Warning: This first blog post is LONG!!
Old town of Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy
This is to recap my adventures on my Italy trip in May 2009. This is told as I remember it so I may have some days mixed up etc but still it happened so even if the chronological order isn't 100% correct it all really happened. Pics will be added as I get them uploaded from my laptop.
I traveled to Montepulciano Italy in May to see the last few days of the Twilight Saga - New Moon filming. So here is my report from that.
I traveled with my friend "vampirefreak101 (will use her twitter name as I haven't asked for permission to use her real name in this blog) to Italy. She had to spend the night at Stansted airport so I flew from Norway to Stansted on Saturday May 23rd so we shared a room for that overnight stay there. I almost didn't make my flight cos of shitty service from our national train service, my train from Tønsberg, Norway was canceled and they didn't seem to bother with getting us alternative transportation to where we needed to go, they can expect a letter from me where I am gonna give them a piece of my mind for what happened.
Sunday May 24th. 2009:
We had an early flight from Stansted, UK to Perugia, Italy. We both cracked up when we saw how TINY that airport was! I haven't seen such a small airport since...well since mid 80's LOL.
Landed in Perugia and then got on a shuttle bus from the airport to the train station in Perugia (apologies to any Italians if I get these names wrong!) to catch the train to Chiusi and then take the bus to Chianchiano where our hotel was, Hotel Niagra (no it got nothing to do with Niagra Falls LOL). With helpful locals and stuttering something between English, Italian and Spanish (!) we managed to get tickets for the train and got on board. We had to change trains at one stop and ended up waiting there for half an hour. We finally arrived in Chianchiano and found our hotel. It was literally on top of a VERY steep hill! I never realized I had to be a mountain goat to visit Tuscany, Italy LOL!
So after checking in, it was time to get ready for our first visit to Montepulciano. We found a bus stop nearby our hotel and waited, and waited and waited for a bus...none came. Turns out that Sundays isn't the best of days to take a bus in that area! So we ended up with a taxi! 15 min later and total of 21 € less in our pocketbooks we arrived into the Piazza Grande in Montepulciano. We did agree with the taxi driver that he'd come and pick us up at 11:30 PM. Not totally sure he GOT what we wanted but when that time came he was there so he got it alright lol.
The Main building on Piazza Grande all decorated in red flags.
I was in awe in what I saw..Red flags, both with some pictures (red and white figures) on them, and plain red flags and banners everywhere! The fake fountain (which you had to literally touch to see if it was real or not, it was a movie prop of course) was finished and squirting out water like a real fountain. Streets leading up to Piazza Grande were decorated with flags too. Esp those streets where they would be filming. The VIEW from the "old town wall" and towards the valley there was amazing too. It was a world on it's own! Gorgeous!
Videos of the Piazza Grande in the Old Town of Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy:
The excitement rose of course as we knew the actors were in the area but they weren't IN Montepulciano on Sunday night, I guess they were out and about where they stayed overnight. Walking around the Piazza Grande and onwards to the Fortezza we ran into several fans, mostly Italians of course. There were ppl waiting around for "someone" to come but since our pickup time agreement with our taxi driver approached we opted to go home and just get a good night's rest.
Monday May 25th.
We arrived by BUS this time, and somehow figured out the timetable for the bus lol, around 10 am. The Piazza Grande were closed or well parts of it was closed off but fans could stay on the edges to take a look. No idea what had happened then but many fans surrounded the area to watch. We had only been there like half an hour before things started to happen, rapidly! In fact it happened so fast that neither of us thought of getting our cameras out, ready for a quick shot. Suddenly folks started cheering and screaming, Dakota Fanning (Jane) suddenly emerged from the main building (I believe this building is normally used for tourism info) at the Piazza Grande. She just smiled and waved to the crowd...her hair up in a ponytail if I remember correctly so she was not in costume or makeup. Then I saw Ashley Greene (Alice) standing by a car talking to someone, I THINK she was in costume. I pointed her out to vampirefreak101. Then LOUD SCREAMS, had to be only one guy causing that kind of noise! Yep Robert Pattinson walked out from that building and straight into the car waiting to take him away. He wore his blue checkered shirt. He didn't wave or anything but he's shy so I didn't expect him to. Not in costume or makeup. I couldn't believe it. The SECOND day and after just arrived to Montepulciano that day 30 min earlier we saw no less than 3 cast members??! Seriously I should have played the Lottery this week!
Fans at the Piazza Grande on Monday May 25th.
Fans waiting outside the gate at the Fortezza on May 25th
I went to Italy HOPING to see SOMETHING, ANYTHING but not expecting to see squat to be honest. This just came so suddenly I wasn't ready for any of this lol. Happy and excited yes, but prepared? Heck no!
So we got very excited by this, but wondered if we used up our luck that day already. Turns out we had a WHOLE WEEK ahead of us with more luck now WHY didn't I play the lottery again??!!
Sometime during the day a whole bunch of ppl gathered in front of barriers put up by the security in front of the main building in the Piazza. It turned out that it was Chris Weitz and the US production team that had their press conference there. So we waited hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was there. We did find out it was "just the director, no actors" as the security said. I didn't care cos I wanted to see Chris Weitz all the same! The video thanks to
TwilightItalia is posted on
newmoonmovie.org.
