There is No Team Jacob

If you've a moment in your post-Breaking Dawn reverie today, I recommend you pop over to my pal Ashley's blog to read her paper on 'There is no Team Jacob' (give the paper a look before you throw daggers her way, all of you Jacob fans. It's a well put together and clearly argued way to look at the whole imprinting malarkey.  

Ashley was my right hand lady at TwiCon organizing academic panels with me, and then did the same thing last summer for LeakyCon, where we presented on film adaptation, specifically the final Potter film from book to screen. She's pretty rockin', with a unique voice and a great perspective on this topic. Now just wait for her Harry/Hermione paper... it'll blow your mind. 

I'm off to see Breaking Dawn again tonight, and there just may be a little deconstruction and film analysis happening in the near future; we shall see :)

Breaking Dawn Part 1: Reactions

First reaction: Fans will be happy, filmmakers will be happy (hello box office intakes!), and color-me-wrong, I thought this film would be ridiculous, awkward for the wrong reasons, rough, and a bit painful to sit through-- it was not! I rather enjoyed it from beginning to end! Definitely some cheese-moments, a lot of eye-rolling worthy lines, but I've come to enjoy and embrace those fabulously cheesetastic moments! It's not going to win any Oscars, and I probably don't need to see it more than maybe once or twice for analysis reasons, but I was entertained.

If you're a not a fan of the books, I think you can skip over this film; it's not gonna make cinematic history except maybe with regard to box office earnings. If you are a Twilight fan, however, I think you'll be very satisfied with this film.

Explanation: Breaking Dawn is the film that I was most skeptical about. Even Meyer wasn't sure it was going to be four books, she thought it would be over at three, so the fourth, while it tied up a lot of loose ends (except for Leah, of course), it felt a bit gratuitous, and splitting it into two-- well, a bit fluffy and indulgent. Don't get me wrong, I loved it! I love any excuse to spend more time reading in a corner about the characters I've grown to love (hence the initial obsession with Pottermore-- although that's waning... hrm, that's for another post), but it never felt like a very strong story. The first half really just consisted of marriage, honeymoon, pregnancy, and could be done in about 12 minutes of film, so I was wary and concerned for how they would stretch this into two films, as there's not a lot of conflict going on in that first bit (yes, the wolves, yes Bella and Edward fighting... but I never had the feeling that a ton was on the line; it was fairly static). The second half gets more complicated with tons of randomly introduced characters, a building and epic battle, with no battle...  but all of that being said, I still ate up every word, read it multiple  times etc. etc. It was fun, but it wasn't the strongest in terms of story and construction. It was just fun and indulgent. We're all allowed a little non-brain-heavy fun.

Blissed-out Teenage Love

However, it's a crazy different tone of book. All of a sudden we are asked to believe a lot of strange and convenient things (Vampires can be dads? Ok! Wolves can imprint at any age? Ok! Jacob was attracted to a fetus? OK!), so perhaps (aside from box office returns) the thought for two films was that it was going to take us, the audience, a little bit of time to get from seeing this blissed-out, teenage couple, to seeing them as a married couple, and then as married future parents. That's what I took from it anyway, because I enjoyed the film; I didn't find it dragging (except the speeches at the wedding... horrible! Not even funny, just bad. Cutting room floor); it was well-paced, and gave ample time for us to understand and come to terms with all of their fluctuating reactions from bliss (wedding/honeymoon) to acceptance (Bella at first nudge, Edward at first thought-reading).

Source

I was rather impressed for how they accomplished all that they had to with this film. Fans will be happy with this film, I think, because it's so bloody true (pardon the pun) to the book. And why on earth, at this point in the Twilight Saga's lifespan should the filmmakers look to satisfy anyone but the fans? Give the people what they want! Plot points! Gorgeous Wedding! Cute boys in tuxes and topless! Precision with details! Hot sex and smashed headboards!

We're not looking for best screenplay here, we're looking for satisfaction for the series that so many have grown to love, and hate, and perhaps love again (have you noticed how it's pretty cool to hate Twilight right now? And yet it's projected that Breaking Dawn: 1 will break box office records? Funny... haters still gotta see it, eh? :), but even though it might not win an academy Award, that does not mean that it was a bad film. I think this executed a popular text really well, and did so logically and thematically, with ample moments of emotion and beauty (yes, I shed a tear at the wedding-- the look on Charlie's face as he gives her away-- it kills me!). 

