A Night in Hollywood (sorta)

~*~*Make sure you check out Rochelle's Blog for more pictures and her thoughts*~*~

So last night was Rochelle's tour of the Twilight set that she won on the local radio station. I was extremely fortunate that she chose me to be her "plus one." I spent all day obsessing about what I was going to wear and trying to come up with semi intelligent things I could say when I meet different people working on the production. I don't know if I accomplished anything with my advanced planning in either field, but it kept me occupied.

Rochelle and I at her house before leaving.

We were told to arrive at 8:00 p.m. on the set and to ask for Peter, the publicist. He was super friendly and made us feel very welcome. We told him that we had brought hardcover copies of the Twilight book to get autographed and he was kind enough to bring us over to Cathrine Hardwicke (the director) to chat with her and get her to sign our books. We asked her how she had picked our little town and more importantly, how they chose Bella's house. The house itself is up on a hill on a dead end street, so they would not have seen it while driving down the street. Cathrine said she driving down the mainstreet on her way to downtown and she saw the hill and all the trees and and asked to drive up the hill. She saw the house and said, "I WANT THAT HOUSE!" And she got it. Who knows how much they had to pay the current owners to take it over and move their stuff in and repaint and remodel, but it must have been enticing enough that the owners agreed. Rumer has it though that the current owners are getting a bit worried though because of all the attention their house is receiving. What do you expect when you sign your home over to a major production company??

Cathrine Hardwicke and I

We watched them set up a scene. They have stand ins that are the approximate height and build of the higherpaid/professional actors stand in place so they can fix the lights and get the camera angles correct. Those poor "doubles" were out there for hours in some instances. Then the actors come in for 10 or 15 minutes in some cases. The scene they were filming tonight is where Bella is confronted in the alley in Port Angeles. We met the "frat boys" (which is what the harrassers are being called in the script) and their doubles. Those guys were all a breath of fresh air on the set. It was REALLY REALLY cold and dark and Peter had told us that at some point pretty much everyone in the cast and crew has been sick. This movie has primarily been filmed outdoors and it has been a very rainy spring. The frat boys characters had only been filming for two days so they were having a good time and enjoying the experience. I think the rest of the cast and crew were just ready to be done. Most were VERY nice, but there were a few Growly Gusses in the bunch who seemed very annoyed by our presence.

So we watched them set up the "confrontation" from all angles. It was really cool to stand behind the monitors and watch how everything appears on the tape. The thought of returning to a studio and taking ALL of that footage (multiple takes of each angle and perspective of every scene) is a bit overwhelming. We were able to take pictures of the rehearsals, but due to the evening sky and the random set lights, many turned out kinda blurry. Besides, someone is ALWAYS moving on the set. Unless they yell "Rolling... and ACTION" (and when the director yells this, people repeat it as if on cue so that you hear it in every part of the camp and set and there is NO excuse for making noise.

What the set looked like when we first arrived.

Edward and Bella's standins in the Volvo
The set up from afar.Robert showing up for his scene.This one is really blurry, but it's Robert talking to Cathrine about the upcoming scene. He has to look REALLY mean.Standing in front of the action.Loading up the Volvo with the camera equipment so they could get different angles. I imagine it was mighty cramped in there!!

During one of the setups when they were using the standins Peter introduced us to Robert Pattinson (who plays Edward) and he was VERY kind. He chatted with us about the books (yes, he has read them), about Portland, about filming, about becoming a star. He really is a genuine, humble person. He says that after this movie he thinks he will just "fade away." I really don't think he has any idea what is going to hit him come December 13th. He signed our books and posed for pictures. He was in full hair and makeup and was wearing these awesome amber colored contacts. I have to say that when he was announced as getting the part of Edward I was a tad concerned. He is handsome, but kinda skinny. I didn't know if he'd be able to pull off a part that is supposed to be perfection personafied. But he is growing on me. I think he'll do just fine. And he seems to have a very sweet chemistry with Kristen Stewart, who is planning Bella. She is a very shy person by nature and was not feeling well last night and he seemed to go out of his way to make her feel comfortable between takes.

Robert and I

After talking to Robert we chatted with the "fake frat boys" (the standins) while they shot the real scenes. They were cracking us up with their stories and antics. Most of them had never done a film before and they were quite giddy when we asked for their autographs, too. (Hey, we figured that we should get whomever we could to sign our books.)

Me with Fake Frat Boys 1, 2, 3, and 4

Peter told us to leave Kristen alone, that she isn't a big fan of groupies, so we stayed out of her way. We got to be about two feet away while she got her makeup touched up and she always smiled at us as she would walk by, but we didn't approach her. During one of her scenes there were people watching the filming from atop a building close by and we could hear the directors on the headsets asking for the people to be removed because they were making Kristen nervous. I have say that while acting is an odd career choice for someone with anxiety, I think I would feel the EXACT same way.

Kristen getting her makeup done. She is sitting in the chair with the brown coat on with her back to us. Lame picture, I know.

At some point in the evening a local police officer who is in our ward came down to the set (he was working security) and allowed a group of our friends who were watching from the street to come down to watch. It was really fun to be able to share the experience with so many good friends.

We got to experience the Kraft Services Trailer and treat ourselves to some hot HOT chocolate. At one point my toes were SO cold that I was contemplating filling a cup with hot water and just soaking my feet in it. And I had worn tights and two pairs of socks!! Most of the crew had large parkas, beanie hats, and gloves. But we were slaves to our vanity and still wanted to look cute for pictures, so we didn't have hats. Michelle let me borrow some gloves, which were GREATLY appreciated.

We got to meet Jeff, the Director of Photography who is responsible for filming behind the scenes stuff. That is the stuff that gets put on the DVD and the parts that are released to the media. Like the very cool ET montage that came out a few weeks ago. That was all filmed by him.

We met Don the Key Grip who was very friendly. We also got the "Safety First" talk by one of the assistants to the director. Apparently he didn't heed his own warning a few weeks ago and got a nasty bonk on the head when a light reflector frame decided to succumb to the wind. Those things are like huge parachutes. Last night they had crew members whose only job was to stand on the frame to anchor it to the ground.

Towards the end of our stay we met the "real frat boys." We think they may have been taking sips from the beers they were using in the scene. They were a tad rowdy. Especially for it being so late. But like I said earlier, it was nice to have some people around us who weren't totally bored or jaded by the industry. They saw the onset experience the way we did -- as something very unique and fun. And something that most people will never ever get to do. The fact that it was a movie based off of a book that I enjoyed was a real plus.

Two of the Real Frat Boys

This Frat Boy has a pretty big role in the scene. He is the pretend drukest of the bunch.

A little after midnight they broke for "lunch." They spent the entire five hours filming a scene that will take up about two minutes in the film. Amazing. And the scene they were going to film after that was a continuation of what we had already seen. So we went home to our warm beds.

So thank you to Summit Productions for the great opportunity. It was one I won't soon forget. And thank you Rochelle, for letting me experience this with you. I had a FABULOUS time. :)

**I have a couple of video clips, but Blogger is being difficult tonight and I can't seem to upload them. And I don't want them on YouTube. So you may or may not see those. :)