Shimu lighting the way for Bond, James Bond

As one of the UK's leading specialists in Chinese antique and oriental furniture, Shimu are often the natural choice for theatre groups and production teams to supply furniture or accessories for use as props in plays or films. Their biggest and most high profile project to date is working with the production team for the eagerly anticipated Skyfall movie; the latest and some are saying greatest Bond film starring Daniel Craig. Much of the film is set in Shanghai and on an island off Macao so Shimu was a ideal choice to supply some of the oriental furniture and accessories required to turn the set at Pinewood studios into modern day China.

The buying team first contacted Shimu around this time last year looking to source several items to be used in various scenes of the film. Over the following months they supplied a whole range of pieces, many of which were produced to order through their workshop in Shanghai or via suppliers in Beijing. Amongst these bespoke items was a wooden towel rail; based on the robe hangers of ancient China and was used in a scene set in a Macao hotel, as well as brass hardware to accessorise window panels and a number of antique stools and reproduction tables.

The biggest challenge was to provide dozens of lanterns in various shapes and sizes, based on the large wire and canvas lanterns that they offer as part of their range of oriental home accessories. The production team needed several of these lanterns to be made in a larger size than standard, as well as smaller table lanterns and light shades. These had to be supplied to meet a very tight filming schedule, the team at Shimu managed to get the pieces made and shipped, arriving on set the day before they were required. See above, Shimu's standard lanterns and the bespoke versions, created especially for the film.

The production team were delighted with the finished lanterns, which were to be beautifully lit for a scene set in Macao, overseen by the cinematographer and nine times Oscar nominee Roger Deakins. If you've watched the Skyfall trailer or have already been able to see the film then you will have spotted the lanterns and the stunning effect they have.

Following their timely supply of the products used in filming, Shimu were recently contacted by the event team organising the UK premiere, which takes place this evening at the Royal Albert Hall attended by Prince Charles. At short notice they once again met the event teams requirements and supplied another 30 lanterns for the event, including 5 for the VIP room; to be seen by both British and Hollywood Royalty. Skyfall is on general release from Friday the 26th October, look out for the lanterns!

To 'get the Skyfall look' please visit the Atom Online Image Library where you can download any of Shimu's high resolution images directly to your desktop.

Other recent product loans include a request from the Royal Shakespeare Company asking if they could order some of the Wooden Pails and Calligraphy Brushes, seen below, to be used in a forthcoming production of The Orphan of Zhao the classic tale of revenge, occasionally referred to as the 'Chinese Hamlet'.

Shimu have also supplied big production movies such as The 47 Ronin due out next year, starring Keanu Reeves as one of band of Samurai out to avenge the death of their master, where they supplied 25 red lacquer folding stools to be used in one of the crucial scenes of the film; you can find out more on Shimu's blog. 

Celebrating Summer

As the evenings start to draw in we thought we would say goodbye to the Summer in a suitable way. There have been a lot of things to celebrate and to be proud of this Summer from a British point of view including The Diamond Jubilee, Andy Murray winning at Wimbledon, The Olympics and Paralympics, not to mention Britain’s Gary Craig setting the new world record for the most underpants worn at one time!

And despite any gloomy news that has been about; every cloud has a silver lining. For example, although our British Summer was the wettest in 100 years, this has meant phenomenal leaf growth, lots of chlorophyll and increased sugar levels in our trees. The result should be a fantastic firework display of Autumn colours as the chlorophyll breaks down.

You may also know that recently, on the 4^th of October, it was National Poetry Day. On the day itself here at Atom we discovered that Roger, our MD, is a poet… and we didn’t know it! So without further ado we hope you enjoy a poem that he wrote some time ago about walking in a typically British wood. This is the first time it has been published and we hope you enjoy:-

A Summer's Day

Walking on a Summer’s day,

Through leafy glades by streamy ways,

Neath tangled ivy covered trees,

In cooling shade where sun’s relieved.

Where all that’s heard is nature’s song,

To feel alone and yet belong,

To timeless ever changing tides,

That ebb and flow but never die.

©Roger Illsley 2012 All Rights Reserved

Let’s hope that the Autumn colours are as good as they are billed to be and that there are still more sunny days left to enjoy. You never know, as an encore we might persuade Roger to put pen to paper in celebration of the Autumn too…