Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

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Archives for November 2008

Book Meme

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Did someone say Twilight?  Oh, I think Sarah did when she tagged me for this book meme!

The directions on this one are very unique directions: find the book closest to you, turn to page 56, and type in the fifth sentence plus a couple more after that.

She guessed I would have Twilight closest to me but in fact, I had Stephenie Meyer’s other book The Host closest to me (well, TECHNICALLY I had a stack of about 10 children’s book closest to me but they have no page 56).

So I hope I don’t spoil myself by reading this since I’m still on page 1

Laughing at me.  I turned my back to her and concentrated on calming myself. I tried to pretend she wasn’t there.  That I was all alone in my austere kitchen, staring out the window into the little patch of night sky, at the three bright stars I could see through it.

Oh, I just love Stephenie and all her tiny details!

Chat with Twilight Director Catherine Hardwicke

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Chatting with catherine hardwicke!! on TwitPic OK, that’s a really bad picture of what I was doing this evening.  And if I could ever find my Flip video I would have recorded the whole thing for you but I’ll do the best I can.  I do have about 2/3 of the audio recorded that I can post as well.

We had I think 37 people in the chat.  Several web site operators, several winner and then some Summit people.  Catherine got on about 7:20 and stayed until about 8:05. She seemed genuinely sad that her time was up and even looked at her watch and asked that another question be allowed.

She was very, very down to earth.  She was eating a “celebratory cupcake” when she first got on.  You could tell she really wanted feedback from the fans and felt like she was talking to herself.  She even suggested they use Skype next time.  She seemed really into interacting with the fans.

So here are the questions as best as I can (this is DEFINITELY summaries and DO NOT QUOTE ME):

I want to be a film director, what advise do you have? She stressed a lot of research and a lot of filming.  Shoot a film and do everything even adding a title, doing the credits, etc.  She also suggested UCLA where she went, UT, USC or NYU.

What went through your mind after the success of this weekend? She said her smile just got bigger and bigger.

Why did the I love you between Bella and Edward get cut? She said they did have a scene where they said it but it got cut.  But she feels like they said it in so many other ways…”you are my life now”.

How many takes did the kissing scene take? Eight total.  She mentions that it was steamier than what Stephenie wanted and that’s why they ended up using the closeup scenes.  Also she mentions Rob ended up looking like he was in excrutiating pain at times and had to tone him down.

Why did they shoot the ballet scene first? Cam (James) got another job and they only had three weeks.

What is the most extreme thing she has seen a fan do? She ran into someone on Saturday at 5 who said she had already seen the movie eight times.  She told her to go home!

What scene from Midnight Sun is on the DVD? She wanted us to guess but it is partly in Midnight Sun and partly in Twilight where Stephenie describes what Edward wanted to do.  (we were assuming when he wanted to kill everyone in the classroom)

This was one of my questions!!  Why didn’t you let Rob use his British accent? Because Edward didn’t have a British accent and Rob does an ok but unique (can’t remember her exact description) American accent.

Team Edward, Team Jac0b and Team Switzerland? She was Team Jac0b while reading the books because she was fighting for the underdog but once she started the movie, she switched to Team Edward so she could really get into it.

Why is Radiohead in the movie but not the soundtrack? They had already released it for free so they didn’t see a need.  She answers another question later that it is her favorite song from the movie as well.

Was the book on hand during the movie? A resounding yes!  She had lots of stuff marked and flagged.  They referred to it all the time.

Whose idea was Stephenie’s cameo? She mentioned getting the idea from a previous movie she had done and she felt like Stephenie had to be in there because she is the Queen of Twilight.

Were you there when Stephenie saw it? Yes and she was very nervous but Stephenie liked it a lot.

They had heard about Edward initially having long hair.  Why? She says she finds men with long hair sexy.  It was going to be long and wild and crossed timelines. [amy here – I heard that Rob fought this and it was left out–thank goodness]

How many takes did it take for Stephenie’s cameo? Two or three but only because they had to move the cameras and work on the timing.

What future film do you want to do? I think she talked about having a lot of stuff she’d like to do but mentioned The Monkey Wrench Game

Why wasn’t the blood type biology scene included? She said they considered it but they already had two biology scenes so it would have been repetitive and Edward had already rescued her enough.

