Set Visit: Twilight

By Andrew SimsThursday, April 3rd 2008 7:20am

Last week Dark Horizons got invited to the set of “Twilight”, a film based on Stephenie Meyer’s very popular novel series. I decided to send along fellow webmaster and a personal good friend of mine, Mugglenet editor Andrew Sims, for the mission.

A big fan of the book series, and a rising writer in his own right, he’s come back with the following feature report from the set. I hope you enjoy. - Garth Franklin, Editor.

“Twilight” Set Report by Andrew Sims

The making of the Twilight book series is the classic story of an author having a vision for a story and running with it. The author, Stephenie Meyer, had a “very vivid” dream that included now leading characters Bella and Edward. Not even five years later, she has completed 3 of the promised 4 books in the series and has a screen adaptation of the first book well underway. It was this first movie’s on-location set I had the pleasure of visiting on March 27th.

Having read the three books in the Twilight series released so far (the fourth will be released in August), I knew what to expect in terms of characters, a setting, and a script. The Twilight series is a love story between a teenage girl named Bella and a teenage boy (in physical age) vampire named Edward. It takes place in rainy Forks, Washington, and for good reason. The story’s vampires cannot be exposed to sunlight while in public because they will shimmer and glow, therefore exposing their true identity to humans. Upon stepping off the airplane in Portland, Oregon, I knew the cloudy and dreary weather meant I was getting close to the bloodsuckers.

The following day I took a 15-minute ride to the set, located within Madison High School, in the suburbs of Portland. The kids who normally attend Madison were on spring break, so the Twilight crew had it exclusively for a week. The school is being used for just a few scenes - the Biology classroom, the Cafeteria, some hallway dialogue, and the school office. Wednesday was entirely the Biology classroom, and Thursday (the day I visited) was entirely the cafeteria. Being a Twilight fan myself, as soon as I walked into the large white hall I searched for the Cullen kids and Bella. At 9:45 in the morning (having arrived at 7), they were wrapping up rehearsals and started getting into some filming. “What a concept!” Director Catherine Hardwicke yelled repeatedly, when cameras finally started rolling.

The scene went like this: Bella was sitting at a lunch table with friends Jessica, Mike, and Eric. As they mind their own business and try to snap Bella out of her depressed mood, the Cullen kids (Emmet, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, and Bella’s future love interest, Edward) enter from the outside. Bella, having just moved to Forks, takes notice and asks her friends who they are. “They kinda keep to themselves,” Jessica explains. As a teenage girl would typically sound gossiping, she goes into an explanation of each Cullen. After a few takes, the shot is wrapped and they move onto different angles. This continues throughout the day, and about 8 hours of rehearsing and filming will eventually transpire into a 4 or 5 minute scene.

The Twilight fan in me needs to take this opportunity to talk about the how pleased I was with the Cullens. I was immediately stunned by what the Cullen kids were wearing. Matching in silver and white clothing, you really get the feeling of a group of people who are together - who are a family. They are described in the books as beautiful, and luckily for casting’s sake, they don’t have to look alike because they’re an extended family.

We sat down with three of the Cullen kids for one simultaneous interview, and it was one of the most relaxing and down-to-earth talks that I’ve had with stars. “The cast is really cool and easy-going,” Kellan Lutz (who plays Emmett Cullen) explains. “Everyone’s really cool and I think a lot of us knew each other prior. I mean, I knew of Jackson [Jasper Cullen] and Ashley [Alice Cullen], who’s been a good friend of mine forever since I’ve been in L.A. It doesn’t feel like work, it’s like hanging out with your friends.” Ashley was quick to agree, and I agree too. Having observed them throughout the day, their family-like qualities go beyond their acting. The Cullen actors were always talking, holding hands, laughing, and fooling around with one another.

Directing a film like this is exciting for any director, but Hardwicke is one who can embrace the content especially. “I got swept away, how it would be to be a teenage girl that’s so obsessive and so in love with this guy,” she explains while emphasizing her words with frantic arm movements right on set. “I thought that was kind of cool. Just like, head over heels insanity love. I like that. ” She even hints that she’s aware of some little bits in the fourth and final novel from Bella’s perspective, Breaking Dawn. “At least I know it, it’s in my head. I’m sure it helps give me a little, you know, a little deeper perspective.”