After having lunch (yep the "human needs" had to be cared for lol) we walked around for a bit. Towards the Fortezza to be specific. Lots of ppl there so something had to happen! We ended up standing there for a while and while standing there we got some info where the actors stayed during the day and also where they stayed during the night. All this in OUR SECOND DAY in Montepulciano. Turns out that the hotel the actors stayed at overnight where in the same town we were....and to those yelling at me for revealing the town, they are NOT that likely to visit that town again any times soon really unless they film in the area for another movie at some point. I won't share more than that though.
We waited at the Fortezza for a while then saw a black mini van with dark windows coming, I did spot a long haired girl inside...slightly wavy hair and I am pretty sure it was Kristen coming into the Fortezza. I guess they did something behind those gates there. What that was I do not know. Maybe filmed some scenes there I guess.
After that sighting we didn't really see much more. We ended up having dinner at this restaurant that more or less became lots of Twilight fans' "hangout place" when they filmed at the Piazza Grande as it was the only one that was open during filming there. The night before we had met a mother and daughter from Switzerland who joined us there and they needed a hotel for the night. So we suggested our hotel and they got lucky and got a room there (and we got a free ride back to the hotel and also back to Montepulciano the next day as thanks!). Lovely ppl.
Tuesday May 26th. 2009:
Lots of things happened this day... we arrived to the Piazza Grande as usual but this time it was closed off more than before. The alleys leading up to the Piazza had barriers a few meters down the road so if you had front row you could see what was directly in front of you but not towards the sides. I guess to prevent fans from taking pics.. as we know by now they weren't all that successful to accomplish that. Paps were everywhere lurking and even extras had sneaked cameras in. Was bound to happen. Anyways after not thinking we'd get onto the Piazza this time around or see much they suddenly opened the Piazza for a short time. We sat on the steps there for like 30 min or so (I had then already befriended 2 American ladies who were there for the same reason we were, they lived in Naples, Italy as their hubbies worked in the US Army base there, VERY cool ladies to hang out with! So a shout out to Lorri and Tonda!).
Then suddenly the Piazza Grande was closed down again and ppl were ushered to the alleys. I got separated from my friend and I ended up standing in one alley with the 2 American ladies. My friend turned out to be standing right across from where I stood.
We saw the extras coming in, dressed in capes in various shades of red. They reminded me of either the Little Red Riding Hood or Hobbits LOL. We laughed and joked about the Hobbit being filmed and not New Moon LOL.
So after a while we heard loud cheering. Had to be Rob on set again lol. Well this dragged on and on for a while, it was HOTTER THAN HELL that day. I felt sorry for these extras in their heavy capes and one actually almost fainted due to the heat. The Italian security came to the barriers with water for the onlookers which was a nice surprise!
Then after ages of standing there the filming at the Piazza Grande was done for the day. We got onto the Piazza and ppl literally RAN to the main building there..I guess the main actors left the set that moment cos I saw nobody but I got ON the fountain this time in the excitement and forgot it was just a movie prop...I almost fell into it...LOL. I managed to stable myself so I didn't make a fool of myself!
Then I finally found my friend and we just wandered towards the daytime hotel where the actors stayed. We ate at the nearby restaurant there and saw the crowd at the hotel dwindle down to hardly anyone. I guess nobody was expected there for some time yet. But they filmed further down the road from the hotel so most ppl were were there, past the Piazza Grande.
We walked down there again after eating but when we saw THAT horde of ppl swarming towards us we realized that um..ok these ppl are heading in ONE direction to the hotel. So we quickly turned around and was lucky that it was just a tiny crowd outside it. Behind a barrier too for crowd control and safety. We got to the front of the side barrier heading towards the street. Waited there for a bit and well some ppl left for some reason so we moved towards the front that faced the hotel entrance. We didn't get front row but managed to see just fine (thankfully many Italian girls are very short!). Waited for a while and a cute doggie entertained us for a bit,
and then things started to happen rapidly..THIS time though I was prepared, my camera was out and ready. Then first came Dakota in costume, I didn't catch her on camera though, then came Kristen who I just caught by her arm as she ran into the hotel, she was alone in her car. Ashley I got a better one of as she stood outside the hotel for a bit. Then, mayhem broke loose. Yep ROB again. Ppl pushing and screaming like crazy, if I didn't know better you'd think I was in the first few rows at some rock concert! Well out he came, in FULL Edward makeup and costume. White shirt. Seemed to be in full Edward mode too as he made some "scary" face coming outta the car to the crowd, but he ended up looking hot and funny instead lol. I snapped THAT picture! Later I saw the exact same shot (just a little closer than mine was) on a gossip site (think it was Just Jared) so some paparazzi had to have snapped that moment the SAME time I did!
Kristin arriving at the hotel:
Ashley outside the hotel:
Rob(ward) arriving at the hotel in full Edward mode and costume:
Everyone I showed this pic I took to wanted it mailed to them so yep I will be busy doing that for a few days!
Charlie Bewley arriving at the hotel:
Now I also got pics of all the actors (sans Dakota yet again!!) when they left the hotel.
Kristen leaving the hotel:
Ashley Leaving the hotel:
Charlie Bewley leaving the hotel and filming us on his way out lol:
I also got Charlie Bewley on camera, this guy is so cute and funny! He seems to totally enjoy all of the madness at the moment and well he came out of the hotel smiling, with a bouquet of flowers and a video camera. He filmed the crowd there and threw the flowers into the crowd! Needless to say he charmed quite a few fans!
