Posts Tagged ‘Twilight’

“Martin“
This early film by “Night of the Living Dead“ director George A. Romero takes the movie and novel vampire click’s and spins them on their head, following the murderous and psychological problems of a young man who thinks he is a vampire. The movie never really comes forward with whether or not Martin is or isn’t an 85 year old vampire or if he is just a confused and shy 20 year old boy, which adds to the power and emotion of this unique take on vampire lore. Martin isn’t a “sexy” vampire with powers or hot cars with spoilers, he’s just a regular guy.

“Ultraviolet“
This strange mix of science fiction and vampirism flopped in the box office but is worth a viewing just for the great visual effects, fight scenes and beautiful Milla Jovovich. In the year 2078 after a global pandemic that gives the infected vampire-like powers but also kills them in 12 years, Violet is hired to steal a weapon that will be used to kill all infected on the planet. The plot is a bit silly but the fun twist on old-world vampirism in a future-setting is amusing.

“The Last Man on Earth“
This classic 1964 science fiction film is still powerful today thanks to a wonderful performance by Vincent Price and the dark, desolate, against-all-odds mood of the film. Dr. Robert Morgan is the last man on earth, struggling to survive against a world decimated and flooded by infected humans turned vampires. It is a slow movie but the viewer is rewarded some great scenes and a powerful, often-quoted climax.

“The Hunger“
Any vampire horror film that has David Bowie playing a stylish vampire is worth seeing in my book. This 1983 film has gained a cult following in recent years thanks to its moody, dark and glamorous atmosphere, as well as its soundtrack. Of course, now that the vampire genre is at an all-time peak thanks to “Twilight”, Warner Bros plans to remake the film for 2010. See the original first.

Beginning stories and novels is always a challenge. Most beginnings are discarded eventually. Often, these ignoble starts bear no resemblance to the final product. This difficulty is, I believe, a direct result of the writer having an unclear idea of the story and of the characters who will populate their imaginary world. Stephanie Meyer, the highly successful author of the ‘Twilight’ series, offers a tip in the way that she began her first novel.

Stephenie’s experience of beginning Twilight can be used to a writer’s advantage when starting a new story or novel project. Stephenie, who had written very little and had no great ambition as a writer prior to the amazing success of Twilight, did not sit down initially to write a bestselling coming-of-age vampire novel series.

She was a reader, a sporadic writer, and fan of the “vampire-genre” and of the “romance-genre”. Her compelling story that becomes ‘Twilight’ begins with a dream she had one night. This dream will eventually become the ‘meadow scene’ in her first book where Bella Swan, in the forest with Edward Cullen, discovers Edward is a vampire. This is a powerful, key scene in the novel, and Stephenie has described how jolted she was by the images in the dream. Stephenie awoke and wrote the dream down, and this became the key scene the entire book was written around.

We all have dreams and flashes of scenes and characters from time to time, but what Stephenie did with this dream is something that writers can use to begin to craft a story. Stephenie wrote outward from the key scene she devised from her dream to answer the questions posed by the scene:

These two questions make up the key components of the story, and in answering them, Stephenie is drawing her readers into a detailed world where vampires and humans exist throughout a long history.

How to use what Stephenie did with Twilight

1. Begin with a compelling image or character.

2. Free-write the scene you imagine, or as much detail as you can about the character that you see/imagine.

3. Step back and answer some questions about what you have written:

The key takeaway from what Stephenie did with Twilight is to find a compelling scene and then to seek to answer the questions about who is there and what is going on. You write both forward and backwards from the event, trying to give it a realistic (regardless of genre) past that got you to that point, and future, that the story and characters will inexorably move towards.

You may not know exactly where the story will end, but if you begin with a vivid character or scene you can write around it to tell a compelling story.

Try this technique on a short-story and see how it works.

First of all, remember that Bella charmed her vampire with her natural beauty. In the book she was described as a tomboy styled girl, and she gets a bit more girlish only at the end of the story. She has really natural looking wavy hairstyle and casual outfits that match perfectly with her beauty.

Makeup is applied only to make her face even more flawless. Apply only the basic cosmetics, and use neutral shades, almost unnoticeable makeups. Here’s a little guide to get Bella’s look.

Face:
Bella’s dramatic ivory skin is absolutely flawless. So first step after cleaning and moisturizing your skin, is to apply the makeup base that will make your perfect spotless look. Use concealer to avoid dark circles, and foundation if necessary, to hide your flaws. For the best result, this makeup is recommended for the pale, light skin toned girls, because Bella looked stunning with her extra light goth skin. For a perfect finish, make a matte look by applying a translucent powder.
Eyes:
For those gorgeous chocolate brown eyes, use two neutral shades of eye shadow for the most natural look. Use vanilla as a main eyeshadow, and taupe or matte brown to the outer corners of your eyelids. It is almost like a smoky eye makeup, but it’s left more natural, with less eyeshadow but in fabulous earthy shades. If you still feel like you need more accent to your eyes, you can apply an eyeliner, but in brown or gray shades to keep the natural look. The mascara should be slightly visible, so apply only one coat in a brown shade. Curl your lashes and your eyes are ready to look into a vampire’s eyes. Remember to keep it as natural as possible. Kristen Stewart looked as she was wearing no makeup.
Lips:
Apply a brownish plum lipstick with a creamy texture to make your lips soft and desirable. Make a soft contour of your cheeks with an earth toned blush.

