MSN Superfans were one of the 5 internet media outlets that were especially invited to Vancouver to visit The Twilight Saga : New Moon set. The other 4 were Hollywood.com, RottenTomatoes.com, HitFix.com, Fandango.com. Lookout in the next few days and weeks for their observations and reports on the Making of New Moon. All of them basically have the same story as they were brought in together a group through the film shoot and met various members of the cast in the space of 2 days. The beauty is reading through their reports for their individual takes on what they saw. 
Now lets get back to MSN Superfans’ Myriam Gabriel-Pollock, here’s her report:
It’s about a month and a half into the production of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” and director Chris Weitz and crew have begun filming the highly anticipated Volturi scenes. We are in a soundstage about 45 minutes outside downtown Vancouver, and the dimly lit studio smells of sawdust. Looming almost 40 feet high and occupying most of the building is the Volturi lair’s interior set. The outside of the rotunda is covered in scaffolding, but the interior is breathtaking. Two arched doorways lead into a long hall that follows the curve of the building. Beautiful statuary and ornate columns look so real — until I knock on one and discover that it’s carved and painted Styrofoam. Movie-making magic, indeed!
Day 1
…The screens show Dakota Fanning as Jane and Cameron Bright as Alec, two of the most dangerous and specially gifted Volturi. Michael Sheen is off camera, but his chilling voice intones, “Let’s see if she’s immune to all of us. Shall we, Jane?” Dakota does two more takes of this scene, in which she has no dialogue. She spends long moments looking fiercely at someone (probably Bella) her smug smile slowly giving way to a quiet rage. In her red contact lenses, vampire makeup, and a coiled white-blond up-do, she is the perfect incarnation of a demon with an angel’s face. When Fanning finishes the scene, she comes by with a quick hello before taking leave; up close, her red eyes are even more disconcerting.
…We are leaning against the wall when the stage door opens and a small group enters. As they approach, I notice the tallest one of all; the well-coiffed, bronze hair is a dead giveaway. Robert Pattinson in Edward makeup and clothing, walks right by on his way to the set. In person he is tall and lean, and leaves no doubt that he is the physical embodiment of Edward Cullen, with a profile and facial features that are preternaturally beautiful and heart-stopping.
…The scene we watch is of Aro stepping down from his throne to greet Edward, Bella and Alice, who approach him with great trepidation. Aro cheerfully greets them, “What a happy surprise, Bella is alive after all! I love a happy ending.” He asks Edward, “Her blood appeals to me — how can you stand to be so close to her?” Edward’s restrained, velvet voice answers, “It’s not without its difficulties.” Aro turns to Bella and adds, “Fascinating. I’d like to see if you are an exception to my gift as well. Would you do me the honor?” Bella places her hand in Aro’s, at his behest.
They film this scene at least five times, from different angles, with the camera on different actors. A helpful production assistant explains to me that they take many varied shots of the same scene so the director and film editor will have several angles and shots to choose from when they put the scene together in the editing room.
Day 2
It is Day 2 of our visit, and we return to the Volturi set in Studio B. Ramzy, the Summit representative who’s been acting as our tour guide, tells us we’ll be seeing some wire work today. The scene we are privy to is Edward in pain because of Jane’s mental manipulations.
As we watch, Rob is pulled forward abruptly by wires attached to his wrists. This brings his face very close to the camera and his head fills the monitor screen. He then looks up, neck tendons straining, as his face silently expresses sheer agony, before he drops to the ground with a grunt. I’m not actually sure if the grunt is a result of Rob’s pain or Edward’s pain. He does several takes of this scene, and he’s dropping to the hard floor, not onto a cushion.(!! Ouch)
…It is 3:30 p.m., and we’re famished. We head over to the craft services tent for a late lunch. There is a nice variety of food, nothing out of the ordinary or remarkable, except that the Volturi are also having their lunch. Fanning, Bright, Bewley, Heyerdahl and Sheen are all in here, as well as many other Volturi extras. It looks like a tent full of Marilyn Manson’s relatives. Lunch ends with some fabulous chocolate tarts.
As we wait for our vans, Bright stops by and talks to us for a bit. He’s a sweet young guy who lives just outside of Victoria, British Columbia. He is clearly excited to be a part of “New Moon,” and his enthusiasm is refreshing.
Please read the entire report here.
Myriam also spoke to Cameron Bright and here’s an excerpt of her interview.( Check it out! The Volturis also have their family crest! Woooo )
Were you a “Twilight” fan beforehand? Have you read the books?
Never read the books but I did watch the movie. Because a lot of people were saying like, it was half and half— all the guys were saying it was bad, and all the girls were saying it was good. I actually liked it, I didn’t mind it at all. And now obviously, I have to be in it, so…yeah [Laughs.]
Do you get to go to Italy with the rest of the crew?
Nope, the whole Volturi family is going except for me!
Awwww!
Yeah, exactly! [Laughs.] Maybe now they’ll be like, “We’ll send him, out of pity!
Your wardrobe, that pendant you’re wearing—do you know what those symbols are?
I don’t know, they just kind of slapped it on me. I know that’s a “V” for Volturi, I’m guessing? Because I’m a Volturi…I really have no idea what you’re asking. [Laughs.]
Does yours match Daniel’s?
The whole Volturi family has it because that’s their family seal. I don’t really know all of it.
Here’s Fandango’s Lizerne Guiting’s take on the visit:
Rachelle Lefevre Shares Stunt Secrets
At the end of Day 1, we visited a different sound stage to watch Rob Pattinson film special effects. He wore a dark gray suit with strategically disheveled hair, and spent most of the time standing on a platform in front of what looked like an IMAX-size neon green screen for his scenes in which he appears as a hallucination to Bella. A long dolly track was laid down for the camera to travel from one end of the studio to the other, where he was standing. We media folks stayed at the other end of the track, unable to hear anything he said, but Rachelle Lefevre (who plays Victoria) was also at that end. She let us in on all the stunts she’d been filming, which made up for not being able to hear Rob.
For the past two and half weeks, she’s been filming her own scenes – up 25 feet high in the trees. She and the cast have a running joke about not seeing each other while filming. “I see them all the time at night, but I never see them during the day,” Lefevre says. “They’re like, ‘Where are you?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, you guys don’t know, but we’re making a whole other movie in the woods, like half an hour away.’”
She has a stunt double, and she’s harnessed while shooting, but that doesn’t quell Lefevre’s fear of heights with all the shooting in the trees. “I’m absolutely terrified when I’m up there,” she says. “I’m like, ‘Wow, I don’t know how I’m gonna bring myself to jump from here, this freefall leap.’ And then they say ‘action’ and you just do it. It’s this bizarre thing where you don’t want to get all the way up there and then not do it. Failure’s just not an option.”
Click here for the complete article.
As we mentioned yesterday and confirmed by Rachelle LeFervre on her Twitter,
“So unbelievable happy about Xavier cast as Riley!!! He is so lovely & talented & perfect for the role. Ladies, hold on to your hearts…”
( Your warning is heeded Rachelle)
Xavier Samuel is Riley in Summit's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Daily Telegraph has comments from the 25 year old Australian,
In Eclipse he takes on the role of a newborn vampire named Riley, a good-looking university student involved in a plot to kill Stewart’s character Bella.
Samuel is still getting his head around the Twilight phenomenon.
“I managed to catch the film on the way over on the plane,” he said. He admitted he’s not read any of the best-selling books of the series – yet.
“I’m going to start reading the first one tonight.”
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