How do you direct a kissing scene?

“Capturing those [scenes] is really a question of just allowing the actors to do their work,” Weitz told MTV News in a recent interview. “They know their characters. They know the tone they’re supposed to hit.”

“It’s not like when they’re about to kiss, I’m leaning in and saying, just off camera, ‘Tender, tender!’ or anything like that,” he laughed. “I just let them do their thing. I think it would be creepy and inappropriate for me to advise them how to kiss one another or what it’s like to be young in love. I’m 40 years old. I’m not going to Polanski out on them.”

“I very much want the set to be completely free of all those concerns (relationship rumors) and any pressures that are coming from the outside world — paparazzi — and the tremendous attention that they’re under,” he said.

Source

Fandango commentator Lizerne Guiting recently interviewed New Moon director Chris Weitz. Here are some of the the high points of that interview:

On the New Moon Soundtrack (which you can already pre-order):“I mean 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.”

On Taylor: “It was great to be with Taylor as he went from a character who had three small scenes in the first movie to one of the dominant characters in the movie.”

The Volturi: “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.”

On the wolf transformation: “Obviously, people are gonna notice horse-sized wolves and realize on some level that they’re special effects, but they are photo-realistic and they should be as expressive as a good actor, if possible.”

Fan base: “But I do feel a tremendous amount of responsibility, more to the readership than to the movie franchise in a way, because I think that that’s the core experience that you’re trying to get at.”
(Thank you for that and I couldn’t agree more, Chris! Maybe that is why this looks like it might actually be really good.)

On David Slade: ” David Slade came in while we were still shooting the end of New Moon and I showed him everything that I could to give him a sense of what direction we were going. He’s going to take it whichever way he wants to, but just as I was inheriting certain things from (Twilight director) Catherine Hardwicke, he’s going to inherit certain things from me and make the choice as to whether he wants to keep them or alter them.”

Cutting the proposal at the end (WHAT?): “It hasn’t been cut out. I can tell you that much. It’s not going to hit them in exactly the way that they think it’s going to, but I will say that it’s going to be quite special. I kind of saved all of my gusto for that moment. I don’t think it’ll disappoint.”

Read the full interview here.

A montage of clips from an interview by Entertainment Weekly -Chris, Rob, Kristen and Taylor comment on New Moon things. Ashley Greene is there also but is rather quiet in these clips.

According to Jamie Campbell Bower, there is a scene in New Moon with the 3

Volturi in a Roman bath, nude? Is he serious? He can’t be.  Listen to this!

The Sun-Sentential in Florida ran a great article with lots of fun info from the set of New Moon. There’s discussions about Breaking Dawn, the directing of Eclipse, and more. Here is a portion:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Robert Pattinson is having an Obi-Wan Kenobi moment. Inside a soundstage where “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” is shooting, the lanky English heartthrob stands in front of a tall, wide green screen murmuring a tender admonition, “You promised me nothing reckless.” Motion capture cameras hurtle toward him across a length of track affixed to the stage floor, while a team of technicians studies his stance and the tilt of his head.

The plan is to digitally insert Pattinson, who plays swoony good guy vampire Edward Cullen, into a scene that was filmed much earlier—one in which he appears as an apparition to his costar, Kristen Stewart, cautioning her headstrong character Bella Swan against hanging out with some unsavory-looking biker types. For the effect to work, Pattinson’s image will need to be dropped in at exactly the right position, so despite the cast and crew nearing the end of a very long early May day, perfectionism is still the standard.

Many hours have been spent waiting for the sun to emerge from Vancouver’s perpetual cloud bank. Weitz and his team have been trying to film one of the few outdoor sequences that require bright natural light, but because the notoriously difficult British Columbian climate has refused to cooperate, the “New Moon” cast and crew are about to spend the better part of a 12-hour day inside the elaborate fiction of an Italianate marble hall complete with columns and engravings in Latin.

