Catherine Hardwicke: "Twilight's" first gleaming

Published: Nov 2008 (updated Tue Jul 14, 2009) in Industry

Three alumni helped adapt Stephenie Meyer teen-scream vampire romance novel

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One of the most highly anticipated movies of the season was created by a triumvirate of alumni from UCLA’s top ranked School of Theater, Film and Television. At the helm of the vampire action/romance “Twilight” is Catherine Hardwicke, a veteran of teen focused films such as “Lords of Dogtown” and the award-winning “Thirteen.” At Hardwicke’s side for their fourth collaboration is alumnus Elliot Davis as cinematographer, and editing the fast-paced gothic undead story is UCLA Professor Nancy Richardson MFA ’96.

Based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer, “Twilight” tells the tale of two young lovers, one mortal and one "undead," who are swept away by destiny, who destroy the delicate balance between the hunter and the hunted—with dangerous [“terrifying”?] consequences.

For Richardson (“Selena”), this feature is the third collaboration with Hardwicke after “Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown.”

“I love Nancy,” said Hardwicke in a recent interview. "She’s just so terrific. She’s fast, she has an instinct for when she gets the dailies, she will literally cut that scene, and beautifully, in almost two or three hours. She has that instinct, she feels what’s going to work and not work, and then she has a great feeling for music, too. She starts weeks in advance listening to music that might be good for the film, and then she puts it together and shows you. and you’re like, ‘Not too bad.’”

The director praised Davis for his incredible sense of color and experimentation.

“What he did with ‘I am Sam,’ you know, he’s holding that camera in such a way that he makes you feel like he’s right there with Sean Penn. So, doing ‘Thirteen,’ I thought, 'I love that feeling, I want to be there with the energy of these teenagers.' And so, in each movie, we’ve developed a style that is reflective of the film that we’re making.”

“What you have to do at UCLA, you’re going to have to do in the industry, too: you have to make it happen. ... UCLA encourages your unique voice.”

Hardwicke went on to describe Davis as a pioneer. “I mean he’s fearless," she said. "He’ll hang off the side of a jet ski, or a mountain bike on ropes, and he’ll do anything to get the great shot. He’s such a master of lighting. He knows how to make women look beautiful; and men look beautiful, and he knows how to give things an edge. The look is not just soft, pretty or storybook, there’s something edgy and cool about it, too.”

Hardwicke is grateful for the rigorous professional training she received while at school. “I’d say UCLA is awesome because you really are encouraged to find yourself and figure yourself and do something unique and creative. What you have to do at UCLA you’re going to have to do in the industry, too: you have to make it happen. Nobody really spoon-feeds it and says, ‘You’re going to do this category, that category.’ UCLA encourages your unique voice.”

Meyer's novel “Twilight” is the first in a series of four books that have made the teenaged female population go berserk, especially for the dreamy male vampire protagonist, played in the film by Robert Pattinson. When asked about Hardwicke as a director, Pattinson joked that her phenomenal energy to work has something to do with her diet, and said “she never, ever lets up.”

“She’s very un-cynical, and I think to tell this story you need a very youthful approach and un-jaded eyes about your emotions. I’m always looking for the depressing side of things, and she’s always looking for the pure and honest side of things. And even though I didn’t understand what she was talking about half the time, with, Like, purity of emotions, it kind of helped, because I was just like, ‘OK, if you say so.’ I wanted to always go too dark and she helped lighten all that.”

As far as what draws such a huge following to the vampire genre. Hardwicke says its pure and simple sex appeal. “I think the fact is that vampires are just plain sexy and seductive (laughs). Some other mythological creatures are kinda gross, like mummies and zombies. You do not want them biting your neck! But there’s something in our psyche, for thousands of years, people have been entranced by the idea of immortality, the search for immortality, the idea of the undead. You know, and the spirit not dying and coming back from the grave. So, we’ve always loved that idea, but in this case the vampires are these very tormented but seductive beings. There’s a sexual tension of, if you get too close to the vampire and you’re too passionate, he will kill you. But you want to be close to him too. So you’ve got these inherent contradictions that just keep you involved.

Rachelle Lefevre, who portrays Nomad Vampire Victoria, offered some insight to Hardwicke’s directing style and her partnership with cinematographer Davis. “I think that one of the most interesting things I saw about Catherine was that visually she really trusted Elliot to take care of it. She was involved but she had that trust exist just enough so she could pay attention to the smallest detail of behavior. So you would film a scene and then she would come in and she would go ‘OK, on this line you did that thing there, you flicked your eye and whatever, and that meant something and I want to know what that was so lets do the scene again and let’s explore that impulse.’ You know, and you’re just like, Oh my God,' like, you know, she just watches with such a keen eye, and as a result I think she gets really organic performances out of her actors.”