in the shadows. That’s where we must do battle. So, before you declare us irrelevant, ask yourselves, how safe do you feel? I’ve just one more thing to say. My late husband was a great lover of poetry. And I suppose some of it sunk in, despite my best intentions. And here today I remember this, I think from Tennyson: ‘We are not now that strength, which in old days moved earth and heaven. That which we are, we are; one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.’”
As she speaks, Mendes gradually dollies in to highlight the intensity of her words. He cuts to another shot of Silva, expressionless, the police car drawing closer to the inquiry. He cuts back to M, then to a shot of Silva and his accomplices entering the building and shooting the security staff. As she starts to recite Ulysses by Tennyson, Mendes cuts to a high angle shot of Bond emerging from the subway, looking around desperately before plunging into the traffic. As M continues to speak, Mendes cuts back and forth to tracking shots of Bond running through the street and, finally, to a shot of Silva as he draws closer. When M finishes her speech, the music reaches its climax and Mendes cuts to a shot of the doors bursting open. There is a moment of suspense as he cuts from a close up of Silva, gun raised, to a shot of M. Here, sound editing contributes significantly to the suspense and audience engagement as the screams fade out and are replaced by an eerie, dissonant whine. The gun fires as Mallory pulls her out of the way at the last second.