The Filming of New Moon in Italy, from the perspective of an extra

Thanks to Amanda Bell at The Examiner for the tip, we have an tentative play by play of how things are going on the New Moon set in Italy and a possible schedule for this week?? See below for details.

“Engines, moving around, beep beep beeeeeeep.”

Driving calmly, I arrived early at Montepulciano at 5:50am. Everyone was supposed to meet there at 6:15am. Ok, now time for panic: what do I wear? Since I am so prone to bad luck, I had brought 5 tops and 5 pairs of pants - just to be on the safe side. After putting on a pair of jeans and a v-neck shirt (Just like Robert Pattinson!), I found 2 other extras and we all tried to remain calm. After only a couple minutes within arriving, I already had sweaty armpits and smelled bad (Another similarity between me and Robert Pattinson!)

The crew was very quick and organized, and divided all the extras into groups: “the drivers”, “the reds”, and “the blacks”. We felt like the prey of the production company. They then offered us breakfast, which I was grateful for since my stomach was complaining more than Rosalie. Me and all the other drivers (there were about a hundred of us), were then told to park in the front of the main entrance of the town, where a yellow Porsche was also parked! My God, what a beautiful car! The rest of the extras were taken inside the city wall, where they would be shooting the reunion between Edward and Bella later in the week.

The wait was unnerving. And extremely long. In the meantime, we learned the shooting schedule: Monday is rehearsals, Tuesday inside the city again, Wednesday and Thursday in the city square (Where there is expected to be 1000 extras), and Friday was for any needed reshoots. While I was waiting, I saw a really pretty girl with brown hair in jeans and t-shirt. For a second I thought it was Kristen Stewart, but then I realized it was her stunt double. The similarities between the two was striking, especially from behind.

At around 10pm, it’s our turn. When arrived in front of the door, Chris Weitz’s assistant, Bill, arranged the order of all the cars. Every time he looked at me and my car, he smiled. They then began tests with the Porsche, with Bella’s and Alice’s stunt doubles. And here’s the funny part: Alice had a stunt MAN, instead of a woman. He was wearing a headscarf, sunglasses, a red leather glove and a long grey coat with big silver buttons. Bella’s stunt double, instead, was dressed very simply, wearing only a green sweater and jeans.

The tests of the Porsche were seemingly never-ending, they really wanted it to be perfect. They did not overlook even the smallest detail: everything -from the placement of the car to all the car sounds- had to be just right. They even were overly careful with all the red flags placed around Montepulciano. The crew was sweaty and shouting us to get in our places, to which we obliged. Bill (Weitz’s assistant) was always calm and smiling, every once in a while stopping to talk to us on set.

A small note on the side: Bill told us that we could not reveal the details of what we saw to the public before the release of the film. Therefore, for my love of the Twilight saga and respect of the crews’ hard work, I am going to make this report as general as possible. I hope you understand, and I am sorry that I can not go into that much detail.

They then told all the drivers to move closer to the gates of the city, only to make us wait again. From my new position, I was able to have a look inside the city walls. It is very attractive. The red drapes and flags went well with the grey of the building’s walls. When I saw the fountain -which was not yet finished- I was a little disappointed, since I pictured it more ancient looking. However, my fears were placed to rest as I saw a girl coming to spray paint it to give it that “antique” look. They also added more flags, most -if not all- of them being red.

To end, I leave you all with two small goodies: In the square on Wednesday, it seems like some sort of procession will be taking place. It is said that about 20 people will be dressed like duchesses and squires (all outfits being red, of course) wearing Venetian carnival masks.

There will also be a canopy/gazebo (specially built for the movie) which is to represent the liberation of Volterra from vampires by St. Mark. (Note: the canopy may be constructed of the supposed Volturi throne pictures that were leaked earlier in the week)

We finished shooting in late afternoon and got a thank you from Chris Weitz’s right-hand man, Bill. He said to us: “Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your hard work today!” We all erupted into applause, we were so tired, but so happy!

Full article is available here.