Twilight Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer By: Catherine Hardwicke Star Rating:

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Synopsis

The Twilight Director's Notebook is director, Catherine Hardwicke's personal journal detailing the filming of the movie based on Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster novel. Through her handwritten notes, photos, artwork, sketches, and more, she outlines for readers, each step of the movie-making process from beginning to end, giving a brief but complete overview of how the Twilight movie came to be.

Review

I had previously read and enjoyed Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion which had been pretty comprehensive in its explanation of how the Twilight movie was made, so I wasn't sure if the Twilight Director's Notebook would add much to that. Upon initially leafing through the book, I also discovered that it is rather short with limited text which made me even more skeptical, but I'm pleased to say that I couldn't have been more wrong in my pre-reading assessment. In fact, I ended up liking it a little better than the movie companion in some ways, not because it told me more or had more beautiful pictures, but because it was written by the director herself, Catherine Hardwicke. It was almost like getting the director's DVD commentary in written form. I really liked how Ms. Hardwicke took the reader through the movie-making process step by step, giving her own insights into each phase of production.

The Twilight Director's Notebook is exactly what the title implies. It is packed with scrapbook-style photos, original artwork rendered by Ms. Hardwicke herself, as well as other members of the production team, storyboards, architectural-type plans for sets and stunt coordination and more. The author has then supplemented everything with her own captions and margin notes, almost giving it the feel of a graphic novel. While it isn't precisely a detailed narrative, she does indeed tell the complete story of the making of Twilight from beginning to end. The Twilight Director's Notebook was a quick and surprisingly enjoyable read that in my opinion, is a must have for every hard-core Twilight fan. Readers who are looking for an in depth recounting of the making of Twilight may prefer Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion, but anyone looking for a bird-eye view from the director's chair should definitely check out the Twilight Director's Notebook. Both books were excellent, but very different reads, and both have found a spot on this Twi-hard's keeper shelf.

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Catherine Hardwicke @ IMDB

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