Chris Weitz | Twilight Lexicon

Collider: Chris Weitz New Moon DVD Interview

March 6, 2010

Frosty from Collider interviewed Chris Weitz on the making of the New Moon DVD. Now Frosty had a different perspective from most in that he was able to get some early info from Chris back at Comic Con. Check out the interview, it shows how things evolve over time.

“With The Twilight Saga: New Moon hitting DVD and Blu-ray on March 20, I was able to talk with director Chris Weitz about the upcoming release. When the film was getting ready to hit theaters, I asked Chris Weitz about the eventual DVD release and he told me to expect a commentary from Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner and about ten minutes of deleted scenes. So when I got the specs of the DVD/Blu-ray and saw there was no commentary and no deleted scenes, I knew this would be the main topic of conversation. Also, I asked everyone on Twitter to send me questions and a ton of you asked me about the deleted scenes and commentary.

The way Weitz described it to me, the reason you’re not going to be able to hear Kristen, Rob and Taylor is due to time. When they were recording the commentary, for whatever reason, they couldn’t fit it into the schedule. I know it sucks for fans that were looking forward to it…but the DVD is due around the time the movie is getting released and that last month is very rough on everyone.”

Check out Chris’ answers to what happened to the actor commentary and where missing scenes may be on Collider.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz, collider, New Moon DVD

MTV: 5 Secrets of New Moon

March 6, 2010

MTV interviewed Chris Weitz by phone for the New Moon DVD release. You can see part of the interview below. Please be advised that the video on the same page was shot several months prior to the DVD commentary track being recorded and the the information in there is not current!

“Our Lord?: In its Italian-set portions, “New Moon” features a significant amount of religious iconography, and Edward certainly suffers a great deal. Is he supposed to be a Christ figure?

“I think that he is in a sense he’s doomed to suffer eternally,” Weitz said. “He actually thinks of himself as a damned figure, but he’s wrong about that. So in some senses, yeah, he is a martyr figure.”

Black Eyes: In Stephenie Meyer’s book, Edward’s eyes go black in Italy. Why don’t his eyes turn in the film?

“It’s because I screwed up!” Weitz admitted.

Really? He just forgot?

“Well, yeah, I kinda did,” he said. “Well, there are two reasons. One is that I messed up. The other reason is that I actually thought that onscreen it would be quite bizarre to see his eyes go completely black, and that it would be more satisfying and less jarring to have that moment of reunion be a reunion with revivified Edward. But probably, the long and the short of it, there are many details that I did not drop the ball on, and there are some that I did.”

See more on MTV

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz, New Moon DVD

IESB: Chris Weitz New Moon DVD Interview

March 4, 2010

Once again Christina Radish proves why she is one of the best interviewers out their: insightful questions that demonstrate her knowledge of the product!

“IESB: Were there any specific parts of the film that you were most looking forward to talking about for the commentary?

Chris: I was very happy to talk about some of the more complicated shots that we did, like the roundy-round shot. That was a bit in which we took what was a series of chapter headings in the book and turned it into a motion-control shot in which the seasons passed as Kristen Stewart’s character, Bella, remained in the same place. What I like to do with CG is to use it as expressively as possible, and not to make things blow up good, but to sometimes render something ineffable that would be very difficult to do in camera. That involved a lot of work, in which a motion-control camera captured the movement of our steady-cam operator. So, it was a pleasure to talk about that, and about what goes into something like that.

IESB: Having had to deal with stunts, green screen, CGI, weather, bugs and everything you had going on, what was the biggest challenge in bringing this film to the screen, so as to please as many of the fans as possible?

Chris: I think the greatest challenge was the logistical load of it. When you’re talking about taking a film from beginning to end in one year, it’s difficult to do that with a normal film where people are just sitting on their butts, talking to one another. But, when you add in underwater work, heavy CGI work and wire work, it becomes extraordinarily complicated. And then, you add in getting the London Symphony Orchestra to record a soundtrack, and getting 10 or so indie bands to compose songs especially for the film, there are a lot of timelines that are ticking along, at the same time, and you hope that you are able to combine it all at the right point. And, you always end up, just at the last minute, on the last day, your final CGI shot comes in. There are about 400 and something CGI shots, which actually isn’t that many compared to what I’ve done before, but it’s quite a lot. It can complicate things when you’re in the editing room.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz, IESB, New Moon DVD

Hit Fix: Chris Weitz on New Moon DVD

March 4, 2010

Hit Fix has their version up of Chris Weitz talking about the New Moon DVD and future projects:

“Speaking to Weitz earlier this week, the director laughed about the moment and admitted that he discovered the mistake a bit too late.

“I think it could have been less than an Arcadian fairy tale running through the foresty movement and more of an abstract at Kristen flash on her face,” Weitz says of what he would have changed. “That would have avoided laughter, which wasn’t only heard at the premiere where there are cynics and jaded Hollywood types, but the most packed fan screenings.”

Weitz, who is currently prepping his independent drama “The Gardner ” for Summit Entertainment (the same company that shepherds “Twilight”) was taking time out of his busy schedule to talk about the release of the highly anticipated two-disc DVD on March 23. It’s clear one of the reasons he’s doing more publicity for the film is because he feels “tremendously grateful” for the support of the “Twilight” fanbase which helped “New Moon” hit $706 million worldwide and revitalize his career. He notes, “I feel like it was two-way street. The reason the fans have been kind to me is i really approached it from step one as ‘What would I want as a reader of the book?’ I didn’t concern myself with making a four quadrant movie or any overall effect other than to be true to the nature of the book. To be able to entertain people and give people joy in that way is something a director looks for his whole life.”