Robert leaving the hotel:
This time Rob was definitely back to his usual shy self. He just looked straight ahead and went into the car. He wore his sunglasses, the same blue checkered shirt and dark pants.
So knowing that they'd left the town of Montepulciano and back to either their overnight hotel or out to eat we got ready to leave Montepulciano and go back to our hotel. But we wanted to check out the other hotel they were at JUST because. We had no intention to stay there. We got there and there was a few fans outside, security was tight and they made SURE nobody lingered just outside the entrance. We stuck around for a lil while talking to people and then opted to leave. Back to our hotel and to bed.
Wednesday May 27th. 2009:
This is the day that turned out to be exactly what I had imagined my usual bad luck and what my week there would be. EVERYTHING was closed off. No chance in HELL to get access to the Piazza Grande at all! ALL alleys leading to the Piazza was closed off. Way down the road too. So not possible to see anything at all. Quite boring as we had been so spoiled the 2 days before, little did we know that we would be yet again a little spoiled when we least expected it. We became friends with yet more Americans, a mother and a daughter who were definitely happy they stayed with my friend and I and a newly arrived friend of ours from Austria, waelchen is her twitter name (again using the twitter name as I didn't ask for permission to use her real name.). We stuck around at the Fortezza for a bit then got bored, we headed off to have lunch. Found a nice restaurant in one of these streets and enjoyed ourselves for a while. After lunch we headed off towards the Piazza in another direction hoping to catch a road that hadn't been blocked so far down, sadly no success. We ended up in the alley leading up to the Piazza that also was in the same direction as a restaurant that came into play the next early morning..more on that later...
Pics taken at the Fortezza on Wednesday, May 27th.
Extras arriving into the Fortezza for lunch on Wednesday May 27th.
After waiting for what seemed like ages, ppl asked the security there how long it would be before they opened the Piazza. They estimated it to be around 8 PM. We got bored standing there seeing nada so we decided to just head off for dinner before going to the Piazza around that time. Just as I crossed the street the security moved ppl to the side of the street and opened the barrier for a car coming thru. I jumped on the doorway entry to a small wine store on the other side, just thinking it was just another car passing thru. It wasn't! I saw a black car, clear windows and in there was ...Kristen! I still hadn't learned my lesson to have my camera ready at all times..so that was safely tucked away in my purse, sigh. Well Kristen smiled and waved to us though and we all cheered.
Then as that car drove down the alley, nobody paid attention to the car following it..I looked up and it was another black car but with black windows...my new buddies from US, the mom and daughter got a GREAT view as the windows weren't as black as they first appeared to be, Rob looked right at them! I just saw the back of his head! PPL were so surprised that nobody screamed, that came as the car had passed when ppl realized who really was in that car LOL! So yes after a slightly boring day but still a nice one with new friends we STILL got our fix that day.
After that we headed up to the Piazza as it was opened shortly after. We headed for the restaurant that was literally at the end of that street and met up with the American ladies I had gotten to know the day before (Tuesday). They told us they had stayed at the restaurant all day and they saw most of the filming that day. They had shown up there at 5 am or so and got lucky to get a table. So waelchen and vampirefreak101 wanted to show up EARLY Thursday morning to secure a table there so we could be that lucky on Thursday, little did waelchen and I know how LUCKY we WOULD be on Thursday..
They agreed to get up at 2 AM Thursday morning to get there by 3 AM as the restaurant would be open then..yes that restaurant opened at that time during the filming, crazy I know but they made a lot of money on it I bet! I initially refused to get up that early, seriously it was crazy cos it wasn't like I was going to a concert! To get up at that ridiculous hour only make sense to me if you opt for front row at a concert (or a Bon Jovi concert in my case!). Not to get a table to watch some filming! But I eventually decided to go with them. Happy I did too. Waelchen kindly agreed to drive us to our hotel that day and pick us up at 2:30 AM on Thursday. Good grief!
Thursday May 28th. 2009:
Yeah...it was early..TOO EARLY!!! My body wondered what the heck I was doing as I struggled out of bed and I think vampirefreak101's body did the same hehe. We did still get up, got ready and waited for waelchen to pick us up. (Please do check out her blog here:
New Moon Italy Set)Poor girl ran a tiny bit late as firstly she struggled to find the driveway to her farmhouse guest house she stayed in. She might have gotten like just a couple of hrs sleep...less than we got either way. She was stopped for some silly police check which HAD to happen that day (or rather night lol). But she wasn't more than about 5 min. late so no big deal really.
We still arrived about 3 AM. at the restaurant. Some ppl were lingering around but nobody at the tables yet until we sat down at one of the front tables. I had already agreed with the 2 US ladies, Lorri and Tonda, that if they arrived first they would save chairs for us and if we arrived first we would do the same for them. We arrived first so we saved the chairs for them. They arrived about 5:30 AM.
Just after we arrived some cool Italian fans came, they told us the tables we were all at were great places for the filming. They sat there on Wednesday and saw most of it apart from the reunion scene between Edward and Bella which was filmed behind privacy screens that blocked that view from the restaurants, extras on the set could see it though.