Who will be at the UK premiere? Rob, Kristen and her.  She seemed really excited and wondered who else would be there.

Why didn’t you actually use the Town of Forks? She seemed really heartbroken about this and said she visited there and ate there and loved it and the high school was so great about sending jackets and stuff but ultimately it was cheaper to film in Portland, Oregon.

Were there any accidents during filming? Yes, Rob hurt is groin.  They had to get a professional masseuse on set [amy here – where can I get THAT job??].  She laughed and said Rob said “it was a very sensual massage”.  Also the stunt guy who fell down into the floorboards in the ballet studio suffered a concussion.

Whose idea were the owl wings behind Rob in Biology? Hers.  She had seen a picture of a boy and an eagle flying behind him where it looked the same and used the same idea.

What was her favorite line from the movie and book? Both were “Don’t Move” from the kissing scene

Were there any threats that the film would be leaked and how were they handled? Yes, there were.  She said normally they get a group of about 300 people to view it and give feedback but this time they did a few small “friends/family screenings”.  They all had to swear to secrecy and leave a drop of their blood (she was joking about all they had to do ).  She had them write down their feelings and she took that back and figured out how to change the film to make the experience better.

How does she feel about the adult fanbase? She feels like age doesn’t matter.  Romeo and Juliet wasn’t written just to be enjoyed by people their age.  Anyone can appreciate a love story.  She told a story about a a 90 year old woman at her mom’s church says Edward is her new beau. [so cute!]

How did the DVD commentary go on Monday? She put her head down and said it was a disaster.  She says they all had no idea what to talk about and were just making fun of each other.  She apologized and hoped it wasn’t too bad for the fans.

What about deleted scenes for the DVD? One is one of Kristen’s favorite scenes where she asks about her number being up and he says your number was up the first time we met.  [squeeee]  Also there are some sexy scenes with James and Victoria.

Someone heard there were scenes with Bella, Rosalie and Alice in the bathroom..are they on the DVD? She said they ran out of time and didn’t even get to film that.

I was really happy with all the questions even though only one of mine got answered!  I think she did a great job getting through so many!  I will work on getting the audio uploaded!

Sorry, had to remove the audio.

My non-novel

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OK, I’m writing a book.  There.  I said it.  I blame it solely on her and I’m sure she’s very happy about it.  I could write a novel about my non-novel…why I actually call it my non-novel, how it started, what it’s about, the scene that started it all, the post the sealed the deal for me, the characters, the brainstorming plot sessions with Scott of all people, the writing session Melissa and I had that was so much fun and all the other ones we have planned, the late nights, the research and all that.  But then it might seem like I’ve put too much on my plate again and partially explain why my blog has been so slow lately and I wouldn’t want to fess up to that.

So for now you just get that I’m writing a book.  Like, I actually have the whole story in my head and I honestly think it has the potential to be a really good dramatic story.  So much so, that I don’t feel like I’m a good enough writer to tell the story.  And while I don’t expect to get published (although I do want it bound if I ever finish it) or any movies to get made out of it, I am looking forward simply to the satisfaction of typing in the words ‘The End’ on that last page.  Or maybe I’ll take a page from one of Emma’s reading books and type “STOP.  This is the end.”  In fact, I think I will just because I can.  Cause guess what?  I’m writing a book.

Twilight: Jasper Comic Strip

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This is what happens when I get obsessed with something.

In all seriousness (funniness) Heather and I have laughed every. single. time at Jasper and his faces.  He’s SUPPOSED to be looking like he’s going to kill every human around him but to us, it just looks like he has bathroom issues.

Weekend Recap, er, more Twilight talk

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(FYI, no Twilight spoilers)

I’m hesitant to post because OMG, I feel like every post lately is about Twilight.  And I know that’s almost true and I’m very sure I’m annoying the heck out of everyone reading that’s not a Twilighter so I end up staying away but I just feel bad so I’m neglecting my blog.   So, you’re just going to have to get an earful of Twilight or click off now…

This weekend I did manage to do normal things like go to Bible Study and take my kids to Chuck E Cheese and meet with Melissa (which by the way was a really, really fun time).  I also even went to church and ran some errands on Sunday.  And tonight I’m going to a Mary Kay party.  On the surface, I appear to be a normal thirty something mother!