Furthermore, Stephenie has given her bits of Midnight Sun - of which Chapter 1 is available exclusively on Stephenie’s website. It’s the first chapter of Twilight but from Edward’s perspective. “So what’s he thinking in every one of these scenes?” Midnight Sun answers that question, and she has made strides to use that knowledge in the film. And even though we didn’t have the chance to interview Kristen Stewart because of her classes, Hardwicke had some positive things to say about her. “You feel like she can be this girl that this family of cultured interesting vampires would be able to love her because she’s so deep. She and Rob too have gotten so far into it and trying to understand and be these characters. I mean it’s radical. They’re living and breathing these characters.” I quickly pointed out that while interviewing Pattinson (portraying the thought-hearing vampire who is madly in love with Bella at first site), he went so deep into the character of Edward. “Ohh yeah,” she breathes with a relief, “he’s just been living it and feeling it. Which is exciting because all those layers you feel. Every word that they say and every line and every scene is not just walking from A to B. He feels it, he lives it, yeah.”

Pattinson, who most notably played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, has a real passion for his character. “I went out really early to Portland to try and, you know, separate myself. I mean, I just wanted to make it more serious than your average kind of teen romance thing. It’s really strange, if you look at what it’s specifically about. If you just try to think why Bella likes this guy. He tells her, ‘I wanna kill you. Every time around you, I wanna kill you. And I could never ever have a relationship with you.’ And she’s like ‘I don’t care.’ It’s like, what? I mean, there’s nothing comparable to any story.”

What’s more, the 21-year-old Englishman has really given his Edward character a lot of thought. “You gotta establish what he feels as being a vampire, you just can’t be like ‘all right, that’s that.’ The whole relationship depends on how he stays consistent to what it actually is to be a vampire. I had a conversation with Stephenie just before we started shooting just about Carlisle and why [Edward] kind of accepts this family situation. I mean he sometimes treats [Carlisle] like a father, and sometimes treats him like a kind of mentor figure and stuff. If you put the situation in reality, what Carlisle did is like completely ridiculous. I mean, he steals somebody’s soul when they’re unconscious for absolutely no reason. Stephenie said he treats him like a father because he thinks Carlisle deserves to be his father because he wanted it in the beginning. And I was like ‘well that’s, bizarre.’”

If you weren’t aware, Pattinson has a pretty big fan base built with mostly teenage girls. Coupled with the huge fan base of the Twilight series, you can bet this movie will be getting plenty of attention. That is, if you even want to wait until then to notice it. While spending the day on set, a quick glance out the window found a small group of girls waiting at the entrance of the high school for a glimpse of the stars. I inquired with the publicist for the film, and she told me that fans have gone so far as to camp out overnight in hopes of getting an autograph or taking a picture with a star.

As the publicist, another site representative and I walked from the high school to where they were standing, they stared intently at us to see if we were one of the stars. Upon finding out that we are just journalists, I began asking some questions of which they were happy to answer. Some of the fans had spent only 1 or 2 days there and found out about filming through the local newspapers, online fan sites, and word of mouth. “I HAVE to go! You HAVE to go!” explains one fan, who told me how you must react to filming nearby your home. She was hoping for “a chance to meet these fictional characters and who’s portraying them. It’s exciting and awesome.” Luckily, they scored a couple pictures and autographs from a few of the actors that day.

With this kind of fan base already in tact thanks to the huge success of the books, the cast and crew are already anticipating a big release. Everyone is very happy with the amount of hype surrounding the books and films, including Producer Wyck Godfrey. “Obviously you have a big responsibility to get it right, which is why Stephenie’s been so pivotally involved in every step of the way. In terms of the script, in terms of talking to her about the cast, she came up in pre-production, she’s here now, she’s very excited about what we’re doing and feels like it’s the life of what she created, so that’s important.”