So we all got settled onto our chairs, after buying some much needed coffee and later some croissants (NO idea what it was called in Italian sorry lol) we just got ready to wait, shivering a little as it was slightly cool but we knew it would get warmer soon enough. Around 6 AM. some security guy came over and spoke to us in Italian, the Italian girls next to us immediately got on their feet and they told us to get up too. The US ladies translated to us what went on. The security guy were looking for EXTRAS! Preferably older people! All 3 of us jumped up and got up to the security guy, anticipating a SHOT to be an extra. So a large group of older ppl and the younger ones left with him and leaving the tables we got so early up for behind. Knowing full well we'd lost a great spot but this was too good to pass up on.
We were escorted behind the gates to the Fortezza which served mostly as a place for the Extras to be before filming for the day and to have lunch. Also served as a storage fore the extras' own personal belongings they couldn't take on set. Cameras and mobiles etc.
We were lead to an Italian casting lady who also spoke English, and she requested peoples ID documents. Also said that they were only looking for ppl from a certain age and up, mostly in their 30's and up if I am not mistaken. I gotta admit it was NICE to finally be happy to be "older". That doesn't happen too often lol.
I had one obstacle against me in getting into being cast as an extra. This one day I had left my passport at the hotel and only had my Norwegian driver's license. They did of course only accept passports. The lady wouldn't budge to my please, and well I cannot blame her cos she had her orders. The security guy however felt sorry for me when he saw my "desperate face". I felt a major disappointment coming in over me knowing I lost a great spot at the restaurant and now would lose my chance to be an extra. When would that ever happen again??
But the security guy talked into letting me in as she had already accepted another American lady who didn't have her passport with her, she got accepted upon promising to bring the passport the next day. I of course promised doing the same thing. So the casting lady then caved in and let me in. Waelchen and I were IN!! Sadly vampirefreak101 didn't get in, nor did the other Italin girls as they were too young for what they were looking for at that time. The security guy followed them back to the restaurant I believe. I felt so bad doing this but I hoped and prayed that vampirefreak101 would understand and that she would at least get a good spot back at the restaurant. Turns out they did eventually after complaining to the security guy of losing their spots but they managed to get a spot there! Vampirefreak101 was quite happy as the day passed by cos she got some great sightings on her own, her tweets probably told her followers what she saw! I asked her if she was upset with me but she wasn't. So HUGE HUGS to vampirefreak101 for being so understanding.
Well after being registered at the casting table, waelchen and I filled out some papers, and yes the 2 US ladies, Lorri and Tondi was there too. Very happy for them, esp Lorri had tried to be cast as an extra when they were first casting for it. Neither waelchen and I had any clue what we signed or what that paper we got handed alongside with our on set passes (it said FE for Free Extras I guess on one side and on the other it read USM. No idea what that stood for.) The pass was a laminated thing with red and white stripes. Paid extras had one saying "EXTRA" on it and it was yellow and green striped.
Then it was time to get into the Extras' wardrobe, which mostly consisted of these hooded capes in various shades of red. Some paid extras had full costumes.
After getting our hooded cape and put it on we went back outside to get some free food lol. Yep we got served breakfast. I didn't see the coffee and tea there then but spotted some croissants and bottles of water that we could take so I grabbed that.
After a while we were all gathered together and it was time to head off to the set. The set for us was again the Piazza Grande. Again it was closed off like it was on Wednesday. Ppl were everywhere and wherever we went ppl snapped pics of us or filmed us lol. Then well onto the Piazza we were divided into two large groups, the first group got right into working from the morning. The first scene of filming was Bella running thru the crowd towards the fountain. Also at the same time 2 processions were moving, one up the stairs in front of the church on the Piazza while the other just moved towards it just behind the fountain.
After waiting while things were set up for filming and Lorri, waelchen and I stood by some white van to catch a better view of what went on. Lorri's friend Tonda was already working as she was last in the procession walking up the stairs in front of the church...again and again lol.
Then as we were watching this, I felt someone approaching me from behind, not touching me or speaking to me but approaching to pass behind me, I looked around and there comes Kristen, walking RIGHT by me. I just moved one step up so she could pass. I didn't talk to her and she did not look at me. It wasn't the time or place to approach her as she was focused and I didn't want to mess up my luck either. So I just "ignored" her lol.
Then later on a short break while the next sequence was set to be filmed, this time splashing in the fountain I think which was done by Kristen's stunt double, Azzura (I think that is how her name is spelled!). Lorri, waelchen and I just kinda walked towards the opposite end of the Piazza from where we were..towards where we knew Rob would stand when they filmed the reunion scene between Edward and Bella as she tries to stop him from exposing himself in the sun to the crowd there.
So just milling around, moving up the steps until we found our place. Nobody placed us there, we placed OURSELVES there lmao. We were instructed by the main supervisor there to look towards the procession and Church when filming, NOT at Rob and Kristin as they shot their scene. Well, easier said than done when you got a hot looking actor in THAT body standing on the doorstep with NO shirt on! I definitely looked between takes, also during the first 2 takes took a sneak peak while filming but TRIED my best to only slightly tilt my face in that direction whilst still being underneath my hoodie lol. Not sure if I failed. Yet they had to film that sequence several times, (NOT cos of me lol!). After the first 2 takes I stopped doing that. I looked where I was told to look and only looked at Rob and Kristin between takes. I had a great view lol. During filming I focused on listening to the lines spoken and caught most of Kristen's lines, Rob spoke too low to hear what he said.
