Chris Weitz Interview on His Vision of the Volturi & Much More!

Check out this 21-questions style interview with New Moon director Chris Weitz, where he goes into depth on a lot of the aspects of the movie that are on the mind of fans, including the camera-shy Volturi:

The Volturi. Can you talk about your vision for this new group of characters?

CW: No matter how strange one of the characters is in a work of fantasy, I think you kind of have to approach them as people, and so you start to think, well, they’ve been around for 2,000 years. How would they live? How would they interact with one another? The conclusion really was that after 2,000 years, you would probably be more than mildly insane, no matter how cultured or gracious you appear on the surface.

I think that’s what Michael Sheen really managed to convey in portraying Aro, the head of the Volturi, which is that on the surface, he’s terribly gracious, warm, a wonderful host, and yet at the same time he’s absolutely lethal and frightening, and it’s also kind of what Dakota Fanning kind of conveys as Jane. She’s this, in appearance, very innocent-looking, harmless-looking almost kind of a teenager, but she’s absolutely deadly.

The first thing I wanted to do was to put them in a setting that wasn’t sort of Dracula’s castle. Because I feel that’s been done, there have been so many vampire movies and werewolf movies and horror movies where everything is dreary and dark and everything is blue or green, and instead for their headquarters to be surprisingly light and crisp, and then the characters that they play have kind of a tactile reality to them, in spite of how kind of bizarre their situation is. And the whole point is not to leave kind of Forks, Wash. where everything has been very realistic, and then suddenly go to a location that completely throws you out of the movie.

So that’s kind of a difficult balance to achieve. And the set, although it’s huge and grand and magnificent, actually kind of feels like a real place. One always has the option in these kinds of situations of shooting everything in green screen and adding the set later, and I’ve done that before, but in this case, it felt really important to actually build something that surrounded the characters, that they could interact with and that had a real sense of existing in in actual space.

Read the entire interview over at Hollywood.com to learn about the proposal scene and much more, it’s a great article!

[Source]

Chris Weitz says Muse, Band of Skulls, Radiohead on New Moon Soundtrack

New Moon Director Chris Weitz has a new interview with the LA Times where he details, among other things, some of the bands we’ll see on the New Moon soundtrack–including a repeat performance from Muse and newcomers to the Twilight universe Radiohead and Band of Skulls.

Driving home from a day of post-production, Weitz says he understands what’s at stake. There are 450 visual effects shots to complete, in addition to the score and the movie’s soundtrack, which he says will feature songs from Radiohead, Muse and Band of Skulls, among others. But the sequences he’s readying for the event — one, an action scene that will feature some of those effects, the other, a love scene sure to elicit hysteria from the crowd — will be done in time.

HitFix New Moon Vancouver Set Visit: Day 2

HitFix has Day 2 of its behind-the-scenes coverage of New Moon filming in Vancouver from May, including some new scenes with the Volturi as well as an unexpected scene involving a truce between the Cullens and Volturi–

After a few minutes, they change the angle of the camera and we see Jane —
in the same scene — inflicting pain on Edward. Yes, she’s the cause and she does
it with little gesturing and without speaking a word. A powerful vampire
indeed.

The production has a lot to get through today, so the shot then changes
to a close up on Bella who is being held by Alec stopping her from racing to
Edward’s side.

“Please stop,” Stewart says, “Don’t hurt him.”

At first, during rehearsal as the camera operator sets up the shot,
Stewart says the lines comically with deadpan effect causing some snickers from
the crew. But when the take is ready for real, she says it with the expected
dramatic resolve. The coverage also expands to find Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene)
being allowed to race to Edward’s side. She gesture’s that he’s “OK.”

While Weitz talks to the actors on the set about the next shot, we take time to talk
to newcomer Chrisopher Heyerdahl who plays Marcus, a member of the Volturi. The
role is a huge break for the struggling British actor, but he seemed to be
playing it cool. Intriguingly, he also revealed a flashback scene had been shot,
including his character, Aro and Dr. Carlisle Cullen (”Nurse Jackie’s” Peter
Facinelli) that set up the “truce” between the two parties way back in the 18th
Century. To the other writers on the visit, this seemed to be a scene they
didn’t expect would make the movie and were pretty psyched about it being
included.

[Thanks to NMM.org]

Chris Weitz on Noot Seear as Heidi: “Unearthly Beauty” with “Menace”

New Moon director Chris Weitz gives his take on the addition of fashion model Noot Seear to the role of Heidi in the film–

The striking beauty is stepping up her career and appearing in the second
installment of the Twilight films, entitled New Moon, where she will play a
cliquey vampire named Heidi who runs in the exclusive Volturi circle. And with
those killer green peepers and razor-sharp cheekbones, it’s unsurprising her
main talent is luring human prey.

