Here is the view from the roof terrace. I assume this is actually accessible to the guests but there is always the chance it is used for maintenance and was simply spruced up for the film.
Look carefully and you can see the old Wanchai ferry pier in the bottom left of the lower picture. An additional picture below shows the ground floor of the hotel as Largo sneaks in.
Look carefully and you can see the old Wanchai ferry pier in the bottom left of the lower picture. An additional picture below shows the ground floor of the hotel as Largo sneaks in.
3 comments:
This one is very, very curious. I'd love to know the whole story here.
Looking at Google Earth, you're right that there's only one place this can possibly be, the rooftop of the Grand Hyatt at the northwestern corner of Convention Plaza. What's strange, though, is that while the shape of the rooftop *mostly* matches, it's not identical. This is only seven years ago, though, and I can't imagine there's been much alteration of the building since.
Here's a similar angle in Google Earth:
http://i.imgur.com/kJj7NVd.jpg
Didn't quite manage to line it up identically, but I didn't have time to fiddle for a more accurate side-by-side. You can see, though, that you have the same building in the background, and that the shape of the buildings is mostly correct. The covered overhead walkways to the ferry pier are in about the right place, and the Wan Chai Salt Water Pumping Station building is too.
But then, you see the differences. Look at my screenshot, and the nearest edge of the Grand Hyatt building is completely straight. In your picture, there's a dog-leg in the front of the building so that it's set back a bit. Also, the corner of the building appears to come to a sharp point in your screenshot, but has a beveled end in mine.
And also, in my screenshot, the top of the building is completely flat, whereas in yours there's a short flight of stairs at screen right, next to that dog leg, taking you up to a higher dais at the end of the building. And that raised bit is a different color to the rest of the building, too.
Of course, it could be a temporary structure. Look at my screenshot, and that end of the building is basically flat, other than a couple of pipes and air conditioners, and the railings for the window-cleaning rig. But that would be very, very elaborate for a temporary set, complete with welded metal hand rails, a huge wooden deck, pergola and rock sculpture. I can't see why they'd go to that much effort, to be honest, and it doesn't solve that missing dog-leg in the front wall.
So... Has the Grand Hyatt been added onto or reconfigured in some way in the last decade? What on earth is the story here? Enquiring minds want to know! :)
Yes, definitely a few anomalies for the sharper eyed like yourself. I believe the roof including the brown section of tile you mention were digitally manipulated in post-production.
This would explain why the building appears to 'cut in' (your dogleg?) where the steps are. The close camera angles on the other shots, as Largo walks up to the platform, do a very good job at hiding whatever is off camera.
However, I do think a smaller scale roof top was constructed on site for the close ups and some of the closer airborne edits - then the wider angle shots have just digitally manipulated a bit to hide the fact it was a temporary platform. A platform like this wouldn't be difficult for a professional production crew to make. It's mainly just wooden decking - you'd be amazed what these set designers can make wood look like with a bit of paint.
Ah, yes, of course. I'm forgetting the movie's new enough for digital manipulation to have been possible. (It would probably help if I'd actually seen half the movies we're discussing, but they're just not available to me here.)
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