no trees were harmed in the filming of "Eclipse"
Crossposted to sparklefield on JournalFen.
Mother Nature Network: 'Eclipse' director embraces green filmmaking
David Slade says he tried to leave only footprints while filming latest chapter in the 'Twilight' series.
Michael d'Estries
As the release date for the highly anticipated "Eclipse" film approaches (and young women everywhere work on their screams of joy), we're starting to learn a bit more of what went on behind-the-scenes; particularly with regards to keeping the production green.
Actually, it's a relief that any attention to this aspect was even considered. Director David Slade labeled himself as "fatalistic" a few years ago when it came to humans and their impact on the environment.
In an interview with Artcotic.com he said, "...there's so much burying of heads in sand going on in the U.S., people are finally beginning to recognize that the environment is dying but it's far too late, and I am conflicted."
"In England right now people talk endlessly about how they can preserve energy, people use Blackle rather than Google to save power output on their laptops and it is really making such a tiny difference," he added. "I mean every little bit helps, but I kind of wonder whether it's a form of conscience-appeasing for most people, you know driving a Hybrid or what have you. I applaud it all, but the planet IS dying and I really believe it is too late to resuscitate it, and eventually we will have to come to terms with life on a corpse."
While filming "Eclipse", Slade must have put his fatalistic side to rest, as the director did try to reduce the production's impact on the forests where they were shooting in and around Vancouver.
"For a film shoot, you do need specific things, but on this one, the conservation of the nature that we went to was a very big concern," he told ShockTillYouDrop.com. "We made sure that we didn't touch or damage anything that was there, and we left everything exactly as best we could."
The producers also made an effort to save and reuse set pieces from previous films in the series and make the whole process as efficient as possible.
So while Slade may believe that the human race is doomed, he obviously not trying to hurry the process along. "We were as responsible as we could be," he added, "but certainly that was one of the biggest things for us, was going into one of the most beautiful natural habitats and then making sure we left them exactly as we found them."
"Eclipse" opens June 30.
I don't care about the books or movies other than as a source of snark (I have a Twilight/Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines crossover in the works, and it's reading the Twilight books that's the hangup for me), but I like reading about any sincere effort at sound environmental business practices.