New Moon director Chris Weitz told WWD : “We wanted someone who had an unearthly and unlikely beauty, but could also convey humour and menace. It’s rare to find a stunningly attractive person who also happens to have the ability to act.” According to reports, Weitz also considered Beverly Hills 90210 actress AnnaLynne McCord for the role.

Noot also talks about the continued difficulties with the contacts she had to wear in order to play the role of Heidi–

She admits she was worried her modeling years would hinder her acting chops. “I
was really scared because you’re not allowed to look in the camera [when filming
a movie], but in the modeling world, you’re supposed to,” recalls Seear, whose
problem was solved by the heavy-duty violet contacts she had to wear on-screen.
“I literally couldn’t see 2 feet in front of me. They would tell me, ‘Look at Kristen [Stewart],’ and I was like, ‘OK. Where is she?’”

[thanks to NMM.org]

Thom Yorke of Radiohead

Will Radiohead mastermind Thom Yorke contribute a track to the New Moon soundtrack? It’s still undetermined, but the earlier interview with Chris Weitz revealed this possibility, and it bears repeating with its own post. Chris Weitz said–

Fortunately, I’m not at the stage where I have to turn anybody down yet, because everything is still kind of up in the air, but I am surprised at some of the bands that have said they’re interested. It’s kind of great. The criterion will still always be what’s right for the movie at that given moment, but Thom Yorke is interested. We might, if we’re very lucky, get Kings of Leon to do something… It’s exciting to be able to have access to this kind of talent

[Thanks to NMM]

Interview With New Moon DIrector, Chris Weitz; Tons of New Info!

There’s an amazing new interview with New Moon director Chris Weitz, and he reveals tons of new information that fans have been dying to get their hands on. Among them?–

• Even Weitz was surprised with how quickly Phil Tippet’s company turned around the Jacob wolf shot at the end of the first teaser trailer. The shot has gone through numerous iterations and is much more photorealistic than that version.
• He’ll be submitting a director’s cut of the film to Summit within the next two weeks.
• Thom Yorke and Kings of Leon are interested in contributing to the film’s soundtrack.
• The movie within a movie, “Facepunch,” will only be heard — not seen.
• His vision of the Volturi is very much like the book and unlike a number of fan inspirations that have hit the web. He also sees them as having gone slightly insane after living for 2,000 years.
• He’s met with David Slade and expects the filmmaker’s vision for “Eclipse” to be different than what he’s doing with “New Moon,” but with the same actors and visual effects team.
• He’s flattered that fans want him to direct “Breaking Dawn” without seeing “New Moon,” but thinks the fans will want Slade to do it by the time “Eclipse” comes out.
• Weitz needs to turn the film in by Oct. 30 to strike prints or if not, they are in “big trouble” to make the release date.

There is boatloads more, so check out the whole interview over at Hitflix to read all the additional information!

Rotten Tomatoes also shares some info from Chris Weitz, where he reveals the proposal scene has not been cut–

“It hasn’t been cut out, I can tell you that much,” Weitz carefully shared. He paused to compose his answer, making sure not to reveal too much. “It’s not going to hit them in exactly the way that they think it’s going to, but I will say that — how can I put it? –it’s going to be quite special. I kind of saved all of my gusto for that moment. I don’t think it will disappoint.

[Thanks to NMM]

'Twilight' Director Talks About How Proud She is of Taylor Lautner

No longer on-board directing "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" Catherine Hardwicke still has good words for the cast of "Twilight", especially Taylor Lautner. The female movie director praises the Jacob Black depicter's hard work in order to be able to reprise his role in the upcoming sequel. "I think he looks amazing," she told Access Hollywood at the Women In Film 2009 Crystal and Lucy Awards on Friday night, June 12. "He's totally worked hard for it so he looked great."

On "Twilight" itself, Catherine also shares her joy of its big win at this year's MTV Movie Awards which was held last month, during when the flick brought home Best Movie, Best Female Performance, Breakthrough Performance Male, Best Fight, and Best Kiss awards. "We even won Best Fight! That was pretty cool. We beat Batman and all those movies. I was pretty proud of that," she gushed.

Speaking about the entire cast of "Twilight," Catherine claimed, "I'm so proud of the whole cast. They're all getting to do amazing movies. It's great."

Catherine Hardwicke, in the meantime, is having three projects to be completed and is just waiting for one to get an okay. "We just turned in the script today," she revealed of a potential next film "It's a modern rad version of 'Hamlet' as a supernatural thriller, starring Emile Hirsch."

Director David Slade talks 'Eclipse'

FEARnet have a brief interview with David Slade, in which he talks about Eclipse -

"What will differ about Slade’s Twilight?

“I don’t really know. We haven’t even started shooting yet.”

While the director says he has a basic idea of what he wants to do with it, he is more concerned with telling a good story than being “different.”