But alas, I did go to ANOTHER viewing of Twilight last night.  Jill hadn’t seen it and I just HAD to go with her.  And of course Heather then HAD to go with us.  I actually did see a few new things this time.  One that stood out is that Victoria is shown at the prom at least 2 times that I can recall before we see her in the window watching Bella and Edward.  Thought that was cool.  The movie just keeps getting better for me.  And yes, there are things that still annoy me but I really could watch it on replay 24-7.  In fact, Scott’s cousin just text me and asked me to go with her Wednesday.  Four times in 8 days?  Who am I to turn down an invite?

And I’m completely psyched about the Catherine Hardwicke chat tomorrow. I received word that it will be tomorrow at 7:30pm EST.  I will be able to submit as many questions as I want to the mod and they will be picking questions from those.  Catherine will be answering them via video but we will not be on camera.

Today also I received two huge movie posters from the (first) competition I won last week.  And guess what? I’m now sharing the Twilight love and GIVING ONE OF THEM AWAY.  Just leave a comment here.  I’d so love you if you also left a question in your comment to ask Catherine tomorrow. I have a handful ready but I will feel dumb if we all run out of questions to ask her!

Oh, and lastly, I bought Stephenie Meyer’s other book The Host.  Just glad that is ONE book and not FOUR!

Twilightmoms.com Ultimate Fan – yeah, that’s me

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OK, I can hardly believe I’m writing this but God decided to go and do something else for me. And yes, I choose to believe it’s an answer to prayer because seriously, ya’ll? I said a little prayer when I submitted this. I actually WON twilightmoms.com’s Ultimate Fan Competition which means I won an online video chat with Twilight’s movie director Catherine Hardwicke!!! OME!!!!

I was sitting at the birthday party table at Chuck E. Cheese this afternoon and randomly check my email and lo and behold I read a Congratulations email from one of their reps. Heather was my first call and then my friend Allison. Then of course I had to twitter, facebook it, post it on message boards and it’s finally made it to my blog. I’m beyond excited and just hoping I come up with a great question. So, help me all you Twilighters! What question do you want Catherine to answer? I have a few in my back pocket but hoping some people can help me out. I am SO tired of hearing the same questions answered and I’m very sure they are tired of answering them!

And I guess I should let you take a peek into the actual submission…it’s nothing fancy. Simple and straight to the point to how I’m completely obsessing over Twilight.

My eyes hurt and I’m ready for the weekend post

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Wow, yesterday evening was a little busy.  We ate at our regular local restaurant and took cupcakes, candles and a few presents for Emma’s birthday.  We all went back to Mom’s house and started watching Tinkerbell until my cousin and her husband got into town.  I got the kids down for bed and was able to visit with my cousin for a little bit before Heather and I headed out to our midnight viewing of Twilight.

We were the first ones there and got the best seats in the house.  I got a little worried as the room started filling up with a lot of teenagers/college students that were very loud.  But everyone behaved themselves except this one part where Bella and Edward were talking and this guys yells out, “Get you some, Edward!”  The whole theater busted out laughing. It actually was really funny.

I’m not going to do a whole other review but I do have to say I liked the movie A LOT more the second time around.  I really was able to appreciate it as its own story versus trying to figure out how it differed from the book.  At first I was thinking that people that hadn’t read the book would hate it but I think I’m going to have to take that back.  It’s no blockbuster movie but it holds its own without the backstory of the book.

I was back at Mom’s by 2:30 this morning.  I got up at 6:50 and got Emma to school and then was crashed back at home by 7:45.  I woke up at 10 today and got started with work.  I’m pretty tired today.  Emma about broke my heart last night asking when we were going to have time at home with just us.  I think she’s feeling all the craziness.

The youth group is having a lock-in tonight. I think I’m going to let Scott go and I’m going to stay home with the kids.  I just don’t think I can take another late night away and I don’t think the kids want to either.  Tomorrow I have choir practice and then have to get the kids to a birthday party.  I may be meeting up with Melissa at some point in the afternoon so Saturday will be pretty busy.  Maybe we can slow it all down on Sunday.

By the way, Heather and I took a bunch of pictures of the screen while we were at the movie if you want to see.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amybennett/sets/72157609624602601/

http://picasaweb.google.com/HeatherRenae98/TwilightMovieStills