New Moon director Chris Weitz Phone Call Interview

A lucky Twilight fan won a contest from Twilight's official twitter. His prize is an interview with New Moon director Chris Weitz. Here's the interview posted in his blog.
1.) How nerve-racking was it to know you had to relocate several location for New Moon?

A.) It was really nerve-racking because I thought people would notice and be upset, it was a puzzle to get it just right. The outside of the school is all CGI, we built the stairway for the school and took stills. In the Cullen's house I also tried to show different rooms in the house to add to the feeling of the house. When Taylor was traveling during Twilight a fan gave him a hand-carved Native American ornament. We used that ornament in Jacob's room in New Moon.

2.) I know Edward's car is now a dark silver, but was there any reason for the change?

A.) Availability. Volvo wanted to introduce a new car into the series, instead of the older model. So they provided a newer model, brown Volvo. Immediately we knew it had to be repainted, and chose a dark, non-shiny, black colour. It added more to the first Edward scene in the movie, the feeling is upbeat but the colour of the vehicle adds to the danger lurking.

3.) How did you decide to shoot the scene where the months are passing by, considering the books only name the months that pass?

A.) We originally thought we could use a blank screen with names of the months passing but felt that it was best to portray depression visually. CGI was used and the windows were covered by green screen. We used a robotic camera for revolvement to mimic the original hand camera as much as possible. I'm not sure if you noticed but with each revolvement the room changes, there are less pictures of her friends and the room gets more sparse.

4.) I really enjoyed the added scene with Victoria swimming towards Bella. (The book hints to the orange colour the water was reflecting, in a later revelation by Bella.) How did this scene come to be?

A.) Well, the orange coloured water wouldn't have looked right in the scene so we put her in the water visibly. That scene was difficult because we wanted to film her swimming towards Bella but it had to be at a distance. If it wasn't at a distance fans would wonder why Victoria didn't just get her in that short scene, but at the same time it had to feel threatening. That was all shot in Vancouver in a swimming pool, we had the actors underwater with four or five frog men with air tubes for security purposes. We also had green screens in the water surrounding the actors so we could CGI in all the particals in the water. Theres actually a program to add in all of the floating debris and colour differences in the water after filming. Kristen had a cold at the time and was scared of drowning. We had to force her to stay in the water [laughter] But Rob was more comfortable in the water, hes had to shoot underwater scenes in the past. [Harry Potter]

5.) Were there any scenes that you would have loved to see in the film but never made the final cut?

A.) Yes, one scene. Theres a scene with a motorcycle crash that gives more of a sense of danger. The reason why it didn't make the final cut was because of weather reasons, it was just too sunny to be considered Forks. The DVD will include that scene as well as extended scenes. Some of the extended scenes include more of Edward's visit to the Volturi concerning his immortality and more from the scene between Carlisle and Bella. [when he was stitching Bella up.] In one of the early drafts of the script this scene was not in the movie. Immediately I knew that had to change, it was essential to the story line.

6.) In the movie why were there two scenes where Bella and Jacob almost kiss when its not as dramatized in the book?

A.) It was more of trying to get the point across and we kind of stole the thunder from Eclipe a tiny bit so it wasn't just "Poor Jacob." With less Edward we needed a little more romanticism without compromising the spirit of the book.

7.) Did you have any say in the soundtrack? If so, how difficult was it to choose what made the final cut?

A.) I actually had a lot of say in it, and a lot of great bands didn't make the cut, [example: silver sun pickups] but we knew it needed to be more downbeat. For the scene with Bella's initial depression [the months] we had an older radiohead song, but we brought in Lykke Li and she watched the scene. She came back to us with a track that worked perfectly, but was never-racking because you never know what they're going to bring back. We really wanted newer, Indie songs for the soundtrack to match the mood.

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Twilight Saga: New Moon's Human Casts Interview

Sure, New Moon's vampires and werewolves may get all the attention, but it's Bella's gang of high school friends who keep the movie centered in reality. Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Justin Chon and Christian Serratos (who play Jessica, Mike, Eric and Angela, respectively) talk about providing the franchise's comic relief and keeping it real as mortals amongst all the supernatural shenanigans.

Unlike Twilight, which was shot in Portland, you shot New Moon in Vancouver. What was that like?

Justin: The weather's actually been better here. Portland was very, very, very cold and rainy. It's a little bit nicer here.