“It is darker, and there is a lot more action than the previous two,” he admits. “The third book is from Bella’s point of view, but the film will be more objective.”

And just how will he do that? “We are going to focus on the origin stories of several characters, like Jacob, and show how Bella will decide between Edward and Jacob.”

David didn’t read the books until the studio was interested in bringing him in – then he did his homework.

“It was tough for a middle-aged man to get into,” he admits, “since they are written for 15-year-old girls. But once I got past that, I found them to be quite good books, and a great story.”

He is especially excited about the great script from Dexter writer/producer Melissa Rosenberg. Right now, they are still in preproduction, with plans to start shooting later in the year."

To read the whole shabang click here.

Chris Weitz on being the Director of New Moon

After the success of Twilight last year, New Moon — the latest film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s book series — is one of the most hotly anticipated movies to be released this year. Leading the production is director Chris Weitz, who is taking his first stab at the franchise.

Q. How does it feel to take over directorial duties of such a successful franchise?
A. On the one hand, it’s exciting to take over a successful franchise. On the other, it’s daunting. There are so many fans who have high expectations for this film, but it’s made easy by the fact that I inherited this amazing cast who are certainly very talented. So half of the time, I’m just overjoyed to be a part of this and the other half, I’m nervous that I’m going to be hunted down and killed by a pack of 14-year-old teenage girls in about a year’s time!

Q. “Twilight”, the first installment of the series, received some criticism for not being 100 per cent true to the book. Are you addressing some of these issues?
A. It’s impossible to be completely faithful to every single page of a book because movies don’t have enough time. So you end up cutting things and combining things. But I would say that we’re definitely using the book as our bible. My take on this film is the film is the book and Stephanie Mayer is my main resource for everything in this. I’m constantly checking with her to see if it’s something a character would do or a detail is right. You can never absolutely please everybody but my main intention is to satisfy the fans of the book.


Q. You’re a very visual director. What’s your vision for New Moon?
A. We’ve got an amazing visual effects team. The whole idea is to use the full palette of colors, to have our shadows be very dark and to have our colours be very rich so that we can experience the full range of emotional texture. The idea is that this will look like a Victorian narrative painting in a way, with those medieval jewel-like colours as well as very glossy deep blacks, and for the composition of the frames to be classical. In some ways, this is going to be a rather old-fashioned film. There are elements that incorporate the latest technology and there are things that are very dynamic in the action scenes. But it’s more Dr. Zhivago than Iron Man.

Q. Is the music very important in this kind of film?
A. It is. The book itself is a very internalized narrative and music can be extraordinarily helpful in conveying those kinds of nuances of emotion which otherwise what you would rely on is voiceover or people flat out stating what they feel, which they never, ever do. So it helps you avoid exposition and it can make it intro a really gorgeous nuanced affair. Films enjoy more senses that almost any other art form, so music is going to play a tremendous role in this.

Q. Could you tell us about New Moon and how it’s different from Twilight?
A. I think we get an opportunity to sort of expand our scope -- from the confines of the forest to Italy. Your sense of mythology of this world is deepened so that the story that underlies what was going on in the first movie becomes more and more clear. And there are a lot of secrets that were set up in the first book and the first movie that come to light in the second movie. So there are a lot of surprises in store.


Q. How do you keep the continuity of the story?
A. Well, we try to maintain a coherence so that nothing seems unrealistic or bizarre. One of the strengths of Stephenie Meyer’s books is that they manage to convey the normalness of people’s lives and the normalness of the main character, and yet feeds on all those supernatural and extraordinary elements. When we go to Italy [to shoot], we are dealing with this 2,000-year-old order of vampires. The key is to cast it and to design it in such a way that it doesn’t fall completely from the story, but it’s a beautiful and intricate part of the whole thing, while at the same time, giving you the sense that you’re opening up to this much bigger world. That part of the story is a reversal of the usual rules. Bella goes to save Edward. It’s not the guy saving the girl; it’s the other way around.


Q. Can you comment on some of your casting choices, like Dakota Fanning?
A. Dakota Fanning is playing Jane, who’s the most dangerous and evil of all of them. And it’s a part where she plays against type because you don’t think of Dakota Fanning as either evil or dangerous. But she’s an extraordinary actress and we’re lucky to have her. Michael Sheen plays the head of the Volturi, who are the law and order of the vampire world. I think he’s an extraordinarily accomplished actor and I just feel, again, fairly fortunate to have someone of his calibre.

Please click here for the full interview, there's way more questions and answers!