At one time Kristen got REALLY loud...screamed from the top of her lungs it seemed and I didn't see it happened but she SLAMMED into Rob as she jumped up on him and he almost fell over lol. Needless to say they had to do another take cos er, well, a tiny looking human isn't suppose to knock over a vampire...right?
So yet again another take, and during these takes, for those who doubt if Rob's abs were real or not, they were! There is NO faking that stuff, not when you get as close of a view as I got later that day, yes makeup was applied to ENHANCE them to make them stand out more to show up on the silver screen. To make it look good, but they are so real! I also couldn't believe how tiny Kristen looks. Seriously this girl is shorter or AT LEAST my height but her body is more than half smaller than me! LMAO. I felt really fat next to her hehe! She is really pretty in person though. All of the actors looked great in person and I think they even looked BETTER in person than on pictures/screen. Needless to say I drooled when I saw Rob but kept it internally. Not one to lose my posture when I am suppose to be working! I do have my work pride after all.
So after a few more takes, it was time for a break....I sensed the production team was quite happy with the extras that day. They seemed cheerful and in a good mood. It was also the last day for Rob filming so most of principal shooting was finished on that day.
But during that break something happened that I didn't particularly appreciate from the Italian team and I am sorry if I offend Italians out there but what occurred was uncalled for an unnecessary. One of the Italian crew announced that "He" (meaning Robert) would come out and greet the extras, all of us cheered (someone translated this for waelchen and I so that is how we knew). Then after a little time they announced that sadly it wasn't gonna happen after all as Rob had refused to come out. He wanted to go for lunch instead. The Italian crew wasn't impressed and well as we went towards the Fortezza for our lunch they kept blaming this on the US production crew and Rob (literally saying that they didn't care that we traveled from afar or got there early in the morning) making it sound like they were all primadonnas. What a bunch of crap! I told one of the US ladies (Lisa from Philly, Hey Lisa!!) that this sounded VERY much like a lame excuse and some way of blaming the US crew for something that wasn't planned in the first place. Seems to me it was the Italian crew who thought this would be cool to do for the extras and although that thought was sweet, they could have handled the "rejection" from Rob in a much more professional manner and not sound like a bunch of brats with putting all blame on the US crew and Rob. I was pissed off at that.
Actually I felt it would be more appropriate for the DIRECTOR, Chris Weitz to greet and thank the extras, simply cos he is the main guy in charge there. This did actually happen later on but more on that later.
Anyways back at the Fortezza for lunch where we were given a pretty big lunch I have to say. Big sandwich with salami, pasta salad, bottle of water and fruit.
After lunch and milling around for a bit ppl got antsy to get back out to the Piazza, ppl lined up at the gate that we got in for our lunch and we got stuck standing there for like 2 hrs! LOL, like it wasn't enough standing around before or after that LOL. Not the Italian crew's fault though, I suspect it was just us Extras being anxious and impatient for more filming hehe. Eager bunch you see hehe.
Soo, eventually they did open up the doors and back on the Piazza we went, sat down there for a bit and then they started to divide us up in groups again..one smaller one this time and one BIG one that was lead to the back of the steps towards the back of the Piazza. Lorri, waelchen and I got picked up for the smaller group who had to work...and we were placed on the street leading down to the doorway were Rob stood..
After being moved here'n'there I was told to follow the "Main guy" who instructed the extras alongside an older Italian lady...he let us down the street to stand only a FEW meters from where Rob were gonna stand in that doorway. I was floored. I guess I did my job ok enough for him to place me there or maybe it was just sheer luck! Great view none the less! The lady I stood next to barely spoke English but enough for me to explain to her what the scene was about, she was excited too hehe.
Anyways..then we were all suddenly told to step forward 3 steps and stay there. We complied and I turned around cos others did too. There I see Rob and Kristen coming down the street with security. Rob had "dots" on his face and I saw some on his chest as his shirt was unbuttoned. I remember thinking "that looks weird..." LOL. But I was drooling inside! He and Kristen walked RIGHT by me, I could only just reach out my hand and I could touch them but I did not do anything, I just stood there and looked, not staring, just looking. Tried to be as casual about this as I could be.
Then we were told to step back the 3 steps we had moved forward and was instructed to face forward with faces towards the Piazza and the side of that Church again. NOT to look at Rob and Kristen of course. I looked at them as much as I could between takes but when they called for action and rolling I did as I was told with ears focused on the dialogue that I could hear more clearly this time around, still couldn't pick up much of Rob's lines but did hear him mumble something lol. Kristen's lines as I heard was like "No Edward, don't" as she ran to him, then I heard "Step back!" and then "Open your eyes!".
In between takes I watch them interact with the production team. Rob laughed and Kristen laughed too. They both seemed cheerful and in a great mood. They also stepped behind a black screen thing to watch the scene they had just filmed and also smoked of course hehe. For the "Robsten shippers" out there..no I saw NO indication, not even a slightest hint of anything intimate going on between them. Not that it would happen there anyways as they seemed cheerful but focused on what they were doing. Professional to the bone I would say. Impressive cos they are still young in spite of experience and so on. Kristen has a lot of experience but still a young girl. She was VERY focused though.
