Watching Water for Elephants film

There are a bunch of little things happening in the fandom. Drama mostly. I'll have my Eclipse DVD review in the next post but for now I'm going to go off on a tangent, while I still remember, and recall the time I spent near the set of Water for Elephants in mid July.

A day off + some detective work on Google + an unhealthy passion for Robert Pattinson = me going out to watch Rob's new film, Water for Elephants, film... twice.

The great thing about living in LA is that there is so much going on. Premieres, movies, sightings, etc. The only down side is an unhealthy obsessions and traffic on the freeways.

The first day I went, I went in the early afternoon but didn't get there until 2pm because I got lost and couldn't find the place. The Big Top was set up in some farmer's field on interstate 26 between Filmore and Santa Clarita, right by Piru. It's in a little tiny town and the only hint of real civilization that I saw, besides the houses, was the gas station on the side of the freeway. You drive up Main St. to a road that will eventually dead end behind the field. There is a road to the front of the field but you can't see anything of the set because of the trailers and craft tents blocking the view.

From the back you can see the main tent and smaller tents that make up the circus. You can also see the Banzini Bros circus train. The animals were corralled in the back so I could see camels, zebras, horses and even Rosie the elephant made appearances. She's huge but she's pretty quick.

I didn't know what to expect so I was hardly prepared. There were others there, of course, that were veterans at set stalking this movie. They knew the security men, the best places to see, where to eat/go to the bathroom. They were pretty much living out of their cars. So that first day, I didn't stay very long. It was cold and windy and I didn't bring a jacket. There was a whole field between us and the set so I couldn't see much and I didn't bring a chair so I was standing around or on top of my car.

So I left and stocked up on provisions. I bought binoculars, packed a few jackets, a chair, a step ladder, a cooler of drinks and snacks and roped in a friend to go with me. The second day I went, they were doing a night shoot so the principle actor's would get there until around 5pm and wouldn't stop until 5 the next morning. It was a Friday so I had the day off but I work Saturdays. The next day at work wouldn't be much fun but I really wanted to do this.

The daylight is slowing ebbing away and we're all there ohhing and ahhing over what and who we see. We see a crowd exit the tent, we see cameras on cranes move about, big lights go on and are reflected back down. I don't know if we see Rob or Reese because we're kinda far and it's dark but I think we do. They do a scene with a group of people out side a tent. I think they were doing some of the stampede scene without the animals.

There was also filming in the train. We could see lights inside and dark silhouettes move past the illuminated windows.

Everyone looked really good in their period costumes. Lots of fedora type hats for the gentlemen and Reese was probably one of only a handful of women on set. They put her in bright colors so we could easily see her.

There was a fire scare at one point. There was smoke coming from either the left end of the train or from a tent over there. It looked like production stopped and a few minutes later, a fire truck and engine arrived. They didn't stay very long, perhaps 15 minutes, before leaving.

The excitement died down and it looked like they moved filming to inside the tent. We couldn't see much from the back so we moved to the front of the set and wait for them to leave hoping for a close encounter or an autograph. Of course, my friend and I weren't the only ones there. Total, I think there were about 22 women there. My friend brought her husband and son and they were the only male representatives there. They chose to wait in the car and watch DVDs. They sure are supportive.

It got really cold. Really really cold. Fog came in and chilled everything it touched. We all moved to our cars with slightly rolled down windows to keep staring for some kind of movement. I tried to nap but it's really hard to sleep when you're freezing. Eventually we see the extras pile into shuttles and people start to leave the set. Cue mass car exodus. They've got their signs out and camera at the ready.

It's about now that I start to feel really really silly for doing this at all. My friend is uber excited that she might get a chance to get a glimpse of Rob. Secretly, I hope that he doesn't exit through the front and sees me because I'll be totally labeled "bat shit crazy" along with the 20 other women that are here and have absolutely no shame. I've talked with them through the night and they're certifiable. We see his security guard come out and check out our little desperate crowd and look for paparazzi (they hung out with us and they are absolutely the worst people in the world next to puppy killers).