Anywho, so overall I was well pleased. It was well shot, great use of color, fab special effects (the change), the wolves have improved although are still clearly CG, and the cast seems really comfortable with each other and in their roles (particularly the Bella-Edward, Bella-Charlie, and Bella-Jacob). 

DISCLAIMER!

Right, I'm calling the next section "reactions" instead of "analysis" because that will come in time. When I try to do all of it in one blog post, my head explodes, and I'm guessing not a single person gets the whole way through it.... so, this bit is reactions, and I'll do some analysis of specific scenes as requested (if there's a scene in particular you want me to look at, let me know! Right now I'm thinking about the kiss at the wedding... we'll see what else springs to mind).

Reactions:

Titles: Straight in with the titles; I like that-- and effective "BAM! Here begins the story!" moment. I also love that they were a burgundy red, fading into an icy blue. It's the red of human life, fading into the icy blue of a vampire one (Get it? Get it?), especially with the rising sun, shedding light onto the 'new life.'

Voice Over: Intriguing how Bella focuses on childhood; she's about to step into her own marriage, thereby shedding the cover of childhood and stepping into adulthood, but the line "Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies," immediately refers to the vampire life, and made me think of Renesmee, and the questions of mortality that are still to come. Heavy stuff for 30 seconds into the film, eh?

The Trio: The relationship between them is shifting, and it was well handled. They finally look less awkward and stilted in their roles too, which helps.  It's understood the boys don't like each other, but what they have in common (Bella) is strong enough for them to get past their jealousy. I like that in the opening shot we have a sandwich of scenes of the trio: 1) Jacob opening the invitation and running for it, 2) Bella packing up her childhood in her room, and stroking the dreamcatcher that Jacob made for her, and then 3) Edward arriving, and filling her in on his darker past (p.s. They finally got the flashbacks right! It was well-shot, costuming appropriate, and it didn't make me cringe).

They have a good chemistry, all three of them, and as Bella calms Edward's fears about being a monster, it's a real conversation; it doesn't feel trite and cliche...instead it seems sincere and assuring; heavy on the cheese, but again, I've accepted that. Jacob and Bella really do appear best buds, and I like how they can call each other on their crap. Very real.

Oooo pretty. And look! Stephanie! And Wyck! And Melissa!

The Wedding: There may have been more hype about this dress than Kate Middleton's! I liked it, and a little bit more on the sexy side than I was picturing. You hear the description from the book-- 1918's, lace, satin, long sleeves, and you picture a dowdy, frumpy thing; or at least I did. This one was lovely; just a bit of lace at the sleeves, and those buttons going up the sheer almost back-less dress-- gorgeous! 

-The Aisle: I like the lack of dialogue; instead, there was a build up of strings, her relaxing after seeing Edward's smile, and the strong crescendo and break of the music as she approaches him. Brilliant pacing, building the tension and excitement, and infusing the scene with emotion.

-Cameo! I loved that Stephanie Meyer, Melissa Rosenberg (screenwriter) and Wyck Godfrey (producer) got to "attend" this scene, too. Fun little nod to them. 

Color scheme!

-The colors. the focus on spring, the emphasis on brown and green of the woods, with purple all around and a touch of gold from the Denali clan--- I couldn't help but notice these were the same colors as the meadow-- green, brown, with purple, white, and yellow flowers :) Intentional? I'm going to guess yes. Very little in a film is unintentional. Not when $127 million is being spent. I can also see this color scheme/wedding design inspiring weddings for years, and years, to come! 

-Charlie. Stop. Just stop. I got teary! I did not expect that! The look on his face when he gave her away, and his hesitancy to give her away at all; from the time he read the invitation, until he held her arm down the aisle-- lovely. Flippin' love Charlie and Billy Burke's portrayal of him.  I also like how they slipped Sue Clearwater into these scenes. Cleverly placing her into the scene, making her a normal fixture in his life, and someone that he fetches champagne for :) I also enjoyed Charlie's "that's just weird" comment about the graduation caps at the Cullen's house.

-The kiss. Great chemistry, and I love how Bella grabs onto the lapel of Edward's jacket. Cute. It was also very effective that the wedding guests 'disappear' during the kiss, so it seems as if it's just the two of them sharing this intimate moment. Also, how rockin' was it that 'Flightless Bird', the Iron and Wine song that played during the gazebo dance at the prom in Twilight (2008) comes back for this moment. Even the camera shots are the same. Spins around them, cuts back and forth to each face... it really brings the love from the first film through to the fourth; as if that love at first sight was the same; strong, true and consistent throughout; this wedding was just the formal realization of it.

