Twilight Thursdays! Vol. 2, Issue 45

Welcome to the New Year Twilighters! It’ll be the last year of anything Twilight, but I know it’ll be just as fun as the first. Let’s get to it!

Save the date! February 12, 2012 is the confirmed release date for the Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 DVD/Blu-ray.  As with previous releases you’ll find different versions or different goodies depending on which store you purchase the DVD/Blu-Ray from. Breaking Dawn Movie [1] breaks it down for you.  Where will you buy your Breaking Dawn DVD?

Target

Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Only at Target) Exclusive, limited-edition DVD/Blu-ray with authentic prop flowers from the movie set encased in a collectable keepsake. Blu-Ray $37.99 [2] & DVD 34.99 (However, the site won’t let you pre-order the DVD, just the Blu-Ray)

Two Disc Special Edition DVD $22.99 [3] Not Available for preorder.

Special Edition Blu-Ray $24.99 [4] Not Available for preorder.

Standee Wedding Image $24.99 (Sold out) [5] 

Walmart

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Bella’s Wedding Dress Edition) (Blu-Ray) (With Fabric Poster) (EXCLUSIVE) (Anamorphic Widescreen) $26.99 [6]

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Bella’s Wedding Dress Edition) (2-Disc DVD) (With Fabric Poster) (EXCLUSIVE) (Anamorphic Widescreen) $22.96 [7]

Two-Disc Special Edition DVD $19.99 [8]

Special Edition Blu-Ray $22.96 [9]

Amazon

Special Edition Blu Ray $23.99 [10]

Best Buy

Two-Disc DVD $22.99 [11]

Blu-Ray $29.99 [12]

Special Edition Blu-Ray $24.99 [13]

If you’re looking to save a little money, Twilight Lexicon [14] can show you how. All you need is your ticket stub!

Step 1

Take a picture of your The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 movie ticket stub with your mobile phone.
To ensure proper validation, please click here [15] for tips on taking a picture of your movie ticket stub.

Step 2

Text or email the image to bd@drvsusa.com. Standard text message rates apply.

Step 3

Once your submission has been validated, you will receive a text message or email with a code and a website address. Standard text message rates apply.

Step 4

Using your browser, go to the website address contained in your text message or email, enter the code you received, choose Blu-ray® or DVD, and fill out the required information.

Step 5

Your certificate for $5.00 off of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Blu-ray® or $3.00 off the DVD will be mailed to your address.

Limited to one valid movie ticket submission. Maximum three tries to submit image. Codes Expire 4/30/12 at 11:59:59 PM PST. Valid in the US only. Not valid in Puerto Rico. Reward certificates expire 5/31/12 at 11:59:59 PM PST. While supplies last.

Check out this really cool behind the scenes video that shows how they used green screens for the special effects in Breaking Dawn Pt. 1. The VFX team completed 600 shots in just three months! That’s a pretty impressive feat.

The Art of VFX  [16]also interviewed SPIN VFX producer George Marci, supervisor Jeff Campbell, compositing sequence supervisor Kirk Brillon, and compositing supervisor Eric Doiron.

600 shots in 3 months is pretty impressive. How did you do that?
George Macri – VFX Producer // We had a solid team of artists with clearly defined tasks that were tracked by the Production Management team on a daily basis.

Have you created some automatic procedure to key and composite the backgrounds?
George Macri – VFX Producer // Everything was done using Nuke’s built-in keyers.

What was the biggest challenge on this project and how did you achieve it?
Jeff Campbell – VFX Supervisor // Estimating the spatial relationships and distances of objects and actors to the glass in the windows.

Eric Doiron – Compositing Supervisor // Those expansive outdoor views were entirely green screen comps. The real challenge was getting the reflections right. We often cheated the reflections because sometimes what was physically correct didn’t always work best for the composition

What have you done on this show?
Jeff Campbell – VFX Supervisor // SPIN’s primary contribution on this film was to add the backgrounds to all the sound stage green screen windows on the main set of the Cullen House. With no actual glass in the windows of the set, many shots required the addition of room reflections and/or character reflections. Both character and room reflection elements were created entirely in CG and animated to match their live action counterpart. We had 600 shots to do in a few months.

How did you manage the different reflections?
Eric Doiron – Compositing Supervisor // There was a wide shot of Bella surrounded by medical equipment. The room featured large windows on two sides, which meant that we had to assemble a wide background environment. Production had shot extensive exterior tiles surrounding the Cullen House from every possible angle and at different times of the day. We modeled all of the interior furniture and created digital doubles for Kristen Stewart [17] and Robert Pattinson [18] for use as reflection objects. These were carefully animated to match the actions of their real life counterparts. Finally, the interior room environment was reflected from HDRI images of the set. In the end all of the pieces came together seamlessly for a completely believable shot.

Read the rest of the interview and see more before and after green screen stills at Art of VFX! [16] {breakingdawnmovie [19] & twilightlexicon [20]}

TwiFUN Time!

Our much admired Robert Pattinson was won E! Celeb of the Year [21] 2011 contest.  This is Rob’s second year win, beating out all the competition, including KStew, to win the title.  His reward will be to reward others by receiving donate $25,000 to the charity of his choice. {TwilightLexicon [22]}

i09 [23], the hard science, science fiction, and related entertainment wing of Gawker [24] are no fans of Twilight.  However, this recent post If Famous Writers Had Written Twilight [25], is very creative and entertaining. Here’s a snip:

Jane Austen

Basically the same as the original, except that Bella is socially apt and incredibly witty. Her distrust of Edward is initially bourne out of a tragic misunderstanding of his character, but after a fling with Jacob during which he sexually assaults her (amusing to no one in this version) she and Edward live happily ever after.

Lewis Carroll

Bella takes acid and charts syllogisms.

James Joyce

Edward's rapacious love for Bella reflects the way globalism has pillaged Ireland. It's entirely written in Esperanto, with sections in untranslated Greek, except for Chapter 40, which is inexplicably rendered as a script page from the musical The Book of Mormon.

Ernest Hemingway

Edward and Bella exchange terse dialogue alluding to Edward's anatomical problem. Eventually, Bella leaves him for Jacob, a local bullfighter with a giant…sense of entitlement.