Translated Article from “Best Movie” Magazine (Italy)

ROBERT BITES AGAIN Rob the seducer, Rob the dark one, Rob the heart-breaker. The curse of Edward the vampire has infected the fair Pattinson, and it doesn’t leave him, condemning him to, though not bloodthirsty, in any case playboy roles. It drags him in the nineteenth century Paris, among frocks and top hats; and, above all, beautiful women. It drags him in the atmospheres of Bel Ami, the most famous novel of Guy de Maupassant, that now becomes a movie adapted for the big screen by stage directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod. It drags him in a story with: “a loooot of sex!”, as the actor himself said. This time the seduced one is Uma Thurman (in her place there must have been Nicole Kidman), one of Paris high society women “useful” to the protagonist’s social climbing. With her also Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas. Facing these “dangerous liaisons” will “Bella” Kristen Stewart be jealous, now that she and Robert have finally formalized their story? SECRET TWILIGHT EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ECLIPSE AND HAVE NOT YET DISCOVERED EDWARD HAS COME BACK AND PROPOSED TO BELLA, BUT TO HINDER THE HAPPINESS OF THE COUPLE COME JACOB, DECIDED TO CONQUER THE GIRL AT ALL COSTS (SEE THE STOLEN KISS TO BELIEVE IT!), AND VICTORIA WITH HER ARMY OF INVINCIBLE NEWBORN VAMPIRES. A DANGER FOR BELLA, AND FOR FORKS, THAT WILL STRENGTHEN THE PACT BETWEEN THE CULLENS, IN FULL BATTLE ARRAY, AND THE WEREWOLVES, EVEN MORE GIGANTIC. NOR A VISIT OF THE VOLTURI WILL MISS… THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF THE TWILGHT SAGA RESTARTS FROM WHERE IT STOPPED IN NEW MOON. IT PROMISES AS WELL AS A GOOD DOSE OF ROMANTICISM ALSO A REALLY CHARGED-UP TURNING POINT. AN EVENT TO DISCOVER STEP BY STEP IN THE TWENTY POINTS TAKEN FROM THE BOOK “THE TWILIGHT SAGA ECLIPSE: THE OFFICIAL ILLUSTRATED MOVIE COMPANION” AND UNFOLDED EXCLUSIVELY BY BEST MOVIE. ACTION, LET’S START! It’s night, rain falls relentlessly while a boy runs terrified. His destiny is marked. The undergraduate Riley Biers will be only the first of the “newborns” who will form the invincible army created by Victoria to implement her revenge. This is the opening scene of Eclipse, yet not present in Stephenie Meyer’s novel. Lack of loyalty? No, absolutely. It’s just one of the many “inventions” created by the screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg to adapt the Twilight saga for the screen, necessary to switch from first person narrative of the novels to the universality of cinema. IF TELEPHONING Melissa Rosenberg spent hours on the phone with Stephenie Meyer to be told all the background of Eclipse, and to deepen the past of all the characters, even the minor ones. That’s how she came to know that Riley has been chosen from Victoria just because he came from Forks… a coincidence? FOUR FOR A SAGA Since its movie birth the saga should distinguish itself, episode to episode, by atmosphere and plot. Therefore Catherine Hardwicke was perfect for Twilight, raw and realistic story. Chris Weitz showed with realism the complex emotions of New Moon. David Slade was the only one who was able to make the conflicting feelings that divide Bella in Eclipse come to the surface, while Bill Condon was given the task to sum up the saga with the two final episodes of Breaking Dawn. REVEALED FLASHBACKS Eclipse unearths some secrets, from the legend of the third wife enshrined by the Quileute tribe, to the story of the transformation of Jasper and Rosalie. In the movie their past is shown in two flashbacks that take some poetic licenses, like the places where they’re set, that are different from the book. STORYBOARD During the writing of the screenplay Melissa Rosenberg and David Slade have worked together. The director draw the scenes that he wanted to put in a sort of storyboard that then Melissa translated in words. A COLOSSAL… TEAM Three different sets where available for Eclipse’s crew. Between six and eight hundred people worked on it. COLOR PALETTE David Slade together with the director of photography Javier Aguirresarobe, worked a lot on colors too, using different shades depending on the situations, even if generally he preferred to use warm tones. Cullens are represented by cold tones. Werewolves are distinguished by the presence of red (both Jacob’s car and house are of that color, as well as Bella’s pick-up that belonged to Billy). To describe Forks’ inhabitants, instead, brown earth tones have been used. AND AFTER THE ALIENS… Eclipse’s special effects have been realized by Image Engine based in Vancouver, the same that created the CGI aliens of District 9. FOR A BUNCH OF CLOTHES One of the most difficult scenes to translate for Rosenberg was the one of the quarrel between Edward and Jacob, when the latter steals a kiss from Bella. “It has been complicated to invent a conversation that doesn’t degenerates into insults!”. The costume designer Tish Monaghan had to work hard too. To avoid Edward looking too pale and thin compared to his beefy rival, she made him get some mass wearing several layers of clothes. MAKEUP AND WIGS Kristen Stewart, before starting filming Eclipse, had to cut her hair and make them darker to play Joan Jett in The Runaways. The result? She had to wear three different wigs to fit again in Bella’s shoes. REBUILDING When the shootings moved from Portland (where Twilight has been filmed) to Vancouver (both New Moon and Eclipse), there has been the need to completely rebuild some edifice, like Bella’s house, for the second episode, or like the Cullen’s residence, since the post graduation party held there. So two of the three floors of the house have been rebuilt in a 1850 m² set and there’s more. Also the driveway, the garage and a part of the forest have been recreated. THE DIPLOMA Among the various inventions of the Rosenberg there’s also the scene of the speech during the graduation ceremony, held by Jessica, played by Anna Kendrick, seen beside George Clooney and nominated to