'Twilight' Countdown: Catherine Hardwicke talks about the meadow and making Robert Pattinson 'dazzle'

16 more days left…

When I asked you guys which scene you were most excited to see, hundreds of your wrote in “The meadow!” -- and told me how lame it was that I didn’t even list it as a choice in the poll.

You were right. It was lame.

So when I spoke with "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke on Monday, I got her to talk about what she went through to get that pivotal scene right, (in two words: a lot!), how she got Edward (Robert Pattinson) to dazzle in the sun of that meadow, and what moments in the book she had to chop from the movie. (This is the first of a two-part interview. Check back for the second half later this week.)

How did you find the perfect meadow?

That was my misery, I gotta tell you. You are just stabbing the knife into the weak point. That was really hard because on one logistic level, we didn’t have a “Harry Potter”/“Lord of the Rings” budget. On a normal movie you would have built a beautiful meadow on a soundstage, that way you could control the sunlight so that Edward can step into and out of it. But with under $37 million, that was impossible. So, oh my, picture me in the middle of January wearing snow shoes hiking up trails for miles trying to find the perfect meadow in the middle of Oregon, freezing. (It was my first time in snow shoes -- that part was pretty fun.) We finally, after hiking all over and getting stuck in chains and seeing zillions of potential spots, we found a beautiful place.

It wasn’t exactly a meadow. It was by a river. But it was just stunning. We moved the filming of the meadow scene to the end of the schedule so we would have the best possible weather, closest to spring time. And then about two weeks before shooting, we discovered that it was still covered in over 12 feet of snow -- my perfect meadow. You couldn’t even get there, there were fallen trees, logging trucks would have had to clear the place. So at the last minute, even in the middle of filming, we had to find a new location for the meadow. I was so stressed out as you can imagine. Running around shooting all week, freezing and trying to find another place.

Finally, we found an absolutely stunning location ...

It had these upturned boulders and aged, old growth trees. Just stunning -- but it doesn’t really look like a meadow. So, I’m like, “Oh no!” But the clock was ticking. I had to shoot on a certain day. And it has to be accessible. So we shot a lot of the scene there. And it looks gorgeous, I mean it looks like a fairy tale location, covered with moss and green and very Olympic rainforest.

But when we wrapped the movie, I said there was one thing I still had to shoot. I was just begging and begging, “I’ve got to shoot a meadow. Something that looks like a meadow. Or people are going to stone me in the streets.” So we ended up shooting a piece of the scene in a magical place in the middle -- bizarrely enough -- in the Griffith Park golf course. There are these old growth Redwood trees and we brought in all this amazing grass and rocks and moss and made it into our meadow. So we finally got the meadow, but man, it was not easy.

Can you talk about how you got Edward to dazzle in that meadow?

That again was super challenging. We had probably 10 special effects companies trying out experimental ideas on some footage we had to see how we can make him dazzle and sparkle and shimmer. Most of it wasn’t good. We ended up going with ILM (Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas’ company) and they, of course, are masters at creating amazing effects. We did a full body scan of Rob, which we turned into a 3-D model of him -- (laughs) there is a 3D model of Rob somewhere! -- and did all this very high-tech mapping of every surface of his face and body.

Besides reviewing zillions of versions of it, I wound up flying to ILM with the visual effects supervisor three different times and spending whole days working with the three-dimensional models and the geometry and the physics going, “How can we get this to be beautiful?”

You know, the description in the book is a tiny bit contradictory. On one level, he is supposed to look like cut diamonds, on another, he’s as smooth as marble. So you’re like OK, when you think of encrusted cut diamonds that’s faceted -- and when we first did that it almost looked like acne, like a skin condition. And you want it to be smooth.

So it’s been very intricate science to get something we felt looked beautiful. And kind of scary, too, you know.

Are there scenes or moments from the book didn’t make it into the movie?

Well it’s almost 500 pages -- you do have to do the sweetened condensed milk version of that. We really tried to have all the most crucial potent exciting stuff be in the movie. That goes without saying.

But there are some things, for example, a scene that I kind of liked in the biology room where they do the blood typing. That’s not in the movie. We already have two scenes in biology: the first time they’re in there and then the second time when they connect. For a film, when you condense, you don’t want to keep going back to the same setting over and over. So that’s not in there.