I went on to ask Godfrey another important question about a book to film adaptation, which is if Meyers has given them input while filming. “She’s really been good about understanding that ‘that’s filmmaking and I’m a novelist.’ She has yet to come up with something that she’s like ‘Okay that doesn’t work’ and that’s because Catherine’s been very in tune with her in terms of - if you do all your work in prep, you got the right script, you picked the right actors, and you picked the right place to shoot it you’re not gonna get a lot of that last minute like ‘oh my god, this isn’t how I saw it.’ If anything she keeps going ‘ah I never imagined it like that, like, you can do little things with looks that actually tell me an entire story that I spend pages and pages writing, sort of an interior life to the character, that you guys have learned to do visually. It’s just exciting for her because she hasn’t worked in this medium.”

Looking ahead to future Twilight films, Godfrey says they’re already making plans for the second book’s film adaptation, New Moon: “The goal is, we got the script ready to go come December. We’d want to shoot it around the same time just for the weather and stuff. You don’t want to be in the heat of the winter here and whatnot. Obviously you know the next one you can be out in the sun a little bit more. So, hopefully with that one you have it ready to go and ready to start prepping by the beginning of next year.” Is Hardwicke willing to direct New Moon at least as well? “Yeah, hopefully it’s all gonna be good. We’re just gonna keep on going. I mean, we hope!”

At the end of our interview with Hardwicke, something clicked in her head as we talked about Pattinson. She whispers quietly to us, “In fact, I hate to say this, but there’s a couple girls in Portland… he bit their necks and drank their blood - two days ago at a bar.” We laugh hysterically, and the cast, crew, and I wrap up our day on the Twilight set.

ShockTillYouDrop.com recently ventured to the damp, nippy environs of Portland, Oregon where Catharine Hardwicke is barreling through a 45-day principal photography schedule for Twilight (blog entry), the live-action adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s novel of the same name starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.As disciples of Meyer know, Twilight is the first in a series of books - which includes “New Moon,” “Eclipse” and the forthcoming entry “Breaking Dawn” - thus opening the door to a potential cinematic franchise. But will the first film’s performance the weekend of December 12th dictate whether New Moon gets the green light? Summit Entertainment and its producers may not even wait that long to find out.

Summit CEO Rob Friedman teases us with a confident smile, “We’re talking about it.”

Twilight producer Wyck Godfrey takes that one step further with, “The goal is, we’ve got the [sequel] script ready to go and come December we want to shoot it for about the same time - for the weather and stuff we don’t want to be in the heat of the winter. Obviously, you know the next book and know we can go out into the sun a little bit more. Hopefully, we’ll have it ready to go and ready to start prepping for the beginning of next year.”

Much more to come from the set of Twilight, including pics and a candid chat with the Cullen family!

 

 

 

 

Source:Ryan Rotten

 

 

LAPUSH — Filming of the upcoming teen sensation, “Twilight,” at LaPush is a month away, while most of the action is being filmed now in Kalama.

The film crew has nearly finished filming at Kalama Middle High School, which was transformed into Forks High School for the movie.

Filming at the beach in LaPush will take place on April 24, with the possibility of a couple of days of filming.

The movie is based on the best-selling series by Arizona writer Stephenie Meyer.

The series — beginning with Twilight — follows the story of 17-year-old Bella Swan who moves to Forks to live with her police chief father, Charlie Swan, when her mother remarries.

While still adjusting to the cloud-covered, rainy town, she meets and falls in love with the enigmatic and pale Edward Cullen whom she later discovers is a vampire.

The book is followed by New Moon and Eclipse. The fourth book in the series, Breaking Dawn, will be released in August.

LaPush plans
Exactly what will be filmed at LaPush is not yet clear, but in the book a central scene — in which Bella’s Quileute friend Jacob reveals that Edward is really a vampire — takes place at First Beach.

There have been hints that the movie will become a movie franchise, or series, but there has been no confirmation from the studio about that.

The transformation of Kalama Middle High School into Forks was not an extensive overhaul.

It was all in the details.

Kalama Middle School Principal Mike Hamilton said the crew added a couple of signs, used large stickers of the Forks Spartan mascot on the gym floor and made other minor tweaks for the transformation.

Many scenes in the book — how many changes are in the movie script are unknown so far — are at the high school where Edward and Bella first meet.

A hospital room set was built in the wrestling room of Kalalma High School for a key scene of the movie.