-The speeches. They were horrid. CUT! I know they were meant to be awkward, but really... cut. But I loved that Carter Burwell brought the Bella's lullaby theme from Twilight (2008) back into the score, playing softly as Edward gave his speech about his bride. Again, tying that first film through to this one.

Volvo- Of course they drive away in a Volvo! Black this time :) It really does look like a shot directly from the 'Forks' game Volvo did a few years ago. Clever!

Rio: I'm glad we had a little bit of time to watch the happy couple as a honeymooning couple together. It gives a firm grounding to the substantial crap that they have to deal with afterwards. But  right now, they're newlyweds, they're away from their family, away from being the center of attention, in a lively and exciting city with lots of people making out on the street and playing music, so how nice that they get to have a romantic, hot little dance, and then escape to their paradise-like bliss on Isle Esme. And what a beautiful shot of Rio in the moonlight as a single boat speeds away into the open ocean. 

The First Time: Surely this is the most anticipated scene in all of Twilight.  And tell me if you agree, but I think it was pretty damn bang-on to the book. What I remember when reading that section was the horrible awkwardness; the insecurity and the bravery needed to take that first step sans robe into the ocean, and I think this scene really hit that home. The awkwardness staring over the bed at each other, I like her 'human moment' being a total girl and shaving her legs, fixing her hair etc, freaking out at Alice for only packing ridiculous lingerie, and finally sucking it up, realizing the guy she loved was out there in the water, and just walking to him. 

Lotsa destruction

I like that they didn't show much in the actual scene. The headboard breaking, and Bella assuring him she's fine, and that's about it. What was really well done, however, was Bella remembering it the next morning. It was sensual, intimate, accurate (of course we all replay our first kiss/whatever over and over), filled with extreme close-up shots bringing the audience into the ooey-gooey mentality of "that was lovely" so when Edward comes in and is all depressed and angry with himself, we're mad too at his incredible ability to buzz-kill! 

Nice chess set!

Nice touches: The chess set (very clever), the humor moments as the housekeepers silently takes out the shattered bed... but where are the eggs she eats so much of?

Finding Out She's Preggers: Nice timing with Alice ringing the second that Bella realizes what has happened, and prior to this moment, Bella and Edward have hardly separated. Even when they're doing something apart- like sitting across from each other playing chess- they're still leaning towards eachother; touching at any opportunity, and all over eachother snuggling etc. As soon as the discovery of the pregnancy is clear, Edward removes himself from the picture. He distances himself, and even in the car they don't touch. Clearly he's freaked out, but filmicly, this is good depiction of him mentally and physically removing himself from the situation in order to "deal with it."

I'm not going to get into the abortion chat. We all know it's ridiculous that Edward and Carlisle start to plan it without even consulting her, and I like that Edward gets a bit mad at her for not even involving him in her decision, but isn't it interesting that he didn't really make any initial effort to involve her either! Right... not getting into that...

The Pack Communication: It's a good move to shift attention constantly onto Jacob and his movements since he plays such a large part in this film.  They show him on the beach talking about imprinting, showing Claire the two year old, re-introducing the "it's not creepy, I swear" mentality, and I thought the way they handled the pack's communication was pretty decent. The wolves themselves are still clearly CG-ed, and at times laughable, not brilliant, but not as bad as the first version, but I liked that the chatter within the pack was constantly going. It was loud, busy, every thought... just how I imagined it would be. It wasn't overly confusing, so that was well handled by the filmmakers, but it was accurate in showing the horrible power of the alpha order, and the 'voices in the head' commentary they always hear. You can understand why Leah and Seth might want to leave for moral and personal reasons; it's just be a lot quieter! And when Jacob took up the mantle of Alpha, it was epic; the whining of the dogs, with the bending to the will, then fighting back, rising up, and leaving. Hello drama!

More accuracy from the book: Seriously, they stuck so closely to the details, it was nice to see the extra effort in there, even switching the blood from a glass to the plastic cup with a straw when Bella starts drinking blood; showing her mouth completely full of blood though-- that was striking. It might be hiding the blood from Bella to make it 'easier to swallow,' but the audience had no such luxury; we could see exactly what she had to do for this baby.

    -I also liked this bit when Alice grabs Jasper and says 'Walk with me' to get him out of the room and away from the blood. Cute.