Other cast members drive by and wave but not Rob. It looks like he took the back way out. I wasn't sad or disappointed in the least. I was kinda happy but really tired as I left the others and went to work. The fog slowly dissipated as the sun rose. I worked a half day then went home and slept. I don't think I'll ever set stalk a night shoot again but I have plans to go to Vancouver in Feb of 2011, to celebrate my birthday of course, and maybe see some Breaking Dawn filming while I'm there.

More pictures from my time at the Water for Elephants filming here.

November Already?!

Quick update post. I know I've been MIA for a loooong time, sorry. There seems to be new Breaking Dawn casting news all the time and I'm reading up on all of them and compiling some dossiers on them (I'm single-mindedly autistic like that). 

Mostly I've been working on my new project The Lit of Twi website and podcast (check it out on iTunes). Check it out! It's all about Twilight Fan Fiction that I'm hopelessly addicted to. 

I'm also planning a trip to Vancouver at the end of February to commemorate my birthday and if we happen to stop by the Breaking Dawn set and stalk 'em... well that's not completely out of the realm of possibility. 

I'll post my findings on the new BD cast when I get it all collected but don't hold your breath. The Lit of Twi is taking a lot of my time! =D

Podcast experiment #1

The Lit of Twi - the podcast - Episode 1 is here! 


A giant thank you to my friend Dee for being my second in command on this episode and her music choices as well. 

Let me know what you think =D


sharon_macross@hotmail.com

Link to Fourteen by crimsonmarie
Link to Eternal Dawn by Lizibt

Podcast anyone?

Hello internet, long time no blog. [This entry was updated 9/6/10]

I don't know what you're doing during this lull in the fandom but I'm either reading Twilight fan fiction, working, or listening to podcasts. Usually I'll read and listen to podcasts at work.

Anyway, I'm pretty much addicted to fan fiction and podcasts and I was wondering if I can combine the two into an awesome project. There are plenty of Twilight podcasts out there, some better than others, and a few fan fiction ones (Twi Fic Pimps, Temptation Twilight, Twigasam, etc). So it got me thinking...

Could I do Twilight Fan Fiction podcast? What would it feel like? What would I say?

Here's what I'm thinking. I don't want it to be too long because I want to keep it snappy and filled with content. All of the podcasts I've been seeing are hovering around the 1hr mark. I'm thinking of 30 minutes for each episode. I want to play music in the background that's featured in the story, taken from the author's playlist, or captures the mood of the story. Basically a fan fiction recommendation podcast. I want to summarize the story, what kind it is (AU/ AH/ WIP/ Completed/ etc.) and do a round table of why we all like it or not. There's a lot of stories that a lot of people love but then a lot of people can't get into. So I think having different opinions are important as well. I want to read an excerpt from a chapter to give the listener a feel for it as well.

I'm a fan of themes as well so if there's time, to do more than one recommendation per episode but have them relate to one another somehow. Or not. It might also be fun to feature two entirely completely different stories for contrast.

It's one thing to read recommendations but you become more interested when you hear it from someone. Do you have a friend in real life that will wave their hands about raving about this story that you have to read and you think to yourself, "Wow, that does sound really good. I think I'll give it a try."

This is what I hope to create. So what's this got to do with you? Well, I'd love to work with someone(s) as a collaborator. I'm a fairly prolific reader but there just so much out there, I really don't consider myself an elite fan fic reader. I'd love to bounce ideas off of another person. Any takers?

OR you can send me your story recommendations. Do you know of a little fic that should get more attention or think it isn't talked about enough?

I'd like to pursue AU, AH, OOC, Canon, different 'shipping, different lifestyles, paranormal stuff, etc. I want a little but of everything and not solely Edward/Bella High School stories where she's the outcast, he's the popular kid, and they normal each other out (though I make no promises =D)

Rochelle Lefevre and me

I had a day off today and it's a pretty lazy day. I woke up at noon, checked my e-mail, listened to some NPR, etc. After reaching the end of the internet, I decided to check out what's going on in Twitter land. I'm scrolling through various tweets when I see Rachelle Lefevre's (who plays Victoria in Twilight and New Moon) tweet:

When I read this tweet, it was about 10 minutes old. I live about 12 minutes away from Mission Hills so I'm thinking "If I leave the house and head over there... I can probably meet her!" I was delayed from leaving the house but I leave and make my way over there. In my head I'm thinking of things to buy so I'm not obvious in my Twilight cast stalking hobby.