See the rest on Hit Fix

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz, New Moon DVD

Chris Weitz Comments on Eclipse

March 4, 2010

Chris Weitz chatted with People magazine about Eclipse and the Oscars.

“I’m looking forward to the sleeping bag scene, I gotta say,” Weitz tells PEOPLE. “That’s going to be very steamy…Weitz, who is not helming Eclipse – director David Slade is taking over – says he is showing his Twilight pride on Oscar Sunday by voting for Anna Kendrick, who plays Bella’s pal Jessica in the series. (She is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role opposite George Clooney in Up in the Air.)

“I voted for her of course, because she’s my homie,” says Weitz, adding that New Moon – which is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray March 20 – would have been up for more awards if the Academy had a different voting body.”

See the rest on People. Via Twilighters Anonymous

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz, Eclispe movie

Chris Weitz Interview on Buzz Sugar

March 4, 2010

Not really sure what’s going on here. They might have released their interview material ahead of an embargo, may be having technical problems, or gone with a re-edit. The link to the interview on Buzz Sugar is now dead, but you can see a bunch of the content of the interview on Twilighters Anonymous.

“There are lots of different editions of the New Moon DVD. Which bonus features are you particularly excited about?

I’m excited that my voice will finally be heard! For me, the fun thing was doing the commentary with Peter Lambert, my editor, because it kind of re-created the atmosphere in the cutting room. Peter’s a really funny guy, and we were able to delve into not only the behind-the-scenes moments, but to explain why certain things were shot or cut together in certain ways. So that, for me, was the most fun.

When you go back and watch it again, are there things you’d like to change if you could?

I would like to never have shot Rob and Kristen running through the forest and Kristen’s just turned into a vampire. Because everybody always laughs and it makes me feel terrible. [Laughs] I would have shot it a different way so it wouldn’t get that response. But otherwise, I’m very happy with things.”

On a personal note, we agree with Chris on the forest commentary. We spoofed the wide-spread, giggling, fan reaction on our Christmas video.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz, New Moon DVD

Chris Weitz: How Far Would You Go?

February 24, 2010

Chris Weitz and a ton of other Hollywood big names and rising names like Kristen Stewart’s fellow BAFTA nominee, Nick Hoult, were asked an interesting question by writer and director Neil La Bute for a video game called Heavy Rain. The question was simple, but provoke some really deep answers:”
How far would you go to save someone you love?”

Fan Gets Phone Call with Chris Weitz

January 14, 2010

The fan who won the Twilight Twitter Sweepstakes for a call with Chris Weitz has blogged about the call.

1.) How nerve-racking was it to know you had to relocate several location for New Moon?

A.) It was really nerve-racking because I thought people would notice and be upset, it was a puzzle to get it just right. The outside of the school is all CGI, we built the stairway for the school and took stills. In the Cullen’s house I also tried to show different rooms in the house to add to the feeling of the house. When Taylor was traveling during Twilight a fan gave him a hand-carved Native American ornament. We used that ornament in Jacob’s room in New Moon.

2.) I know Edward’s car is now a dark silver, but was there any reason for the change?

A.) Availability. Volvo wanted to introduce a new car into the series, instead of the older model. So they provided a newer model, brown Volvo. Immediately we knew it had to be repainted, and chose a dark, non-shiny, black colour. It added more to the first Edward scene in the movie, the feeling is upbeat but the colour of the vehicle adds to the danger lurking.

See the rest here.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz

Star VIP Access Interviews Chris Weitz and the New Moon Cast

December 14, 2009

You can see other videos with Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and Ashley Greene here.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz, Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen

Chris Weitz Defends Chicago Woman

December 9, 2009

Last week we reported the story of a Chicago-area woman,Samantha Tumpach, who was arrested and jailed for taping 3 minutes of New Moon on a video camera. What came to light after her arrest was that she wasn’t so much taping the movie as she was taping the guests at a birthday party that just so happened to be going on at the theater that was, you guessed it, showing New Moon. Now granted she caught New Moon footage and you’re not supposed to do that, but it’s not as if she was surreptitiously taping the whole movie with intent to sell. Throwing her in jail for what seems to be stupidity, naivete, carelessness (or quite possibly all three) does seem rather harsh. Well it looks like, given the alleged specific context of the situation, Chris Weitz agrees.

According to the Chicago Sun Times:

“There is, needless to say, a difference between trying to protect the copyright of a film and making an unfair example of someone who clearly seems not to have any intentions towards video piracy,” Weitz wrote.

He said he had contacted the studio that released the film, Summit Entertainment, to express his concern about her arrest, but he acknowledged there’s probably little he can do to influence the outcome of her case.

“I am not sure what effect I would have on the case,” he wrote, noting “the film is, after all, not my property.”

See the whole story here.

EDITED: We are currently trying to establish exactly who is pressing the charges here. Public record would seem to indicate that it is the owners of the theater. Ty to Amanda Bell, the Twilight examiner, for finding the apparent complainant.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chris Weitz

Follow Us!