The Cullen color-scheme, Blues, silvers, whites and greys

Edward Aplogizes: Thank goodness he finally joined #TeamBella and apologized for leaving her alone in all of this, and we finally get a glimpse of the happy family that they could become as he hears the baby's thoughts for the first time.  Bella is often in blues and grays in these scenes, which is interesting since that was always the color scheme of the Cullens, particularly in the first film. It was advertised, illustrated and focused on, and here is Bella, gray in skintone now too as she looks just slightly better than dead, wearing blues, and steely grays, taking additional steps towards becoming a Cullen.

Jacob distracting the other pack: Very effective storytelling technique.  It shows clearly which side he is choosing, and gives us a quick view of what's going on whilst Bella is stuck in the house.

She has looked better...

The Birth: Holybloodygooeygory. We knew it would be bad, there's no way for it to be pretty and easy, but I wasn't entirely prepared for blood and guts all over Edward. It was well shot though. Tough, red, fuzzy, clear for when Bella sees Rennesmee, and then the turmoil as they desperately try to turn her.  That was one hell of a syringe going into her chest; the dense, silver venom, and Stewart can play a corpse well.  She looked horrific! I was convinced.  The actual process of turning was brilliantly shot; it'd be so easy for that to be super-cheesy, but I just found it really interesting to see a visualization of what that process might look like. Red, fleshy and bloody, turning black like lava with a burning underneath, and then switching to dimondy-iciness.  

The Fight Scene: How nice it was to see it since we didn't get that chance in the books. It was interesting to see Edward's understanding of the imprinting, and the immediate backing off of the other pack. Granted it was a "convenient moment" for one of the 'basic laws' to be no harming someone who a wolf imprinted upon, but hey, it worked! It was also very well-shot. It was so tightly packed, that you couldn't tell who was where, and it built the suspense and our concern for the characters. We didn't want any of them to get hurt, and the confusion and close-ness of that filming added to that.

Rennesmee: she's pretty damn cute.

The Change: Brilliant. She looked horrible. Literally a corpse; underfed, bad color, unhealthy... and then... we see the venom flow through, her hair get shinier, her dress fills out, the cuts on her arm heal, her spine snaps back into place, color into her lips, and the dark circles removed from her eyes. Such a neat visualization, and satisfying somehow to see the power of the venom and how it changed each of them.  

Final shot: I CALLED IT! I totally called it (yes, yes, Maggie, pat on the back, I promise to gloat no longer), I had guessed that the final shot would be Bella opening her eyes, and them being blood red. I'm sure I can come up with multiple witnesses if required. Whoop!

Source

The flashback in this bit again really ties the first film through to the last. Similar to the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix --purely with regard to what it made me think about-- where Harry is possessed by Voldemort and flashes back to all of those scenes with his loved ones-- we got to relive the series. We got to remember the first time we saw those scenes, how they affected us originally and what they have contributed to: a huge saga of drama and emotion! It was nice to see the first meeting, the first dance, the departing in New Moon, the reunion etc. 

Extra scene: Who doesn't love the fact that the Volturi are spelling and grammar fiends? Love it. Plus it also reintroduces them into our minds; they see the Cullens as a threat, know that the coven has grown, and we now know that they are a threat-- which leads us gracefully into Breaking Dawn: Part 2.

RIGHT! Let me know if you have specific requests for scenes to analyze, and by the way, what did you think?!


UPDATE:
Ahhh and I love, LOVE Marah Eakin for this article.  and the link inside the article for the piece last year from Genevieve Koski. Stop hatin' Twilighters, and don't judge or read too hard into anything... fans deserve some cred, folks!

Breaking Dawn Review Coming this afternoon- diversion first!

Allow me to go on a tangent for a minute; if you just want to read my film analysis/review of Breaking Dawn, it’ll be up this afternoon.  But as this blog is a place to explore my own personal PhD journey as well, here’s a tangent for ya:

So, I was reflecting the other day on my relationship with The Twilight Saga, because that’s really what it’s been, a relationship, and pondering on the path of the Saga in the world and in the fandom over the course of the last three years (yup, it’s only been three years since this and this crazy, right?)

In terms of my relationship to Twilight, I think it’s gone through the ‘normal’ relationship phases.

1) there was the honeymoon phase. Everything was exciting. I had found this text about a girl with whom I could relate: awkward, bookish, and seriously crushing on a super cute guy. What teen girl didn’t feel that way? And then when it turned out that the cute boy loved her too, and he was a supernatural being—well that’s just awesome piled onto fabulous! I was giddy; I’ve been known to squeal in my early days of the Twilight relationship.