Today, that vampire ruling council is ruminating over the fate of Edward and Bella. Walking forward with his arms extended, Aro, played by British actor Michael Sheen, sporting blood-red contact lenses, offers a vaguely sinister greeting to his reluctant guests. The scene is replayed over and over, with Pattinson at one point leaving the set to consult with Weitz about a particular line of dialogue.

Standing by the monitors, the pair run through a number of options, while Stewart sits on the floor looking a little bored as she waits for the cameras to resume rolling. After several minutes, Pattinson, wearing a long, red robe and fake bruises painted beneath his eyes, returns to his mark, and filming resumes.

“I promised the actors that no matter what, we would have time to discuss every single line,” Weitz explains. “There was a line that he felt was repetitive, and Rob wasn’t feeling where he was in the scene. We worked it out and came up with some alternate dialogue. I can work on the fly a bit because I’m a writer-director, which is helpful. I don’t feel stuck or panicky when an actor is not down with a particular piece of dialogue.”

A bigger question mark hangs over what is the most adult entry in Meyer’s series, “Breaking Dawn.” Godfrey was mum as to specifics, saying only that everyone involved fully intends to make what would be the fourth movie. (The Web site imdb.com lists “Breaking Dawn” as in development with a tentative 2011 release date.)

“We’re shooting ‘New Moon,’ prepping ‘Eclipse,’ doing all the marketing—it’s a little overwhelming to really think in a detailed manner of how we’re going to crack this, but we have every intention to,” he said of “Dawn.”

Read the whole article here.

ReelzChannel has posted a video of their coverage of the Vampire Baseball event this past 4th of July. Check it out below!

I love the rivalry between Edi and Peter. lol

Source via The Examiner

Tonner Dolls has confirmed that there will be a limited edition “Hungry Edward” doll for sale at this year’s Comic Con in San Diego.

The item “features variant black eyes and comes dressed in a soft knit long-sleeved t-shirt and dark wash jeans. Socks, faux leather lace-up shoes, and faux leather bracelet with the Cullen Family crest also included.”

According to the release,

Hungry, Edward, from Summit Entertainment’s hit, Twilight, is 17″ tall, limited to only 200 pieces (certificate of authenticity included) and will sell for $129.99 in TONNER booth number 4148.

Pretty cool!

Source: The Examiner

Today Metro News Canada brings us their final installment of their New Moon coverage, an interview with Robert Pattinson:

Were you surprised that Twilight became such a phenomenon?

It never ever fails to shock me. Even here. Yesterday, there were 300 people outside the set. It’s just crazy. Every day, every single person I meet knows someone who has a very strong attachment to the books. It’s very difficult to put your head around. I can go through customs at any airport in the world — every customs agent is like, ‘Can I get an autograph for my daughter?’ Every single time! It’s crazy! I just hope it doesn’t change the way I think and stuff.

Are there differences in your preparation to play Edward?

I feel very familiar with the character. I’m a ghost, a figment of Bella’s imagination. I’m not really playing Edward. I’m playing a kind of disrupted memory, which is really strange. I’m trying to play him as if Edward’s constantly thinking that things are going to fall apart. It’s this idyllic relationship on the top. I’m very, very close to the surface. He’s so insecure about everything.

Read more HERE.

According to the official release by Summit to PRNewswire:

Film’s First Movie Trailer Receives 10.6 Million Online Views in its First Week Through Launch Partners MySpace and MTV

LOS ANGELES, June 9 /PRNewswire/ — The movie trailer for Summit Entertainment’s THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON received 10.6 million online views in its first week from the trailer’s domestic launch partners, MySpace and MTV. The trailer views on MySpace set a new record for the site with a total of 4.2 million online views within the first 24 hours and a total of 7.8 million within the first seven days. After being seen by 5.3 million viewers during its broadcast debut during the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, the trailer also received a total of 2.8 million online views on MTV.com within the first week.

The achievement is not only a record for MySpace, but also surpassed the views of the third and final trailer for the first film TWILIGHT, which received 3.2 million views in its first 48 hours online.

Go, Twilighters!!!!

