Film School Rejects: 32 Things from the 'Breaking Dawn' Commentaries

The Breaking Dawn Part 2 DVD has finally been released in the States, and Film School Rejects has posted up bits and info of the film from the commentary by Bill Condon, the director, from that DVD as well as the extended edition fo the Part 1 DVD.

*SPOILERS*. 

1. The first part originally opened with a scene in which the Volturi get an invite to Bella and Edward’s wedding. The scene was cut because Condon wanted to keep the full focus on Bella and have it be her story and allow the threat in this film to be more intimate. The scene was re-inserted in the extended edition for those watching both movies as a whole.

2. Both Condon and Taylor Lautner agreed that Jacob should only take his shirt off once in each of the last two films. Condon says this was because the character was growing into a man, and he was no longer a teen heartthrob (though the squeals from the audience during that scene suggest otherwise).

3. With a budget of $1m, the Cullen house was rebuilt for the Breaking Dawn films, specifically to match what was seen in the other films.

4. Condon had the make-up department noticeably tone down the vampire make-up, especially on Edward. His skin was then made more smooth and marble-like by digitally removing the grain from his face in post-production.

5. Condon’s favorite horror movie of all time is Bride of Frankenstein, which probably isn’t a surprise to fans of Condon’s film Gods and Monsters which focuses on James Whale, the director of that movie. Condon tips his hat to Bride by showing Edward watching the movie in the flashback to the 1930s.

6. At the beginning of the production, Condon combined the scripts for both films into a 222-page script rather than work from separate ones.

7. The wedding scene includes multiple crew cameos as guests, particularly Stephenie Meyer in one of the last rows. Bella nods at her on the way down the aisle.

8. The honeymoon house was shot on a set for the interiors, but the house was an actual location in Rio de Janeiro. On the third day of shooting at the location, a hurricane struck the area, and the entire cast and crew, numbering about 80 people, had to stay the night in the house. The weather following the hurricane resulted in a “gloomy honeymoon” look, causing them to shoot the beach scene on the couple’s first night together in the Virgin Islands.

9. The only part of the bed-breaking sex scene that the MPAA had trouble with was an extended thrust at the end, which had to be cut for the PG-13 rating.

10. During the beach-and-chess montage, boats of paparazzi followed the production around. Because there was no legal recourse to keep them away, the production had to put up barriers during rehearsals to discourage press, and they also had to digitally remove boats from the water in some wide shots.

Full commentary details HERE.

via FSR