2) Then it progressed into a comfortable place. By this time I’d worked on the set, incorporated it into my PhD research, provided academic analysis on the film-aspects of it etc. I still enjoyed Twilight immensely, but I was over the “Oooo everything about this is perfect! I need to shriek and giggle every time I see a red apple!” phase. It was a part of my professional life, and I was lucky enough to have that thing I study also be something that I enjoyed. Not many PhD students can say that.

3) Then I reached the “do I want to continue this relationship?” phase. The breaking point of a relationship; do we go forward or do we break up? We’ll call this year three of my PhD. This is more about me and my PhD than Twilight (ask any grad student; at some point they hate their topic, no matter how awesome it is) and I’d spent two years tearing apart the novels, editing critical essays that examined the chauvinistic aspects of the novel, the apparent anti-feminism themes throughout, I spent a lot of time speaking on countless panels and numerous conferences about the film adaptation and it’s phenomenal success, and constantly analyzing things like costume, camera angle, music, shoot time, scene deletion, recasting, and how the Twilight Fandoms played into every single aspect.  I was busy, analyzing, talking, working in and around Twilight… but did I love it anymore?

The overwhelming, giddy love had gone out of the relationship. It was mechanical. Routine.

4) But then I took a step back from the whole school thing, got my head back into filmmaking and script development, fan interaction and fan management—and low and behold I love it again and am once again trucking away at the academic side of popular culture! It’s a comfortable, secure relationship now. There’s no longer a need for the burning desire, since it wasn’t based on anything but superficial reactions, much like a teenage crush; I was in love with the excitement. Now that it’s just a part of life, I’m grateful for it, and I can still just enjoy it like a good partner: I recognize its faults (it doesn’t really have to recognize mine… that’s taking this metaphor a little too far) but I can still appreciate it for the fun piece of entertainment that it is, and for the ground-breaking and pioneering fan-management techniques it has introduced.  And you better believe I'll be analyzing the filmic aspects of it ‘til the cows come home.

So we’re at a good place, me and Twilight J

Right… Breaking Dawn review/analysis coming this afternoon. Watch this space.

Breaking Dawn Part 1: Trailer Anaylsis

To quote River Song... Spoliers! Yes, I will discuss Breaking Dawn bits, so if you don't want to know what happens, stop reading.

If you want to refresh yourself with the trailer, it's in the post below this one.

So the trailer... Getting hitched and knocked up never looked so exciting! And I don't mean that in an "I condone this behavior" type of way, but wow... the people who edited together this trailer really earned their paycheck.  Breaking Dawn is not a complicated book. In comparison to the other books in the saga, it's a bit longer, but not much more complex. The main component that covers every page with text is discussion about love, self doubt, self realization, emotion, and inner conflict. There's a wedding, a honeymoon, a transformation/birth, a threat, a battle (kinda), and a resolution, but the editors of the trailer made it look truly EPIC.

I still stand by that Breaking Dawn did not NEED to be broken into two films. I don't think Harry Potter 7 required a split into two films, but I really, really think it benefitted from two as it had so much ground to cover-- literally and figuratively. There was a massive journey, a search for multiple horcruxes, people and landmarks, there were various battles, new characters, and complex issues that require background introductions and time to digest (like horcruxes and hallows).  Breaking Dawn doesn't really have that complexity. Wedding, honeymoon, pregnant, horrific birth, new life, threat, resolution. There are complex emotions, but not complex plot points.

...That's not a criticism, just a comment. It didn't NEED to be split... but I don't think anyone will really mind, minus those naysayers who are sick of hearing about the phenomenon! They'll get over it... until then, putting Breaking Dawn out in two parts extends the franchise, appeases the fans with a longer shelf life for their obsession, and gives multiple more events for fans to interact with and get pumped up about (DVD releases, theatrical premieres, two more MTV Movie Awards instead of one, two more rounds of TV and print interviews, two years instead of one for merchandise production etc.). Business-wise its a smart move, and most fans will be stoked that they will see more of their favorite novels instead of coming to terms with the vast amounts of info that would have to be cut from the novel to fit into one film.

The split: I've heard it will be part one with Bella as a human, part two as a vampire. I'm guessing the last shot will be Bella opening her eyes-- blood red eyes; perhaps quickly preceded by a cooing baby and a love-struck werewolf downstairs, and I'm guessing that the beginning of Part 2 will begin with Jacob's Point of View... I'm still pondering how they'll do that, but I've some ideas.