After they were satisfied with the filming for the day it was time to wrap things up. First we were told to get onto the steps in front of the church again and sit down (they made sure we sat down during breaks a lot and also made sure if it was too hot to get us in the shadow and give us water, so they certainly cared for our well being as much as they could.).
Well after a few thanks etc...the one guy who had made the ridiculous announcement earlier spoke again of what had happened and why Rob didn't come out and this time I was so furious I didn't know what to do with myself. I kept it in though.
He had the NERVE to ask for a favor cos Rob had "refused" to come out to greet us and wanted to go for lunch instead, apparently not bothered with the fact that ppl had come from afar and got up early to be a part of this. So this dude asked us for a "favor". I could NOT believe my ears when the Italian girl next to me translated for me. He asked us to BOO Rob as he got out from that main building and walked back to his hotel!! I was shocked, furious and horrified but such nonprofessional behavior from a crew member. I mean come on! I said loud and clear in English I had NO intention to boo anyone, that is ridiculous and unprofessional, totally uncalled for! waelchen was as pissed off too.
So when Rob came out, yep some fans DID boo...unbelievable! Some of them were right behind us. Waelchen and I cheered as LOUD and clapped as hard as we could to tune them out. We both looked at Rob and what does he do? He looks in our direction (could have looked at any of us but it was in OUR direction where we sat at least lmao) and smiled! No idea if he heard the booing, I do believe the cheers were louder than the booing thank goodness but man I was majorly pissed off!
Kristen got a loud cheer and applause as she walked out too, her reaction was adorable. She waved to us like "noo, noo stop that, too embarrassing" and smiled..too cute! That reaction only got her stronger cheers hehe.
After that it was time for these official goodbyes things. Some of this could end up on the DVD maybe...all of the Extras were filmed, taken pics off from some guys standing on a crane. Then finally the official greeting and IMO the most appropriate one as it was from the boss himself, Chris Weitz came out to greet us after we chanted "Chris, Chris, Chris" and clapped. He came out and after some struggling to get the PA mic to work right he thanked us all for coming and for our enthusiasm. Then some more guys came to say thanks, more cheers and big cheers as the car was pulled out for us all to see. Yep one of the yellow turbo Porches they used there was pulled out to show us and well press too I guess. That entire segment was fun and cheerful and my pissed off feeling from before slowly waned.
After that it was time to go back to the Fortezza, hand in our red hooded capes and pick up our belongings. Upon entering there we were all asked if we could come back tomorrow and of course I said yes lol. Had to bring my passport to them anyways so I may as well say yes!
So after all that excitement it was time to get back to our hotel, first we had dinner at one of the restaurants nearby the Fortezza before going to our hotel, we met up with vampirefreak101 there and she was full of stories of her own of what happened that day and was eager to hear our stories too. She too got majorly pissed off at how the Italian crew blamed Rob and the US crew for not "caring" about the extras on set. Esp about the booing. She was in no way upset with us at all either so she is really a sweetheart that girl! Great friend to have!
Waelchen yet again (what a great girl she is, and she is hilarious too, both of waelchen and vampirefreak101 are hilarious lol) kindly agreed to pick up vampirefreak101 and I up at our hotel, this time at 4 AM I think so we would be at the Fortezza between 4:45 and 5 AM.
Friday May 29th. 2009:
We got there between 4:45 and 5 AM as planned and again had to go thru the registration form, just a shortened version of it as many of us had been there before and I could finally hand over my passport (waelchen and I had both forgotten to pick up our documents the evening before so we told them at the registration they had that from the day before too, the lady said she'd make sure we got our documents back). And then it was time to go thru the same process, wardrobe to get our red hooded cape and then back out to catch breakfast. This time we got croissants and coffee (waelchen had tea). We relaxed for a while and talked about the previous day and about all that had happened. Then it was time to get ready for work again. This time both Lorri and Tonda were paid extras. So they had different badges than we did. We had the same one as the previous day.
This time there were no filming at the Piazza. We were lead to some street and waelchen and I got separated for the most of that day, we only saw one another during short breaks. We had managed to stick together like glue the day before but no such luck this time around lol. I did end up staying with the American gang of ladies I had gotten to know and appreciated that, as the first part of filming that day I got "stuck" with Italians only and one Polish girl who I thankfully discovered DID speak English just fine lol. She was lovely, Kate is her name. (Hi Kate!)
So we were divided in groups, and scattered around down the street to "crowd the street" and the scene that was being filmed was the yellow Porsche zooming up the street. I was told what was gonna happen and to be honest I felt worried. First time I felt worried actually. I spoke up and voiced my concern cos from what I could understand we were to walk in the middle of the street in groups of 2 or 3 (with the ppl we were placed with) and then when we heard the Porsche's horn go off we were to move out of the way quickly so it zoomed by. The rehearsals were done by Ashley's stunt double, a guy and also Kristen's stunt double was in the car. The guy who translated for me calmed me down saying "don't worry, it is a professional stunt guy driving first then the actors later". I was stunned that they would let the actors drive that car that FAST up this road full of ppl!
Pic of one of the yellow Turbo Porsches they used taken on Saturday May 30th on the Piazza Grande:
However either I misunderstood some of the guy's translation cos what they ended up doing was having us walk on each side of the roads as the car zoomed by honking the horn, I felt MUCH safer (I am no stunt woman after all!!)