Source (via The Examiner)

100 Monkeys at Hill Country in NYC Firstly I want to thank 100 Monkeys;  Jackson, Ben, Jerad and Ben for an amazing show last night at Hill Country in Manhattan. I was completely blown away by the energy and fun had by all. Having seen them two weeks prior at The Khyber in Philly, I realized that venue did not do them justice and wanted to see more.

CBA ladies, Shannon (Lakoda7), Tara, her daughter Rebecca, my son Jason and I arrived at Hill Country on 26th Street in NYC about an hour or so before the show. We anxiously waited in the main floor restaurant before being allowed to descend to the venue. Marty, their tireless manager came by a few times and assured us we would be let in soon. Once in the venue we situated ourselves directly in front of the stage. Getting to the stage was actually very orderly and pleasant, unlike the mad dash at the Khyber show.

Opening band Tin Tin Can from Chicago took the stage and played songs like “The Reverend” with really great guitar riffs. They played several more songs and were quite entertaining.Right after Tin Tin Can finished their set Jackson, Ben, Jerad and Ben took to the stage. Jackson, in high spirits, wore a straw cowboy hat and an interesting fake mustache. He was hilarious and from the get-go the guys were energetic and engaging. Right off Jackson asked for a word to begin one of their famous impromptu songs and in a few seconds went off into a song about “Cupcake” and so the show began!A few songs in Jackson said Jerad was going to do something of a striptease and he removed his black vest. Thankfully Jackson discarded the awful fake mustache. * Note to Jackson: NO MUSTACHE!!

On another of his impromptu songs, he asked Rebecca (CBA member Tara’s daughter) to pick the name of the song. Rebecca said “Chicken” so he broke out into a song quickly making up lyrics to her word.At the end of the amazing show they invited Tin Tin Can onstage for a jam session that went on for almost fifteen minutes and had Jackson cutting loose, dancing around the stage just having a good time. For me, the show ended all too quickly, I was having such a blast that time just flew. Occasionally I would look over to my Jason, who is a tough to please 12 year old, and found he was having a great time as well. Jason and I have been to several concerts together but I think this 100 Monkeys show will be his most memorable because first, he’s never been right in front of the stage before and second he has NEVER seen a band with so much energy and dedication. When you can make a 12 year old boy, who pretty much runs from all things related to his mom’s likes, have a great time and actually talk about it afterwards, you know you’ve done a great job. So thank you 100 Monkeys  for making my 12 year old a happy kid.

After the guys went upstairs to take care of some business, we waited around for a bit in hopes that the guys would reappear and mingle with the crowd. In the meantime, In The Land of Dreamers members Evie and Sarah, whom I previously met at the Bobby Long shows hung out and chatted with me.  Have to say I adore these girls and hope we can meet up again. Maybe half an hour or so after and to everyone’s delight, our guys came back and graced us with their presence happily signing autographs and taking countless pictures with all.Marty, their ever present and dedicated manager was so nice to us all. The band is very lucky to have someone like him. He makes it fun and is a very approachable man, even without his banana suit.

Having been at the Khyber in Philly which was a bit out of control, hot and sticky and the guys weren’t able to stick around after to mingle. Hill Country was a much better venue and a fabulous show. The 100 Monkeys are a phenomenal group. Each band member plays each and every instrument, easily switching back and forth between guitar, keyboards, drum and even trumpet. It also is obvious that 100 Monkeys really enjoys what they do and it’s conveyed by the vigor they put into last night’s show in New York. I really do hope they know how appreciative we are for the effort they put into their performance!

Come back to New York anytime guys! We will be happy to have you!

-Kimberly Rocha

So you say that you don’t have MTV and are worried about missing the premiere of the New Moon trailer??  Fear not!  MySpace Trailer Park is reporting that they will also be releasing the trailer at 7:45pm Pacific time, 10:45m Eastern time.  This will be 1 hour, 45 minutes into the awards show itself.

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I went on MySpace to catch the final Twilight trailer it took forever as the server was so loaded.  My advice:  Get logged in early!

Source:  The Examiner