Okay, onto the trailer; speculation can happen in the comments or in another post later if anyone feels so inclined :)

Opening screen: In the past, each film has had a color scheme to it (see the bottom of this post) I quite like the blood-red/pinkish hues they're going with here and the literal 'breaking dawn' of the light through the Summit logo.

Threat reminder: We are then giving an extended montage of images of the various characters and camps being presented with a document (we all know what it is, but it's not revealed yet). We start with the Volturi-- a great upshot as the doors open onto the thrones, depicting the Volturi as tall, dominant, and almost god-like; the framing in the door also provides ceremony and pomp, and the music begins to build here. It's rather epic already, and we're only :24 in. We're engaged, reminded about the Volturi threat (interesting that they're first--- Bad guys! Alert! This film has bad guys! It's not all about love!)

Parent reminder: Next it goes to the parents: I love how Charlie looks defeated. Grumbling, not so thrilled, but resigned, and Renee kind of smug (like in the book how she wasn't surprised, and told Bella she was expecting it), and pleased.

--- Cut to the release date ----- (oooo it's all red and black and gives a date to get excited about, and has the ambiguous "on November 18" building suspense (you ask, what? What? What's on November 18?!)

Other Love Reminder: Remember that other guy? Yup, he's still here too.  Shirtless, of course, and pissed that his love is marrying a Cold One. It's in the rain, perhaps echoing his emotions, his dad following him into the downpour, calling out to him, and Jacob just too angry to respond or care; immediately stripping and going wolf. We're reintroduced to this conflict, we are shown that he's upset and running away... and he's shirtless. Again.

The Reveal: Ooooo an invitation! Squeal! Emotional wedding!

--- cut to: "You are Cordially Invited"-- this is great; it breaks up the trailer, gives the viewer pauses and beats to engage with the material, and it directly involves the viewer/fan in the trailer. On November 18, YOU are invited ----

Now it all gets a bit fast...

Shot of the aisle, guests strewn around-- I've two things here

1) It's quite identical to the images splattered around the internet of inspirations for a Twilight wedding; it incorporates the beautiful outdoor elements alluded to in the text, really bringing the lush nature established in Hardwicke's Twilight through to this fourth installment; this is a good matching of textual description and audience expectation.

2) Did you catch Stephenie Meyer, Wyck Godfrey (producer) and Melissa Rosenberg (screenwriter) in the congregation? In front of Boo Boo Stewart, second to last row, on the left. Cute.

Shot of Bella gripping Charlie's arm: even the nervous energy Stewart emits screams Bella; shots to her ring, to her 1918-esque hair comb, huge, epic choir music beginning to build, operatic voices enter and build... all of these elements rise to the big reveal of:

The reluctant but stoked bride.

Cut to:

"From the World Wide Bestseller" -- this gives another beat, and restates the drama, the epic-ness of this story, and it establishes the continuing phenomenon.

Rio: The next shot of Rio de Janeiro introduces the entry to the honeymoon location (true to the book), and incorporates the first dialogue of the trailer (of course it's Pattinson/Edward). "We'll start with forever"... I'm guessing these are his vows.

The Headboard: Of course that had to be in the trailer... the hottest PG-13 moment in teenage girl history. And we've seen the shot with the feathers, so we know that makes it into the film as well (this is definitely a match of fan expectation here; you better believe fans will be looking forward to their first moments together). So we've got smashing headboards, shots of them in bed, and then cutting to red words on a black backdrop: 

----FOREVER---

Then a beautiful, idyllic shot in the waterfall....

----IS ONLY THE BEGINNING--- it sounds sweet, doesn't it? But actually, it's a transition tool to bring THE THREAT back into the shot as we immediately cut to one pissed-off Volturi, a PJ-clad, worried Edward, a dejected and wandering Jacob, people being thrown all over the place, and then... the music dies down... and we get this:

Our girl is knocked up. Good dramatic cap to the building tension, building music, they quickly take us through the wedding, the honeymoon, the conflicts and  the threat... and then lay on the crazy element of a vampire pregnancy. She's stunned, but seems in awe with the fact (in line with the book) and then there's Edward:

How's that for a "man on fire" look? He looks slightly constipated, but I think you can begin to see that Dad is not very thrilled about this fact...

Cut to:

Titles (just in case you weren't sure which trailer you were watching) and I enjoyed the well-timed chimes-- chime 1 for the title, chime 2, about two seconds later, for the "Part 1." Even just stating the "Part 1" aspect raises the stakes as it leads the viewer to expect something epic, a la Harry Potter 7: 1.