the Oscars for Up in the air. BECOMING ALICE It took about two hours of make-up to the actors to get ready. As Ashley Greene, alias Alice, said. “Hairstyle, make-up and clothes are a big help to get in the character. It takes almost two hours for the white makeup of the body, the yellow lenses and the elf wig”. A BORN FIGHTER Kellan Lutz, alias Emmet, has convinced the production to let him perform in many scenes in place of the stuntman. RETURN TO THE ORIGINS Bryce Dallas Howard, who has replaced Rachelle Lefevre in the role of Victoria, was Stephenie Meyer’s first choice for the part. FASTER THAN THE WIND To give the speed effect of vampires, treadmills have been used on which the actors run, that were towed by trucks or rigged golf carts. Special effects of Image Engine were added to this, like the wind on the leaves or the earth that raises, to make even more real the effect of the run. THE NEWBORN ARMY The scene of the newborns that emerge from the water has created a lot of problems. Being immersed so much made the greasepaint melt quickly, so also the team working on the makeup had to remain soaking with the stunts to retouch the skin’s color until the last second. INSIDE THE LEGEND The legend of the third wife, told to Bella during the bonfire, is shown in the movie in a flashback, for this an entire old Quileute village has been rebuilt. MEN OR WOLVES? Tippet Studio had to work differently on wolves than with New Moon. Chris Weitz, in fact, placed heavy emphasis on their humanity, making them using their paws like they were hands. David Slade, on the contrary, wanted the animal essence of the wolves to be emphasized, who use the mouth in a prehensile way and paws just to maintain balance. A THICK FUR Wolves’ fur has been made even more realistic, tripling the four millions of hair with an inedited operation that took more than six months of work. ECLIPSE AMID ADRENALINE BATTLES AND PASSIONATE LOVE SCENES, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDWARD AND BELLA IN THE THIRD CHAPTER OF TWILIGHT COMES TO A DECISIVE POINT. WILL JACOB SUCCEED IN UNDERMINE THEIR RELATIONSHIP? An army of blood-thirsty vampires, a love so strong to overcome every test, a pack of werewolves ready to fight and a boundless friendship. This and a lot more is Eclipse, the third anticipated chapter of the Twilight saga. Anticipated not only by fans. Accomplice the direction of David Slade (30 days of night), this episode is even darker, hotter and with more adrenaline than the previous one. Dark for Victoria’s thirst for revenge, willing to do anything to kill Bella, even to create an army of newborn vampires (thus are called vampires newly transformed, equipped with an extraordinary strength and blood-thirsty) to lead to Forks. A danger for the girl, but also for the entire little town, possible to vanquish only with the unusual alliance between vampires and werewolves. The which leads to the adrenaline, to that decisive battle that needed a remarkable use of special effects, of stunts and “choreography” for the grapple fights to make it worthy of a real blockbuster. But the heart of Eclipse is most of all the hot side. By now the passionate spirits have reached very high temperatures. Jacob claims that kiss that can make Bella change her mind, while the girl tries in any ways to seduce Edward, convinced supporter of sex after marriage (so…). But the love triangle between Bella, Edward and Jacob has come to its breaking point. The girl has to decide between to big loves, the brotherly and passionate Jacob and Edward, the reason of her life. Whatever the choice will be, someone will suffer… The movie doesn’t miss anything, scripted as usual by Melissa Rosenberg, who succeeded in keeping Eclipse within the boundaries imposed by censorship, in order not to lose the array of very young fans who had made the fortune of the saga. MELISSA ROSENBERG, THE DEUS EX MACHINA OF THE TWILIGHT SAGA TALL, VERY ELEGANT, BLONDE HAIR, BLUE EYES, MELISSA ROSENBERG IS A CHARMING LADY, WHO ADDS TO BEAUTY THE CLASS AND THE HUMOUR OF A CULTURED AND BRILLIANT WOMAN. APART FROM THE FIRST THREE EPISODES OF THE TWILIGHT SAGA SHE WROTE ALSO SEVERAL EPISODES OF THE O.C. AND, MOST OF ALL, THE CULT SERIES DEXTER. AND NOW SHE GETS READY FOR BREAKING DAWN… How does she work with Stephenie Meyer? Is she jealous of her own novels? And she, is she jealous of her adaptations? “For Twilight I preferred not to have any sort of contact with Stephenie in order not to influence my creative process. But then we met and I felt that I could relax and I needed her collaboration. The mythology of the saga is full of details and I needed to confront with her”. How much free to modify the novels do you feel? Do you consult with Stephenie when you decide to do it? “The incredible thing is that, when I’m afraid to change something, she encourages me. Many times I read her how I have adapted a scene and she is the one who tells me that for the movie it doesn’t work in that way: “You must change it, thus it doesn’t work on the screen!”. In Breaking Dawn there are some eagerly awaited hot scenes. Would you like a real love scene to be shot? “Oh, yes, I’d really love it, but we always have to respect the PG -13 (that is the American censor, that in this case contemplates that thirteen years old and younger must be accompanied by parents)”. How would you shoot this scene? “Obviously I’ll try to transmit that burning longing, that love greed that is hindered by Edward’s vampire nature. The saga is incredibly erotic, while at the same time it is very chaste”. Is there a place where you prefer to write? An office? Or a bench in the park? “I have an office all surrounded by glass windows that overlook a garden full of trees. It’s very relaxing”. Which advises would you give to an aspiring screenwriter who would want to make your own profession? “First of all you need to have a good general knowledge. But most of all you must always follow your inspiration, believe in your instinct and knock at every door, never giving up”. SOURCE Ankita :)