The meadow scene is 23 pages in the book and, actually, Bella reveals in the car, way before that, driving back from Port Angeles, that she knows Edward’s a vampire. So, we took all those 23 pages in the meadow and the reveal in the car and made a more dramatic scene out of it. So instead of two characters sitting in a car talking, it’s a more visually dynamic setting -- the meadow -- where she reveals her knowledge.

-- Denise Martin

Related:
Complete 'Twilight' Countdown coverage
Complete 'Twilight' coverage on Hero Complex

Photo credit: Summit Entertainment

Comments

[Tessa]

Great interview! I am really excited about seeing how they make him sparkle, I've always kind of imagined it as if you had light going through a crystal prism creating a rainbow. Not the easiest effect to make happen! I think Catherine did an amazing job from the footage I've seen and I think all the adjustments and compromises will be well worth it! November 21 can't come soon enough!!

[fiona]

A 3D model of Rob?!
*stalks ILM*

[nina]

coughs...um, a 3-D model? Put that sucker up on e-bay, and then I'll tell my husband about the perfect stocking stuffer for me this year!

[Twinkie]

OME. i can't wait for the movie!! hope it'll be awesome!! :D

Catherine Hardwicke and her team put so much effort in this movie so i hope it'll earn them loads.

[Elaine]

A 3-D model of Rob?! ?! Well, what are you doing keeping it? Put it up for sale somewhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want a 3-D model of Rob! It's like the perfect thing ever to put in my room. *Sighhh* I can just see him standing there now. :)

[alicia]

Omg! i cant wait till the movie but it is way to bad that they took out blood typing imean that was like one of my fav chapters but i mean the movie cant be just like the book or it would be like 6hours (which i wouldnt mind at all lol) but i cant not wait till nov 20 @ 11:59pm!!

[Eleanor]

16 DAYS!
and yeah i'm disappointed about the blood typing being cut out too. and the revelation in the meadow instead of the car. but that's ok. it'll still be amazing!

[Daisy]

Ahh!!!!! I can't wait to see Rob sparkilng!!!!!!! There's something that bothers me, though. In the book Bella reveals her knowledge in the car and then she and Edward start to really know each other throughout the week, like Edward asking all the questions about Bella's life. Catherine says that in the movie, Bella reveals her knowledge about Edward's secret IN the meadow, and then what? Straight to the romance stuff? It just sounds weird to me.
Anyway, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to hypervilantate, cry, and possibly scream during the whole the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! Only 17 more days!!!! I CAN't WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

[anna]

i wish they would film the blood typing scene and put it on the dvd in extra or deleted scenes
we can all hope there will be lots of extras

[Olivia]

awww, I was really looking foward to the blood typing!! but, that's okay, 'cause the movie is still going to be ABSOULTELY STUNNING!!!!!!!!

[A Thorn For Every Heart]

NOOOO!!! I LOVE THE BLOOD TYPING!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
whimper*

-Joyce

[beckysue]

I cannot wait for this even more now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kristin]

no bloodtyping? aww...that was one of my favs. too bad.
HOWEVER, i think that the movie would still be great! i mean, catherine hardwicke? i couldn't imagine a more hardworking director than her, she totally put more than enough effort to this movie. and if it really turns out to be lame, we couldn't blame her or the cast, blame it on the $37 million budget.

-and people, i think i saw a picture or edward in the meadow. in that particular picture, robert was standing in a place covered with moss and squashy green stuff and his arms were oddly extended, like he was crucified or more like he was waiting for the sunlight to hit him. it was a really cool picture, and god, he looked so handsome.

[Kimmi]

awh sad about the blood typing...i really wanted to see that (:
but i still cant wait!
yeah, like sonmeone else said, if the movie turns out lame, its the budjets fault (:
new moon movie will be awesome too xD

[Malory]

I am very upset that the blood typing scene isn't in the movie. That was one of the scenes I was most excited for...Strike 1 for Catherine...hopefull there won't be anymore.

[Charity]

I am very disapointed about there not being the blood typing scene in the movie =/ I was looking forward to that a lot. But I still am excited and can't wait for Twilight! Only 12 more days =D

[kae]

NO!
i was SO looking forward to the blood-typing :(
man that makes me SUPER mad.
it was like my favorite part.

oh well, i'm sure the movie will still be amazing :D

[fanpire]

im seein twilight to night

[Fanpire]

im seeing twilight tonight at 12:01