A description of the hospital room scene would give away key details of the ending of the book.

“We didn’t make a whole lot of changes aside from the sign and adding some additional green and foliage,” said Catherine Kagan, assistant site director for the film.

“The school has really been amazingly cooperative — they have really made it happen for us.”

The movie is being made by Summit Entertainment and directed by Catherine Hardwicke.

Robert Pattinson — whose claim to fame was his role as Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter — will play the gold-eyed vampire Edward.

Kristen Stewart — who starred alongside Meg Ryan in “In the Land of Women” and was recently in “The Messengers” — will be Bella.

Jacob, the Quileute native who lives in LaPush and is Bella’s best friend, will be played by Taylor Lautner — from “The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl.”

Kalama Middle School — home to about 575 students — might see one more day of filming Hamilton said.

Students interested
Watching the filming was an interesting process both for him and his students, he said.

Particularly scenes which demand a cloudy cover in the slightly sunnier Kalama led to quick thinking on the part of the production staff, Hamilton said.

“When the sun would peek through, they would switch to a different scene or do some rehearsals until the cloud cover came back,” he said.

“The students were really excited about all this.

“It was very interesting to them, and to us, about the whole process of producing a movie.

“A lot of them I talked to had no idea how tedious filming scenes could be.

“One scene they did 24 or 25 takes, and it took them a little over four hours to shoot just that small part of the movie.”

In all, filming of the movie — which began on Feb. 25 — is expected to last a total of 50 days.

The film is expected to be ready for a Christmas season release.

Source: Peninsula Daily News

1.) TM: Have you read the books?

Ashley: Yes of course I’ve read all three books! A few times actually. I finished all three books, and become a fan before I was even cast!

2.) TM: What do you do in Portland with your spare time? Do you need a local tour guide? No charge. My number is (XXX) XXX-XXXX. Ha ha.

Ashley: Time off. HA! No, um just trying to explore the city. It really is a gorgeous place! I’ve decided I would like a house here. Smile And thank you for the offer, that’s incredibly sweet…. I might just take you up on the offer when I’m here on my own time

3.) TM: What is your favorite Alice moment in the books, if you have read them?

Ashley: Favorite Alice moment? Hmm…. there are a few but a moment that always makes me smile is the whole yellow Porsche bit…. it shows a playful warm connection between Edward and Alice

4.) TM: Have you heard any chatter about sequels?

Ashley: Definitely heard the chatter Smile I would love if there were sequels. We shall see.

5.) TM: Can we come and do an interview in person some time on behalf of twilightmoms.com?

Ashley: The in person interview could probably be arranged. That’s something that will have to go through my management and the movie publicist though. I would love to though, if it can be arranged.

6.) TM: Are you getting along with the other cast members?

Ashley: The Cast is amazing! Everyone pretty much “clicks” which is very nice considering we are family now.
7.) TM: Can you please ask Rob if he got the Jack Nicholson DVD’s that we dropped off? A production assistant names Derek said he would give them to Rob.

Ashley: I will certainly ask Rob if he has received the DVD.

8.) TM: What actors or actresses to you look up to?

Ashley: I love love, love Audrey Hepburn. She’s so timeless and classically beautiful. Gina Davis is also great… long kiss goodnight was a favorite of mine for a while. Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Felicity Huffman are some others I look up to.

9. TM: What’s the biggest difference between the Alice from the books vs. the Alice we will see in the movie version?

Ashley: I am trying to keep the character pretty similar to the book. Everyone has a different take though. I don’t want to give anything away, but I am trying to give the character layers that people may not have picked up on. Most people see her as a cheerful cute bubbly girl, and there is just so much more to Alice than that.

10. TM: Has Alice’s hair been a big concern about getting accurate? Or are you doing your own version of it? Will it be a wig or your hair?

Ashley: Oh the hair! Haha, it’s definitely been a work in progress. I think you’ll be pleased though. Again, I’m trying to keep her close to what the fans see. I’m not fictional though, so we have to work with my face Smile

11. TM: Have you seen any of the costume designs for the movie yet? Stephenie Meyer has a very specific look for Alice’s prom dress on her website. Is the costume designer going off of that or using something completely original?