Anna: One of the freaky things about shooting New Moon in a different location than Portland was the re-creation of things, like the high school parking lot. It was like déjà vu because we were in a different country but they completely recreated the parking lot from the school we shot at before.

You also got a new director. What was it like working with Chris Weisz?

Michael: Chris was really great. Catherine [Hardwicke] was wonderful too, but they're just totally different in terms of their style and their process. And I think that as a result, you're going to end up with a film that just feels very different. I think that Chris made more of a conscious effort to have a visual cohesiveness in terms of how the film is going to look and feel with the vampires, the werewolves and the humans. Visually, it's more stylistic. And as far as the way he likes to work on set, he's just very calm and very clear-headed and intelligent. He knows what he wants and puts a lot into the preparation so by the time we get to the set it's all sort of mapped out for us.

Christian: He's really awesome. He's very well-organized, well-spoken, fun and carefree - simultaneously. It's incredible.

If you weren't playing humans, which would you prefer to play: a vampire or a werewolf?

Anna: I would personally rather be a werewolf since they seem to get to have a lot more fun. The vampires are very cool, but they have to be very calm and collected all the time. The werewolves get to let loose a little bit more.

Michael: I'd much rather play a vampire. Being a vampire would be cool, I think, for the first 100 years or so. It'd be fun to be able to play because vampires are just too cool; they're just sexy and interesting and complicated.

Christian: I'd play a wolf. I'd play Leah, 'cause she's sassy.

The mood for New Moon is pretty bleak for a lot of the film. You guys represent the normal world for Bella, but you also provide a lot of comic relief.

Justin: Bella's really depressed throughout the movie so we really have to bring light to it, otherwise it's just too dark the whole time.

Michael: Our job is to add a little humour, add a little levity, and just come across as realistic kids in a small town in Washington.

Anna: And I think that there's an inherent comedy in our blissful ignorance of everything that Bella is going through in the supernatural world.

Have any of your characters changed since Twilight?

Anna: Jessica's still pretty self-involved. I would definitely say she hasn't done a lot of personal growth between Twilight and New Moon. She does provide a level of silliness at a point where Bella is feeling pretty hopeless. I don't know that she necessarily cheers up Bella, but hopefully it ends up providing a little bit of a break for the audience.

One of the funniest scenes in the book is Mike's "date" with Bella, when he takes her to a horror film and ends up getting sick. What was that like to shoot?

Michael: That was a lot of fun to shoot. That's one of those moments that I think pretty much anyone can relate to. I've certainly had moments in my life that are almost unbearable at the time but as you're watching it, I think the audience will find it very sad and funny. I think that's what's so great about playing Mike: I get to relive all of these horrible high school moments and it's almost given all of that a purpose; it allows me to connect to that very easily.

Everyone always talks about Team Edward and Team Jacob. Don't you think it's time to start Team Mike and Team Eric?

Michael: Ya, I do! Actually, I've had friends who've jokingly made up some Team Mike t-shirts.

Justin: I would love to do that. I think you'd have to campaign. It's political. I'd need lobbyists and stuff.

There's a lot of new cast members in New Moon, including Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning and all of the new werewolves. Who haven't you shared a scene with that you'd really like to work with in the upcoming films?

Michael: It's funny because I worked with Dakota Fanning years ago in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle. She played my younger sister; she didn't have any lines and all she did was run around trying to bite the Reese character. And then like three months later she got I Am Sam and became a superstar. So I would be really curious to catch up with her again. And Michael Sheen is also just amazing.

Justin: I'd like to be in a scene with the Volturi, but it doesn't happen in the books so it's never going to happen.

Christian: There are so many great people on this project now. I can't even believe how large and massive this cast is.

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Kristen Stewart & Taylor Lautner: From 'New Moon' to 'American Idol'?

Apparently taking the pop culture world by storm in the Twilight saga is just not enough for New Moon stars Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner. Now the dynamic duo would like to infiltrate television’s biggest phenomenon as well. On the latest episode of Must List Live!, Stewart and Lautner reveal that they’d like to put their pipes to the test under the unforgiving glare of Simon Cowell on American Idol. (And don’t think they won’t fight back against criticism either. Just check out the boxing moves Stewart pulls on Lautner in the video below!) Should they ever make it to stage, what song would they croon? You’ll have to watch the clip below to find out. And then let us know: Would you vote to keep the Twilight twosome around on Idol?

Watch Video Here.