So after a few test drives with the stunt doubles it was time for the actors to do this, and I had to smile as Ashley did drive considerably slower than the stunt double did...she honked differently too but it was still passing us by in high speed though. They did this take a few times over.
I was happy cos well I got a good look at both of the actresses again. I felt spoiled at this point. Having seen actors just about EVERY DAY since I came to Italy it kinda started to feel like a natural thing lol.
Then later on they moved us to a different location, a busy street where the shops were open and customers milling around. They managed to block the street off somewhat but still too busy to actually get some serious filming done, yet they tried, over and over, and over and over! Crazy idea to try to film there but I guess they got some scenes done. This was done by a "camera car" as in the other yellow Porsche they had on some trailer thing or whatever it is called in English, with black screens on and it was pulled by another car containing the camera and sound equipment. This was for the interior shots for the actors in the car. Again this passed in slow speed right behind us and we had to be COMPLETELY quiet as they used sensitive mikes to record sound. They had to do this over again several times cos customers in shops ignored instructions to NOT take pics.
I looked at Kristen and Ashley in the car between takes, they were so adorable, really acting their ages. Giggling, laughing, singing lol. Very cute. I could see Kristen's reaction if she felt she did a good job in the scene or her reaction when she messed up. I didn't see Ashley's reaction there cos I was on Kristen's side. But one time they both were happily singing along to something and as the camera car backed down a little one of the crew on each side opened the doors so ppl there could hear the girls....then started clapping and the crowd immediately followed. Kristen and Ashley both blushed and hid their faces LOL. So cute!
After that they kinda gave up on the idea to try more there so they moved us back to the street we were before, this time they shot poor Kristen running up some MAJORLY steep steps. I halfway ran/walked those steps earlier and boy they are STEEP. Imagining running up those as fast as you can. Kristen did her best and asap she got around the corner from these steps she was out of breath and breathed "Fuck me!" which caused Lorri to crack up although she kept it in though. (I had been reunited with Lorri and Tonda at this point and succeeded to follow them for the rest of the day lol).
After finally having lunch again, this time at a park outside the old town of Montepulciano, not too long to walk as we were nearby that park anyways. After that it was time to get back on set but first we got up to the street were they had filmed Kristen running up the stairs...after being moved back and forth for abit...I guess they tried to figure out where to film and what to do they opted to move the set yet again.
They also chose out a few of the extras and yet again they wanted older ppl. Yet again Lorri, Tonda, 2 other US ladies and I amongst other Italian extras were picked up and walked to the new location. This time they were at a crossroads of sorts. They wanted to shoot a scene were Bella runs thru the crowded streets, at the crossroads she is unsure of which direction to go as one street leads to the right and another to the left, my friend waelchen got on this set too and she was on the street on the left. I was on the street but up to the camera alongside an Italian man and Lorri. The main guy who spoke perfectly English but was originally from Italy (NOT the other guy who acted stupidly the day before, this guy was cool) placed us 3 up front of the street we stood at and Lorri told me "I think I know why we are mostly put up front...it is cos we do as told, we follow instructions and don't mess around." so our attitude paid off then, we did as we were told (same for Tonda) and I guess we kinda got rewarded by being placed up front, near the actors several times. Of course the same went for others too! Not just us lol. Also this gives no guarantee for ending up in the actual final cut of the movie either. It was just cool to see EVERYTHING up close if you know what I mean.
They did some rehearsal rounds with Kristen's stunt double and then it was time for Kristen to do the scene. We were told NOT to step aside for Kristen, she was suppose to push us aside to make her way thru. In between takes I looked at her again, she was acting like a boxer going into the ring sometimes, jumping around getting ready, other times she had her ipod on dancing a little, focusing. Then she kept walking back to the spot she ran from several times of course, one time she walked RIGTH by my again and I stepped aside cos some camera guy came along to show her something.
I also heard her asking for reassurance from the camera guy there as she didn't seem to be comfortable with pushing ppl aside like that. It felt awkward but the camera guy said it looked good and for her not to worry, "I know this may feel awkward for you but trust me it's cool". Waelchen got pushed aside by Kristen but they were told she would do that so they were prepared, she said Kristen didn't like doing that but the scene called for it so she went for it being a pro. Waelchen had no objection to this LOL.
After a few takes...Chris Weitz came out to say "we got our last shot" and basically that LONG day (It was seriously hot that day and both crew, and extras were more or less FED up at this point. I just wanted to LEAVE lol.) was a wrap also. So yet again we headed for the Fortezza one last time to hand in our badges and capes and pick up our documents and personal belongings. Lorri and Tonda as paid extras had been asked several times to come back on Saturday as they ran behind schedule of filming background crowd but both refused as they had other plans on Saturday. I wasn't asked but if I was asked I would say no too as vampirefreak101 and I had other plans too and waelchen had to drive back to her hotel in Florence in the evening so she wouldn't even be in Montepulciano on Saturday.