I enter the store, very nonchalant, grab a basket and notice that there's a little crowd by the express lane. "Great, she's still here," I think to myself. I grab some pears, a coke, Ritz, oatmeal and some Boysenberry jam (snacks for work tomorrow) and make my way over to the express check out lane.

She's there at the end, autographing someone reusable bag that she's helping to give away. I've actually brought my own bags but my purchases and my bags are packed away in these bigger and nicer ones. I notice that she's got her stuff slung over her arms and her group that she's with is packed and ready to leave. I have my stuff in one hand and with the other I'm pulling out my camera. Meeting "celebrities" never gets any easier. My heart is pounding and my palms start to sweat. 

I make eye contact with some of the people that she's talking to and sheepishly smile at them. I go up to Rachelle and ask, "Um.. Rachelle? Can I bother you for a moment? Could I take a picture please?" Cue blush, more palm sweating and apologetic smiling. 

She's still talking to her people. I've no idea what she's saying. I'm focused on not looking like a complete idiot and failing miserably. She puts her stuff down on the counter. I ask the guy she's talking to, "Could you.. uh, take our picture?" He chuckles and says, "I was waiting for you to ask me."

We stand next to each other and I've got a shit eating grin on my face. He takes a picture but my camera decided to be a ninja that afternoon because it doesn't beep and I can't hear the shutter. We're asking.. "Did it take?" Rachelle and I giggle and take two more pictures for 'just in case'.  Here's the result:

Rachelle Lefevre and me with a WeeGee face =D

I then asked her about the reusable bags that Vons was giving out (which was why she was there in the first place). She told me that the bags were designed by Homeboy Industries and were bought by Vons to give out to promote their efforts of "jobs not jail" and to promote Rachelle's effort to support a nation wide ban of plastic bags from supermarkets. I'm in favor of this idea. She praised me for the bags that I brought in myself. Cue more smiling.

She was really nice, friendly and articulate. I had a really great experience and it completely made my day.

This is how the Saga will end

We're several hundred days away from the release of the first part of Breaking Dawn. I imagine that this, right now, it was it's going to feel like when the entire Saga is done. It's a bit... boring in the fandom right now.

I can't remember what I did pre-Twilight. I read a lot of different books than I do now and I think I watched a lot more television. I don't watch any now and I read a lot of Twilight smut fan fiction.

Anyway, I joined a Twilight forum and I'm chatting with other Twilighters. We share Rob porn pictures, we joke, and right now for the summer, we're banding together to loose some weight. I've never met these ladies but they encourage me to eat healthier and get outside and exercise.

I also got addicted to another book series complete with fan sites, podcasts, fan art, fan fics, etc. What am I reading? The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This is a great series and I'm anxiously counting down the the third, and last book, in the series.

I think, when all is said and done and I still feel like blogging, I'll probably turn this into a Twilight fan fiction blog because I love it so much =) If you haven't read any or maybe you have and didn't like it, I highly recommend you give it a (second) chance. Head over to my fan fiction links on the right (--->) and find a story that strikes your fancy and tell me how you like it. I love talking about fan fics.

My Eclipse movie review

This is going to be very long and very picture heavy. I'm putting it all after the jump.

Basically, I enjoyed it. I give it 4 out of 5. It was exactly what I expected to see so I didn't leave the theater gasping muttering ohmygodohmygod. I had very very high standards and the movie met all of them. It had all of the and important parts of the book and then some. I think that this movie could stand on its own. Non-Twilight fans won't leave the theater that it was a complete waste of time.

After the jump is really detailed re-cap and review of the movie.