Ashley: The wardrobe I have seen is awesome! I love it. Unfortunately, the prom dress is just as much of a mystery to me as it is to you.

12. TM: I’d love to know more about the casting photo that was done of the Cullen’s. Was it really a last minute thing? Are wigs going to be used in the movie?

Ashley: Yes, the photo was just a general idea. Don’t worry. We were no where near finished.

13. TM: What did you think of Stephenie Meyer?

Ashley: Stephenie Meyer was so pleasant. She really is a sweet and talented woman I was a little nervous to meet her, but the second we sat down and began chattering away, I was completely comfortable. I’m very excited I was able to meet her!

14. TM: In what ways are you like Alice? How are you different?

Ashley: Well, physically, there are a few differences. At this point I think we all know I’m much much taller which much longer hair. I relate somehow with any character but this one is a little different considering she is a vampire who can see the future. I do have the same intense love for my family I’m very blessed to have such an amazing family. And I care a lot about others feelings, I would never want to intentionally hurt anyone. And what girl doesn’t love shopping!?

15. TM: Are you under contract to do a sequel?

Ashley: We don’t talk about contracts. Smile

16. TM: What do you think your life will be like after this movie comes out? Are you excited or nervous about all the exposure from crazy fans like us or is that just something that you take as part of the job?

Ashley: I am a little nervous. A good nervous though. The exposure will definitely help my career and enable me to keep doing what I love ya know? I am a little scared of the privacy level that will probably be next to nothing, but aside from that I’m ecstatic!

17. TM: What kind of big stunt work is being done? We have heard about flying thru trees - will you get to do anything like that?

Ashley: We are doing a good amount of stunt work. So neat! I’m trying to do all of my own stunt stuff.

18. TM: What are you doing to prepare for this role? Or what have you had to do?
We’ve heard Robert is doing a lot of physical training and also work on the dialect/accent. Have you had to do anything like that?

Ashley: Well, baseball. I’ve never played before so it’s quite a challenge. I’ve been studying few books, films and my own personal exercises.

19.TM: What is it like to work with Catherine Hardwicke?

Ashley: Catherine is a ball of energy. Positive energy. She’s very fun to work with!

20. TM: Some actors only like to read the script and not the book the script is adapted from… what do you like? Since a lot is changed in a script from the book version, do you think that knowing the character from the books point of view helps or is distracting?

Ashley: I think anything I can get my hands on helps. Books, the script, twilight sites, Wikipedia….. it gives me so many more places to pull from.

21. TM: What was the audition process like for the role of Alice? can you talk about who else was considered? (or that you beat out ) How long have you known that you had the part?

Ashley: The auditioning process was really long for me…. a couple of months. And I don’t really know the people considered. I try not to focus on that stuff.
And I knew about a month before I flew out.

22. TM: How is the chemistry between yourself and Jackson Rathbone? (on and off screen)

Ashley: Jackson is an awesome guy! Such a fun person to be around. And I think there is a bit of chemistry with everyone in the cast. We all get along great. We all hang out and goof off together.

23. TM: Ashley does it surprise you that Twilight has a huge Adult fan base? What do you think of all us crazy TMs lusting after Edward/Jacob?

Ashley: I am pleasantly surprised. My mom loves it too though.
Haha, well Jacob and Edward are perfect. I mean I’ve read the books and now I’ve met the people and they should be lusting!! They are very lust-able guys haha.

24. TM: What’s it like on set? Is it a fun cast or is it more serious?
Is anyone the funny one? Peter said in his MySpace blog that he gets called the ~dad~ has anyone else gotten a nickname?

Ashley: Oh its very fun. Its a very young, fun cast. Um, the “wifey” and “Hubby” terms have been tossed around. And we go in and out of being called jasper alice ashley jackson and such….

25. TM: Why has the cast been kept so secret? Is it just so that the production company can spread it out to keep up the buzz?

Ashley: I’ve got no idea about the cast. I think they wanted to wait until things are solid and set in stone really. But the Buzz was a positive too.

26. TM: Happy belated Birthday wishes!! Did you do anything special or where you working?

Ashley: Thanks!! I’m 21! I was working but a friend flew in and a couple of the cast took me out for a chill night. It was really nice, and I remember it!