Thanks to Metro News

Weitz Reveals Why Montepluciano Was Chosen Over Volterra

Twilight Italia was lucky enough to be the only Twilight Blog in attendance at a press conference with Chris Weitz in the last couple of days and have posted about it on their site. During the press conference Chris was asked about choosing Montepulciano for the Italy scenes, here is what Twilight Italia have to say about it (translated by google, not necessarily 100% accurate)-

"I add here that, following a question about why the choice is its fallout on the city that is hosting the filming, Chris Weitz said that he opted for a need for symmetry and photography. It also took the occasion to say that both cities are beautiful.

He added that if there is someone to "blame" for this decision then that's him because he was a very strong wish of the square instead of Montepulciano to Volterra. And I tell you my impression when he spoke you could see clearly that he has done a very professional choice based on that of which in his view, the film needed to make up. I have never concealed that among people who appreciate this director, so I am sure that has worked and is working to make a New Moon really the best."

Full the original article click here.

Thanks to Twilight Treasury!

And so 'Eclipse' commences!

New Moon stars Taylor Lautner and Peter Facinelli were spotted in Vancouver–Taylor Lautner looking a bit sleepy, Peter Facinelli at the airport to head out of town to EyeCon in Florida and other obligations. Eclipse Director David Slade was also seen arriving in Vancouver to scout locations and meet with production. Eclipse has begun!

"Around the same time Slade came, Peter Facinelli left. We were actually on the same flight to Vegas. Not sure where he was going. I sat across the aisle from him. He was lovely to fans who approached for photos in the terminal and the only other remarkable detail I can give you is that while I was trying to write The Outcast book review, he was givin’er on his iPod, playing some game that required furious tapping and scrolling and shaking. It was distracting and hilarious and adorable, especially when he became extra spastic with the controller."

More pictures over at http://www.laineygossip.com/ and for this article above: http://www.newmoonmovie.org/

David Slade Fights for Eclipse

Take a look at what Summit Entertainment posted to Twilight Lexicon to tell us Twilight Fans.

In any case, here is David, unedited and in his own words:“Dear Laura and LoriI would be grateful if you could distribute this statement tothe fans of Twilight:I would like to address some statements that I made regarding Twilight.When I made these comments, I had neither seen the film nor read the books. I was promoting a comedy short film that I had made for Xbox and every pop culture subject was seen as a possible comedy target. I was being silly and none of the statements were from the heart.Of course, I have since seen the movie and read the books and was quickly consumed with the rich storytelling and the beautifully honest characters that Stephenie Meyer created.I would like to reassure everyone involved that I am invested in making the best film that I am humanly capable of, and that I am acutely aware of the power of the original books we serve.Please be rest assured this statement is absolutely from the heart.yours sincerelyDAVID SLADE”

What kind of Director is this?!

David Slade, the confirmed director of the third installment of the 'Twilight Saga', Eclipse, has been interviewed about this new movie. Guess what he said? He doesn't even LIKE Twilight!

Here's the article from www.slashfilm.com

"When Peter compiled his epic and useful list of directors, actors and screenwriters plugged into Twitter, one of those included was Hard Candyman David Slade. Today, however, it seems like Slade’s Twitter account has been deleted, which is a crying shame. Besides the loss of an interesting tweeter, another of the reasons this is unfortunate is that the deletion covers Slade’s tracks a little and hides a rather amusing little attack he launched on the Twilight franchise
.
That being the very same Twilight franchise Slade has subsequently signed up to, and for which he will be directing the third installment, Eclipse. Oops.
So, the original Tweet might be gone but after the break we have audio of Slade ripping into Twilight and, if nothing else, its quite funny stuff… and I can’t help wondering what Summit Entertainment, the Twilight cast and Stephenie Meyer think about it?
This clip comes from the BDK movie show on WJFK in Washington DC. The show goes out every Friday night from 7p to 10pm EST and has featured me as a guest now a couple of times, and I’ll be back this Friday the 8th May too. Slade came up in conversation during last night’s show and the show’s host, Kevin McCarthy promised to dig up this gem from their archives. With Kevin’s blessing we present the clip here for you now:"

And for those of you who can’t listen at the moment, here’s my best transcript:

"…and so yesterday we were trying to find a movie to see and we’d seen all the good ones, you know, and there was nothing really coming out this weekend that we really fancied at all and having directed a vampire film and really gone for something completely different to the kind of romantic, you know, repressed hormone teen vampire movie we really weren’t interested in seeing Twilight but a lot of people said lets go so I wrote -
“Twilight drunk? No, not even drunk. Twilight on acid? No, not even on acid? Twilight at gun point? Just shoot me.”
[That’s like] a poem in a way [...] at this point excites me even though people think I’m a really violent and unpleasant person I actually do have this romantic violent side to me. Maybe I should have seen Twilight."

You can read the full article here and listen to Slade say it himself on the audio player they provide. Hard evidence!

Don't you think he's not going to even bother making this a good movie? Nice going, Summit!

Thoughts?