sent from: London, UK. destination: St Germain-en-Laye, France

Such is the close relationship between us, the visual effects facility and the studio, that we were afforded a screening of the film we are working on, Gravity. This is a rarity these days, works in progress more tightly guarded than a nuclear weapon, encased in the sweaty expectations of the studio execs who are counting on riding its success to their next home in Bel-Air. And how was it? There was a Commodore 64 game called Thrust. I remember buying it – designed by a physicist, the blurb said. You had to pilot a small wedge-shaped craft that was being pulled down by gravity, using only thrust power to navigate treacherous tunnels and protective guns. You then had to find a spherical – thing – I can’t remember what it was – and it hung from you like a pendulum, (and this is where the physics came in), affecting your momentum, pulling you this way and that as you desperately tried to use your thrust to escape the caves, the extra weight and swinging motion often dashing you against the cavern walls. It was exciting stuff. That’s what Gravity was like.