27. TM: Where do you stay when you are filming? Do they put you up in a hotel, apartment, etc.?
What about meals? Do they have everything catered so you don’t have to leave the set?
What about free time? Can you go sight seeing? What is the funest thing you have done in Portland?

Ashley: Oh yea, we get fed. They put us up in hotels for most films. And we get Per Diem for food each day, even though they feed us! Not a ton of free time but when we’re off we have been trying to look around. I want to go hiking, it’s so gorgeous out! Um, went to Powells the other day, I love that place! A lot of the fun is on set actually. Wire work rocks!

28. TM: Being a crazed fan - I can’t get a good perception on how the outside world is going to react to Twilight the movie - is the buzz around set that this is going to be huge? Or obviously that’s the hope of every movie, but does it seem to be a big topic that comes up? Is there a lot of weight laying on this having a huge opening? Will that effect the possibilities of sequels happening or are the sequels already being set up?

Ashley: There is the hope that its a huge film. There is that pressure to appeal to die hard fans and also people who have never heard of the book. If we can achieve that I think there is a real possibility of this movie doing great in the box office. Of course I think the numbers effect if there is a sequel. If we open huge then it would seem like the most logical thing to do. If we fizzle then I highly highly doubt the second book would be filmed.

29. TM: What is the buzz about us fans? Do we differ from most movie fans in that we aren’t really about one particular actor- but excited about the whole dang movie even down to the cars they are using?

Ashley: We love the fans! Your the reason the films getting made and such a buzz! So thank you!

30. TM: We fans are obsessed about every little detail. Is this something Director Catherine Hardwicke is taking into consideration? If she is - can you give us an example?

Ashley: We all take that into consideration. No movie is a spitting image of the book, but we are going to try to keep you guys happy. There are a lot of similarities but there will be differences.

31. TM: What is your favorite book/movie (aside from Twilight, of course!)

Ashley: Favorite book? hmm…. I’m in the middle of “Eat Pray Love” … it’s a good one. Really enjoyed the Da Vinci code and well as Demons and Angels.

32. TM: What’s your dream role in a movie? Do you even have one? This could be a book character, or a movie that has already been made… whatever Just curious. AND, if you could appear opposite from any hottie in a movie who would it be? (So many wonderful possibilities here… I have my own hottie list…)

Ashley: Haha I am right there with ya!
Dream Role: I really would love to do a piece like Julia Roberts or Charlize Theron in Erin Brockovich or North Country. They were both so amazing and so inspiring. I would love to touch someone in the way they’re performances touched me. Obviously that will be when I play 30 and not 16 so I have time. Also a time piece.
Playing Alice is pretty ideal as well. I get to do everything!
Hmmm…. well I’m already working with a bunch of hotties now haha. But besides those guys Mr Johnny Depp is the first that pops into my head.

33. TM: Can you tell us all about Alice’s wardrobe for the movie????

Ashley: Alice’s wardrobe is a mixture of modern edge with elegance and magic I have the best wardrobe…. I think I’m going to try to take it all back with me! Smile

34. TM: What is a typical day like for you on set? How early do you start? How is your time spent!

Ashley: Nothings typical with us. Smile Some days are suuuuper long and some are short. The times vary as well…. usually don’t have days that begin before like 8 so that’s good. We just began filming though. The last few weeks was all training and hair and makeup.

35. TM: I just was wondering, if any of the other actors have been freaked out at all by the dedication of the fandom, and by any of the Twilight Mom’s stalking adventures.

Ashley: No, not at all. Right now I think its a blessing we have you guys as fans and supporters.

36. TM: What scene in the movie can you not wait to get to??

Ashley: Fight scene!!

37. TM: Is Robert speaking in an American accent while in character?

Ashley: Yes I believe he will.

38. TM: I’m trying to be really good and not ask a thing about MY favorite! (Emmett) (Tell me everything you know!!)

Ashley: I’m thrilled about Emmett as well…
Kellan and I have been friends for a few years so I was extremely happy about being able to be on screen with him.

Ashley’s response to multiple well-wishes and congratulations on her casting as Alice:
Thank you so much for all the support. It’s a big relief to know that in general people are happy with our cast!