and actually in support of some kind of ship landing at Greenwich there we have this old report (from Marvel Freshman) of the Studio notice that went with the scenes where we saw people watch something come across the water and then panic and run.
<notice deleted>
Island Gardens is just slightly Northwest of University of Greenwich, so it would seem that possibly whatever it was lands there (especially if it's descending on it's way). Still don't know about the pillar falling the right or wrong way, perhaps a mistake or perhaps another reason. (also why does the identical pillar on the other building not get taken out, but whatever). And come to think of it, it would seem to mean that the Dark Elves come out of the nose end of it? Weird, isn't that?
another little tid bit, go ahead and try to figure out
Most of the stuff going on that they've filmed around there is in London and WEST of Greenwich, Thor and Jane come running in from the East, nothing that I know of for sure what filmed to the East (though there are a few places they've filmed I don't know where). Stonehenge is about 2 hours West
First--wait, what--you're thinking it's a ship now? After you worked so hard to successfully convince me to abandon that idea? The irony tickles me. But sure! I'm happy to roll with that, too. We can always change it back to a portal later if new pieces of the puzzle point that way.
You raise a lot of good questions. So let me dig in:
Island Gardens is technically west of the pillars in question, but it is less west of the pillars than the pillars are west of the prime meridian.
I've marked on a Google map Island Gardens (A), where I think (and I think you think) the white motorcoach is (B), and where the staircase on the pile of rocks is (C). See this link:
http://goo.gl/maps/7ZRhV
(If you want to add the Royal Observatory, it is at 51° 28′ 40.12″ N, 0° 0′ 5.31″ W. The prime meridian crosses that position).
It looks like the helicopter more or less flies perpendicular to the river's course at that point, leading to the courtyard where all the piles of dirt are.
I agree that the position of the pillar pieces don't mesh well with the trajectory of the ship. The ship would have to graze the pillar on the outside corner. Even then I would expect the pieces to fall in toward the building.
Possible explanation: the ship does not knock out the pillar. Instead, Thor slams Malekith through the pillars from the south to the north. Recall that Malekith confronts Jane & Co. in the building to the west, between this grassy area and King William Court. Thor enters and pushes Malekith toward the south. We had speculated at that time that the fight spills into the grassy area between the two buildings, and then goes north to the corner by where the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul is. (if you zoom in on the map, that landmark will come up by the corner where the knocked out pillars are). That would explain why Malekith has white powder on his shoulders--it comes from being pushed through the pillars.
As to why the pillars on the other side of the plaza aren't similarly knocked out by the space ship, there's either my explanation above, or the idea that it's a small space ship such that no part of the ship touches the other building.
Another idea on the dynamics of the ship landing: first it lands and then it skids. Recall that the two piles of rocks form a "T": the top of the "T" runs along the stone staircase that is there on the plaza, and the stem of the "T" runs down the courtyard that is between Queen Anne Court and the Trinity Laban Conservatore of Music and Dance. I had cited this "T" shape to the rubble as evidence against the object being a space ship, as it didn't seem like the right pattern for a ship's landing. This is the best I can do at the moment.
If the ship skids (and turns to its side), then you could have the dark elves coming out the side.
Regarding Thor and Jane running in from the east, I don't have an explanation for that. It's not that far to the east (still west of the prime meridian, for example), though.
I looked at that first Clapper again, and it could be either V 128, 118, or 178 and either K or R. It's just not clear enough to be sure, my leaning was 128 though.
Yeah, I thought it was 128 also. With the scene with the dark elves being 128, that means that clapperboard was for that same scene. But that doesn't make sense. The clapperboard is supposed to give a visual and audio marker so the video and sound can be synched in editing. It's for a specific shot and scene no matter which convention you are using. Those clearly were two different clapperboards, so what gives? I suppose it means that the trailing letter on this one must be an "R", or at least a non-"K".
I could never read the clapperboard that was in the little bit where Bobby Holland Hanton got hoised up by the crane. I think you thought it was 137, but maybe it is part of scene 128 too.
t: will look at it again after dinner.
Plus I think we had longer scenes in Thor 1 (like Loki and Odin the Vault) rather than so many cuts from scene to scene we had often in Avengers. And I predict Thor 2 will have more action cuts from scene to scene and less long character scenes in Thor 2, a bit more like Avengers in that sense... and definitely longer than Thor 1. So basically 128-137, stuff is hitting the fan but I dont think this is quite the BIG final battle. Of course we only saw these two scene numbers, so could be others we didn't see that are much higher or lower. *shrugs* Either way, I'd say not at the beginning! 
I would hope Thor 2 will be longer!
