Northwest climate left 'Twilight' crew cold

While "New Moon," the sequel to "Twilight," is filming in Vancouver, B.C., Oregonians can relive our moment in the pop phenomenon spotlight with the two-disc special edition "Twilight" DVD.

Rabid -- or is that bloodthirsty? -- fans of the human-meets-vampire romance scooped up copies of the DVD at midnight release parties as Friday night slipped into Saturday morning. But you don't have to be a "Twihard" to wonder what bits of local color turn up on the special features of the hit movie.
Summit EntertainmentKristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson get that Northwest feeling in "Twilight."

After all, Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight," first in her mega-selling series, is set in the rainy Northwest town of Forks, Wash. The movie version was shot on location around the Northwest, in Portland, St. Helens, the Columbia River Gorge and Kalama, Wash., among other sites.

So how does our corner of the world come off in the DVD commentaries and making-of documentary?

Let's listen in on some comments from stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and director Catherine Hardwicke:

"It was freezing."

"We were freezing cold."

"It was like 20 degrees or something."

"The weather was not our friend."

"The roots (in a forest scene) were slippery. ... I still have a big scar from where I fell down."

"(The rain and wind) were seriously heinous," prompting the crew to complain of "inhuman conditions."

"The weather kept changing."

OK, tell us something we don't know.

While the combination of sun, clouds, rain, hail and wind proved unpredictable and challenging for the filmmakers, the Northwest does get a little love in the DVD set. In the prom scene, human teenager Bella (Stewart) appears to be shivering as she gazes at her vampire beau Edward (Pattinson). But at least the gorge's View Point Inn looks nice.

Locals also can be on the lookout for such Oregon spots as the Carver Cafe (with Meyer's cameo); the "Swan" house, which is actually in St. Helens; and the stylishly modern home of Edward's vampire family, which Hardwicke says belonged to a Nike executive. "I was surprised he let us film there," Hardwicke says. Stewart adds, "We weren't allowed to touch his dining room table."

In between comments by Pattinson obsessing over his plucked eyebrows and disparaging his appearance ("wears lipstick, has a little bouffant, and does circus acts," he laughingly says of his character), the DVD showcases the Northwest at its mossy finest. The "unearthly," as Hardwicke says, feeling of damp, foggy forest seems eerily romantic in sequences shot in Oxbow Regional Park; behind the Stone Cliff Inn in Carver; high in the treetops overlooking the gorge; and the Shire, a historic site across the Columbia River from Multnomah Falls, which is also known as the John Yeon Preserve for Landscape Studies.

"This is such a beautiful location," Hardwicke says, as a scenic shot of the gorge fills the screen.

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