All in all, it's a well put together trailer that makes teenage marriage and a surprise baby seem like the plot of a Die Hard movie.

I certainly have my reservations, but I'm still stoked and rather happy with the look and pace of things thus far. But reservations-- I think this book was a fun read, but it read like fan fiction a lot of the time-- which I thoroughly enjoyed; it's fun to spend time with your characters and go on pages and pages of exploration into their head-- but it's not as plot driven as the other books. I think splitting it into two could be problematic, and I'm guessing that they will spend a lot of the first movie re-establishing the threat of the Volturi, and cutting away to introduce the extended coven that will play a larger role in part 2 (The Denali clan, the Amazons, the Irish posse etc.).

We shall see, eh? Until then, I'm thesis-ing my FACE off (not really, but it feels like it), trying to finish by September. I'll be presenting on adaptation at Leaky Con this summer and leading a workshop there (anyone coming?), and things are really starting to roll with Elfin Productions, more on that soon too.  So, as I finish up my thesis, the next chapter of life is beginning.

 I'm glad that my next life-chapter doesn't involve a vampire baby.

(p.s. All screenshots taken from the IMDB spotlight trailer) 

Just in case you haven't seen it yet...

The first Breaking Dawn trailer has hit the internet and all are in a kerfuffle over busting headboards and Little Nudgers :)

Link to the trailer here, or you can just watch it below 

I'm going to take a break from PhD Thesis Land later today or tomorrow to provide a little trailer analysis since I haven't done that in an age and there's all sorts of fun stuff to discuss with this. It'll be a nice distraction from genre theory and practical applications of adaptation and remediation on popular event film culture....zzzzz... yup... welcome to my life.






Watch out for the cameo of Wyck Godfrey (producer), Melissa Rosenberg (screenwriter), and Stephenie Meyer (if you need me to tell you who she is, I'm not really sure why you're at my blog :) at the wedding scene. Back row, on the left.

Breaking Dawn Release Events in NYC Part 1

This may have to be a two-parter, it was such a ridiculous day! So I'm now home from a crazy weekend in NYC, surrounded by Twilight fans, hype and excitement; I participated in the Borders panel on Friday, went to the concert release, had my bookplate signed by Stephenie Meyer, and went to the midnight party at the Borders in Penn Plaza. I've finished the book, twice, I've processed what I saw, and now it's time to put it down on digital paper!

It began Thursday morning, way too early, when I drove down to New York with Jen from the Twilight Lexicon. I had met her and a few of the other Lexicon staff my first day on the set of Twilight in Oregon. Armed with Dunkin' Donuts coffee, we headed south and grilled each other with Twilight-related trivia, and played 'guess that character' with many of the Twilight playlist songs (Stephenie Meyer has dubbed many songs 'Jacob songs' or 'Bella songs' etc., so it was fun to guess whose was whose). Thanks to our trusty GPS device we made it to the city without much trouble. We had to jet into the city quickly on Thursday afternoon to check out the space at Borders (we were staying in Jersey, so we took the ferry over, and this silver Volvo and black Mercedes were parked next to each other in the lot... coincidence? I think not...).

I don't think I had really thought about the mayhem that this weekend was going to contain until I got to the top of the escalators by Borders in Columbus Circle. The first thing I saw as I rolled up the moving staircase was a WALL of Twilight books. And then we walked inside and there were not one, not two, but FIVE displays of Twilight books, calendars, a giant blow-up of the Entertainment Weekly cover, and 'Twilight Delight' chocolate by Ghiradelli. The nerves began to set in...

The space was great, and Daryl, the manager and organizer of all of these Borders events, met us and showed us around the site. He was very excited and appreciative; such a nice guy. He also informed us that the Borders executives were really excited about all of this too... and were planning on coming to the panel the following day.... Gulp! The president of Borders... that's fiiine.

We attempted to crash at a reasonable hour that night, but we didn't succeed too well. So still slightly groggy, Jen and I went back into the city the following morning to meet up with the other panelists for a chat; to put faces to names, and go over the agenda for the discussion. They were all brilliant; so nice, excited, laid back and fun. There was Kallie, Kassie, Linsay, Marisa, Denise and Becca (the organizer) from Twilight Series Theories, Jen from the Twilight Lexicon, Bailey (nomoremarbles) who has a wicked popular YouTube following, and Lisa from The Twilight Moms. It was probably the most knowledgeable, dare I say, obsessive gang you could find. It made for wonderful discussion. It kind of felt like an AA meeting for Twilight fans!