So after a long day we were finally done, our experience as movie extras were over but we were happy over the experience. Waelchen and I waited for vampirefreak101 at the gate by the Fortezza again but waelchen had to get going as it was getting late. So we said our goodbyes and I relaxed while waiting for her to come there. Again she was excited over her own experiences that day, she had met Kristen at the daytime hotel there. We finally made our way down to a bus stop to catch our bus back at our hotel and we were both totally exhausted. Got into bed and I think I actually fell asleep asap my head hit the pillow!
Saturday May 30th. 2009:
Since my time as being an extra was over we had no big rush to make it back to Montepulciano asap we could in the morning, we took our time having breakfast, packing and checking out, and then took the bus back to Montepulciano one last time as there were a fan convention taking place in the park were I had lunch with the extras the day before. We took our suitcases with us as we only had carry on luggages anyways. Walking around the Piazza Grande, saying goodbye to ppl we had met, and I talked to the cool guy who were one of the head bosses for the crowd control. I asked to have my pic taken with him and asked where he really was from. He said originally from Italy but he now lived in Toronto, Canada. We also got confirmed from the other staff that they were indeed completely done filming and was happy to go home lol, It was kinda sad seeing ALL of the flags gone, they were taking down the fountain as well. It was kinda sad to see it all go but also nice to see the Piazza Grande back to it's original form.
Video of the Piazza Grande without the flags
The coolest guy from the crew, originally from Italy, now living in Canada, (just was told thanks to Laila who read a report on Twilight Italy that his name is Rocco!) sadly never got his name. This was suppose to be a pic but my camera was set for video when vampirefreak101 took the pic lol:
I shopped for some souvenirs and then we had lunch at the restaurant nearby the daytime hotel again. This time there were some girls outside the hotel and this time it wasn't for Rob as he was done filming on the previous Thursday. These girls waited for the latest charmer, Charlie Bewley who plays one of the Volturi characters: Dimitri. He walked by our table and we greeted him. I said "You are so gonna get mobbed soon lol. He just laughed. He recognized vampirefreak101 as they had spoken several times during the previous 2 days lol. She was very charmed by him hehe.
Then we headed to the park to check out the convention. Wasn't much to see for us really but I am sure it was fun for the Italians as everything was in Italian anyways. We decided to go to the bus station to wait for our bus to take us to Chiusi and then the train to Perugia as we were staying there overnight to Sunday and then fly back to UK (then me later on back to Norway from UK). So we got there and didn't wait that long for the bus to come. After a few hours journey we finally arrived in Perugia (changing trains at some town I forgot the name of lol).
Well there we took a taxi from the Perugia train station to our hotel, turned out to be a really nice 4 star hotel and brilliant service. Sangria Palace Hotel i think it was called and it was within walking distance and escalators from the main shopping and restaurant street and the Piazza at Perugia. We checked in at the hotel, they had reserved a different room than what vampirefreak101 had booked, she had booked twin beds and they had us down for a king size bed. They were so gracious, they gave us two options: wait for a new room to be ready with twin beds or upgrade our booking without extra cost to a two room apartment of sorts with a shared bathroom. They offered to show us this and we agreed to check it out. Once we saw it we went for it of course, I mean we had our own room now, one had a double bed and the other had twin beds. I took the one with twin beds and she took the one with a double bed. To top that they even had 2 spare tickets for the shuttle bus to the airport which they gave us free of charge! Nice!
We then got ready to check out some of Perugia while we were there..taking some pics, did some light shopping, went to a restaurant where we waited for AGES for our dessert cos they "forgot" our dessert order...nice..NOT lol, but the food was nice! Then well back to the hotel we wanted a drink before going to bed. We asked the guy at the front desk where we could order our drinks and he just told us to take our seat wherever we wanted too in the lobby/restaurant area and the bartender would come shortly to take our order. Right after he came and we ordered our drinks. We were both surprised how cheap it was really. 4 € per drink and when I calculated that to Norwegian kroners I had to laugh, ridiculously cheap for me! At a 4 star hotel! In Norway my glass of red wine would be twice of what I paid there...
Then finally off to sleep...again I fell asleep immediately.
Sunday May 31st. 2009:
Last day in Italy before flying off to London first then Norway later in the day.
We had booked the shuttle bus to pick us up at 9 AM. We got up in due time to get ready, have breakfast and pack. Fully rested but still kinda feeling the past week's events exhaustion on us. At least I did lol.
So after a BIG breakfast there it was time for the shuttle bus. It was a cloudy day and it also started to rain. Arrived at the airport and later on when it was time to board the flight it just BUCKETED DOWN...yep I got soaked! The rest of the day was uneventful, just mostly consisted on flying, eating dinner at Stansted and then waiting for my flight from Stansted back to Norway. I landed in Norway at 7:30 PM that evening. Mom was nice enough to pick me up at my local airport and around 8:30 PM I was in my house.
The evening went to check out the latest twitter messages and just surf around on the Twilight/Rob sites I go to...and also to the Lost and Bon Jovi sites I go to. I then had to go to bed cos I felt exhausted again. Luckily Monday (yesterday as I write this) was a national holiday here so I had all day to chill. I did intend to write this report on Monday but my mom wanted me to come over for a visit. So when mom calls, esp. with her being sick, my step dad battles cancer I did not have the heart to say sorry I cannot come. I went to visit them and it was a nice day.
On Tuesday June 2nd it was back to reality...work. UGH.
OK that's all I had to share for now, will post updates to this adventure as I get pics from friends in a separate blog post(s)!
