Hillywood Players – Breaking Dawn Parody photo
The Hillywood Players dance to a Lady Gaga-like song in this YouTube.com video scene during the Bella and Edward wedding scene filmed at the campground at Three Rivers Resort at Mora in early January.
The Hillywood Players made a return visit from Las Vegas to Forks in early January to film scenes for their YouTube.com music video parody of the Twilight – Breaking Dawn Part 1 film. The video is now viewable online, posted in advance of the DVD release of the real Summit Entertainment Breaking Dawn film, which is due for release Feb. 11.
The video-making is said to be the first non-documentary Twilight filming done on the West End. Catherine Hardwicke, director of “Twilight,” the first of five films planned of the series, traveled to Forks to scout locations in 2007, but ended up filming most exterior locations in Oregon. Summit Entertainment chose Vancouver B.C. and Vancouver Island for much of the subsequent films “New Moon” and “Eclipse.” The locations were dressed as Forks, LaPush, Port Angeles and forested areas of the West End, but no actual footage from the West End has been used.
The finished video mixes scenes filmed likely in Las Vegas and California including a resort hotel with the West End scenes, which reference back to Bella and Edward’s outdoors wedding and love scenes along Lake Crescent.
The Hillywoods were given a friendly helping hand for their location filming on the West End by Charlene Cross of Twilight Central-Leppell’s Flowers & Gifts, by Staci Chastain, properietor of Alice’s Closet in Forks, by West End photographer Brian Harmon, and stayed at Bill and Susan Brager’s Miller Tree Inn.
The Twilight character impersonators portray Edward and Bella, Jacob Black, members of the Cullen Family and other well-known Twilight characters in the video.
The 10-minute-long Hillywood’s Breaking Dawn video features a take off on a Lady Gaga song and video that features lyrical references to the Twilight book. The video also has a rap segment and a fresh, very tongue-in-cheek version of singer Paul Anka’s 1974 No. 1 hit record “You’re Having My Baby.”
The Hillywoods have traveled to Forks for Stephenie Meyer Day – Bella’s Birthday celebration and other events. Last September actors from the Hillywood ensemble made a cameo appearance at the St. Marcus Day Dance held in the courtyard behind Leppell’s Gifts & Flowers. The actors – who have a number of parody videos on YouTube.com including other Twilight films, Harry Potter and Batman – first came to Forks for the Twilight literary symposium held in classrooms in Forks High School in the summer of 2009. The Hillywoods plan to come back to appear at the 2012 Bella’s Birthday celebration in Forks in September.
Leppell’s Flowers & Gift created the white flower-covered wedding arch that appears in the film, using white silk flowers, which came in handy during the intermitent heavy rain that fell at the Three Rivers Resort campground location.
“It was an experience I’m glad I got to participate in,” Cross said. She said helping out on location at a film shoot was an education and at times hard work. “It takes a lots of takes,” she commented about the hours of filming needed for short segments of the parody video, and pitching in by holding an umbrella over the camera. Cross also scouted the locations in advance of the video being filmed on the West End.
Cross said she and Diane Edwards helped to scout locations in advance of the filming. She said the dress worn by the parody “Bella” in the video was provided by Chastain. West End photographer Brian Harmon took still photos for production.