There were about 100 people there, many wearing 'Team Jacob' or 'I'm betting on Alice' shirts, as well as a group of 7 girls that dubbed themselves 'Team Cullen' each sporting a shirt bearing the name and favorite quote of a Cullen character. The 'Alice' of that group even got to participate in the trivia contest, and she was the lucky winner of the autographed poster (it was pretty sweet; signed by Stephenie Meyer, Cathering Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart, Rob Pattinson... everyone!). Many theories were discussed including Mike Newton crashing the wedding, Charlie finding out about the vampires, and something terrible happening to Edward (this theory resulted in many shocked gasps followed by boo-ing). The trivia contests were great, and my favorite was a 12 year old girl wearing a 'Team Edward' shirt who knew the answer, without hesitation, to "What movie did Bella, Mike and Jacob go see?" (the answer is Crosshairs... I don't think any of the panelists even knew the answer to that! We were very impressed).


I joined the discussion for the film bit and really enjoyed that conversation. I certainly wished it could have gone on longer though. I'd love to know everyone's expectations, concerns, what they're excited about, and to discuss some of the actors as their characters a bit more. More than half of the panel had been on set, and quite a few of us had met with the actors, so I'm sure that would have been a brilliant conversation. Something tells me there will be more to come though as the movie premiere approaches. MTV arrived about halfway through the panel, they filmed a bunch of stuff, and Kim Stolz of MTV News joined the panel. I was very impressed with her. She's obviously a fan of the novels, as she had clear opinions about certain things (she hates Mike Newton, she supports Team Edward etc), and that greatly assisted her already strong interviewing skills. She was eloquent, witty, and very quick to come up with interesting questions and clever responses to other statements. She joined the panel at this point to discuss the changing fandom and share her experiences with Twilight.

I found this topic really interesting. The whole idea of the fandom, and how they relate, react and interact with the novels. The population of the fandom has grown exponentially over the last few months, and it's probably only going to increase as the books and the film get more attention. Because of this, I think the production and creative teams in the adaptation of Twilight were brilliant in their decision to include Stephenie Meyer in every step of the adaptation, invite fans on-set, and keep up a good relationship with them instead of turning their backs on this huge, influential, and rather harsh crowd just to make a movie as they see it without regard to their audience. It just strikes me as irresponsible and not a smart business move to ignore this huge population that can assist the publicity of your film, happily, and at no cost to the production company. I'm really glad that the creators, who are fans themselves, respect the fans and the power of approval that they have, and the impact that can have on a film's success.

Anyway, back to the panel... We wrapped it up, gave away the last of the door prizes, and wished everyone well for the rest of their Breaking Dawn day. We hung around Borders for a bit after that, as MTV wanted to interview us (eeee! When did I ever think I'd utter that phrase??), and I got to chat to a few people about my experiences and their thoughts on the series.

If you're interested, the MTV interview is here,

the accompanying article is here,

and there are two things on itunes about it as well. If you search for the Twilight Series Theories podcast, the panel is there (August 4),

and another is this video about Kim's Breaking Dawn release day (that one has my name in it... I totally squealed.... ) Silly... silly is the best word to describe this weekend...

I really like the Borders coverage of the day, it's a great sum-up video... and kind of reminds me of those cheesy video montages shown on the last day of high school. It has the same schmaltzy sentiment that I give into every time!


My friend Dustin had shown up just before the panel (and he willingly became my photographer and press agent :-p), and we were absolutely beat. We wandered outside a bit and decided to meander to the Museum of Modern Art as a friend of mine works there, and we thought a little peace and quiet would be nice before the concert. I think I looked at about three rooms before my eyelids started to droop... so I left Dustin and fell asleep for about 20 minutes on a bench. Oh I'm so classy... well sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to get through the day! And I'm sure the MOMA doesn't mind as I've been a patron for awhile.

So refreshed and revitalized, we made our way to the Nokia theater for the concert release event.... and yes, that has to be the end of part one!

Webshots of Part One

I'm working on an article about the Twilight phenomenon and the mixing of medias (book, film, concert etc), I leave tomorrow for a wedding that I'm in on Saturday, and Sunday I go up to New Hampshire to work at a camp that I've been going to since I was seven. It's a busy little week!! I'll try to have the details of the concert and midnight release party up by Friday :)