Official Synopsis:

A personal, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the blockbuster film Twilight from groundbreaking director Catherine Hardwicke!

This intimate full-color “notebook,” designed to replicate the one director Catherine Hardwicke kept on and off the set, takes you through the creative process that went into making Stephenie Meyer’s breathtaking novel come alive on screen – from casting to costumes, stunts to story boards. With never-before-seen notes, sketches, and photographs taken directly from the visionary director’s personal notebook, this book includes everything from her visual inspirations, to step-by-step breakdowns of action sequences, to a behind the scenes look at some of the most pivotal moments in the creation of the film, and much more.

Get the inside story – this collectible notebook will be a must-have addition to every Twilight fan’s bookshelf!

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Review:

Catherine’s book offers wonderful insights into not only the world of Twilight, but helps to explain some of the techniques that went into transitioning the story from page to screen. It’s easy to watch the movie and understand that a lot of hard work went into creating all of the shots and special effects, but there is a ton that goes into all of it that we don’t even think about! (For example: all of the CGI that was added to the sky, even in the high school scenes!) I’ve read this book before — a long time ago, so it was great to look back after binging all of the films…and their commentaries.

Eventually I want to work on book-to-movie adaptations, so the parts where she talked about adapting the novel to the film were my favorite! The book is great for aspiring filmmakers and Twilight fans alike — or, even better if you’re both, like me!

In a fun, easy to understand format, Catherine explains some of the casting decisions that were made (such as a bit about Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Rosalie Hale), costume design, and a lot about the special effects and location scouting. It’s a very visual book, which makes it that much more interesting to read. ndwriting, at times a few of the words were difficult to make out. I actually wish that all of the directors of the rest of the saga had published similar books.

If you like this book, I highly recommend watching Twilight with the commentary on! The commentary for the first film is narrated by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson, and is full of insider information.

The only complaint I have is that, since the text is all Catherine’s handwriting, at times a few of the words were difficult to make out. I actually wish that all of the directors of the rest of the saga had published similar books.

If you like this book, I highly recommend watching Twilight with the commentary on! The commentary for the first film is narrated by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson, and is full of insider information. It’s clear, both in the commentary and this book, that Catherine really cared about staying true to the characters while making the movie, and I can’t wait to find my illustrated movie companion book and re-read that too! Something else that I greatly appreciated about Catherine’s narrative — she has a lot of respect for the fans. Not that this is ridiculously unusual, but we all know that Twi-hards haven’t gotten all of the respect that they deserve over the years, so it was nice to see/hear explicitly how important fans were to the people making the movie!