Fansite Advice: If He Gets Nothing Else Right, Chris Weitz Had Better Not Screw Up...

TwilightLexicon.com

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better not screw up ... the two love stories."

First, we'd love to wish Chris and the cast nothing but the best. We're rooting for you guys! We'd say that the most important advice we can give is that it's first a story about relationships. Don't get too caught up in the supernatural and forget that it's the start of a love triangle. Even though they are werewolves and vampires, they haven't lost the emotional part of their humanity. All the CGI in the world won't matter if we don't care about those characters ... although we would like an improvement over sparkly wind-chime Edward as much as the next person would.

Twilight20somethings.com (Elizabeth)

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better not screw up ... the emotion that is so tangible during the cliff-diving scene."

Contrary to beliefs that we want Rob in every scene, it is not true. How can we feel the same emotions as Bella if we are still seeing Edward every 15 minutes? It will make the reunion all the sweeter in the end if we are missing Edward just as much as Bella.

Try to stay true to the original color palette. It was simply stunning and it will help tie the movies together. We want to feel like it is the same series after all.

Pay a little more attention to hair and make up. Even small details. Trust me, fans notice everything, good or bad. With a bigger budget comes bigger expectations.

The biggest advice I can give is: Keep Stephenie Meyer involved every step of the way! If Steph has the say that she did in Twilight, New Moon can't go wrong. Trust and listen to her as Catherine did.

BellaAndEdward.com (Jenny)

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better not screw up ... Chapter 3, 'The End,' when Edward leaves Bella. It's a key scene and shapes Bella's character for the rest of the book."

My advice for Chris Weitz is:

• Stay as close to the book as possible.
• Don't omit key scenes (wolves in the meadow, Edward's proposal, the whole of the scene in Volterra).
• Pay attention to how the characters change and evolve in New Moon (especially Bella).
• Focus on the Cullens as much as you can -- they are, after all, the driving force behind the fanbase (both as characters and actors).
• Make Jacob a likeable character; he has a lot of fans that don't want to be disappointed by his characterization.
• Cast the Volturi correctly. Dakota Fanning is a good start, but we need the rest of the Volturi to be true to their descriptions in the books.
• Don't use too much dialogue straight from the text -- sometimes it doesn't work as well as it should.
• No crazy direction, please. (For example, a weird forest camera spin.)
• Keep the fans updated -- we like to know what's going on!

TwilightersAnonymous.com

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better not screw up ... the CGI and the break-up scene."

Below is more specific advice for Chris:

• BE.A.FAN.OF.THE.BOOK. Know it, feel it, and see it from the fans' perspective. In fact, consider visiting some fan sites to see what they have to say.
• While the pack's emergence in this book is significant, please don't make this just a CGI showcase with crappy, exploding werewolves.
• There should be a heavy accent on the events leading up to, and including, Edward leaving, and also Bella and Edward’s dramatic reunion. This is a love story about what you do when your very reason for existing disappears; Bella's not just your average teenage girl with a broken heart.
• Please don't think of New Moon as just a cash cow! Many of us have imagined this book in our head for years.
• Find as much humor as possible in the midst of this emotional roller coaster. It cannot be so dark that it's not enjoyable.

Twilightmoms.com (Kirsten)

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better not ... mess it up by finding excuses to have Rob in it. Leave it like the book."

• Don't be afraid to bring the emotion into the story that I felt was somewhat lacking in Twilight. This is, first and foremost, a love story riddled with strife and angst. Let those emotions out and the story will flow.
• Get rid of the twinkling noise when Edward sparkles.
• Don't get so caught up in special effects that you lose the love stories.
• Show us Bella's relationships with the Cullens -- especially Alice.
• Don't rush the development of Jacob and Bella's relationship just to get Edward back in the story -- let us experience Bella's feelings of total abandonment by Edward and her healing through Jacob.

newmoonmovie.org

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better ... get the pacing of the movie right. The book is slow -- some people think it's too slow, but most fans agree the slow pace is necessary to show how devastated that Bella Swan becomes. If he tries to speed up the movie too much to appease the taste of people who haven't read the book, the fans will be in an uproar."

LionandLambLove.com

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better not screw up ... Edward leaving and making Bella (and all of us watching) miserable. Chris needs to make sure that all the viewers feel how much pain she is in. The whole sequence from the book has to be there, including Bella in the woods feeling lost, horrible, and half dead because she lost Edward."

Our "advice" would be to add some of the funny scenes of the book, like Bella thinking she is dead after coming home from Italy. It's something we really missed in Twilight (and it's part of the charm of the books. Makes you relate to Bella as she is just one of us. Just makes her normal.)

We know the movie is a drama and it should be, but it needs to have the kind of humor that is so typical for Bella.

EdwardsMeadow.com (Alice)

"If he gets nothing else right, Chris Weitz had better not screw up ... the werewolves. He better not try to go for Hollywood's old grizzly version of werewolves. The Quileute werewolves just turn into regular wolves ... jumbo sized."

My advice to Chris would be to just imagine himself in the characters' shoes -- imagine how they would feel in the situations they're faced with. How would you feel if something you loved more than life itself was taken away from you forever? How would you feel if you had a completely normal life, and then suddenly your life was drastically changed (such as turning into a werewolf)? If he can put himself in the characters' shoes and feel the emotions they feel, then it will help the rest of the pieces of the movie fall into place.