Bella Swan’s makeup is really simple. Just keep in mind that she isn’t a girlish character. Her look is natural, with the most appealing no-makeup look. Bella has a gorgeous pale skin tone, but if your skin is naturally darker, don’t try to make it light. Enjoy the beauty of your natural look. Use the less makeup as possible and don’t try to copy her. Feel good about yourself, wear comfortable clothes that make you feel happy. Keep a natural looking wavy hairstyle and charm away your vampire.

There, I said it.

His name is Edward Cullen and he’s the lead character in the book Twilight, the first in a series of four books (five if you count the most recent partial transcript posted online) written by Stephanie Meyer.

The story goes something like this – Bella, a Plain Jane high school student whose parents are divorced, moves to Forks, Washington to live with her dad. At Forks High School, she meets Edward Cullen, a beyond gorgeous fellow high schooler with pale skin, extraordinary physical capabilities and a slew of weird behaviors nobody can explain.

Readers of Twilight soon learn:

1.  Edward is a human-friendly vampire who “feeds” only on animals.

2.  He’s never been more attracted to anyone’s smell than Bella’s.

3.  He can read everyone’s mind but hers.

4.  He desperately wants to be with Bella but is utterly afraid he’ll hurt her, both physically and emotionally.

5.  He must protect Bella from non-human-friendly vampires, one who is particularly evil and will stop at nothing to kill her.

I’m embarrassed to admit I’m obsessed with the Twilight series. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I’m a 38-year-old married mother of three and that Stephanie’s books were written for the under-18 set, of which I am not officially a part. Or that I’ve been able to get nothing done around the house with my nose jammed in a Twilight series book for the past month. Or that I’m planning a night out with a host of girlfriends to see the Twilight movie premier on November 21st, while wearing a t-shirt that says “Bite Me”.

What in God’s name has gotten into me? Apparently, the same thing that’s gotten into the rest of the worldwide female population I suppose…young and (ahem) old alike.

I hear the millions of visitors to Entertainment Tonight Online, upon seeing the Twilight movie teaser broadcast, subsequently crashed the popular entertainment show’s website due to an influx of online traffic in the hours following the broadcast.

Everywhere you look and listen – on TV, on the radio, in print and on the Internet, it’s all about Twilight. Up until a few days ago, the movie’s promo people were busy running full-blown, full-page Twilight ads front and center on the home page of MySpace.

In just three short weeks since posting Twilight Layouts to SpaceGravy.com (http://www.SpaceGravy.com) a social networking design website, they’ve become the most popularly-downloaded designs the company has offered in its three-year history.

Many of my friends, who are also in the over-30-married-with-children crowd, have read every book, are heading to the movie premier on the 21st and have fantasized on more than one occasion about falling “unconditionally and irrevocably in love” with Edward.

So what gives?

Is Twilight so popular because it’s all about angst-ridden forbidden love? God knows how enticing angst-ridden forbidden love can be.

Are women just generally obsessed with a dark and profoundly romantic love story?

Is Edward’s appeal so appealing we can’t get seem to get enough?

Do we secretly wish to be damsels in distress, waiting for our knight in shining hemoglobin to swoop in and rescue us?

Have we used our fantasies about Bella and Edward (Edward in particular) to escape our otherwise uneventful lives?

Does Edward’s love for nondescript, run-of-the-mill Bella make other nondescript, run-of-the-mill ladies believe there’s a remote chance someone like Edward could fall in love with them too?

Or is the seemingly unattainable love between Bella and Edward so magnetic, we can’t seem to tear our page-turning selves away from what happens next?

Who knows?

All I know is that I love Edward the Vampire. And in my warped little desperate housewife mind, he loves me too.

Stephanie Meyer captured the interest of reader’s when she authored the novel and series Twilight which quickly made its way to the New York Times Best Sellers’ list. The novel tells the tale of vampires and romance. The main character, Isabella Swan or Bella, falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen, when she moves to a new state from her hometown in Arizona. Stephanie Meyer is an award winning American author who continued writing the Twilight series with New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. She is a fan of writing for young adults in the fantasy, romance, and science fiction genres.

The success and many award recognitions made the novel a great inspiration for movie makers. The novel was adapted to film in 2008 and was directed by Catherine Hardwicke. She has also worked on award winning films such as Thirteen, Vanilla Sky, and The Nativity Story. The movie starred actors Kristin Stewart and Robert Patterson. Just like the novel, the movie also received numerous awards and worldwide recognition. It won almost every award it was nominated for at the MTV movie awards, and won: best movie, best male performance, best female performance, best fight, and best kiss. If you haven’t seen the movie, you can tell just from the awards won how great the film adaptation of the novel is.

The Twilight series can now add to its resume, in addition to award winning novel and movie that it is being written as comic books. More specifically, it will fall under the graphic novel category which is a type of comic book. Entertainment Weekly reported that Young Kim will be the artist for the graphic novel, and that Yen Press will be publishing the series. The characters in the graphic novel are being drawn to look more like anime characters rather than being depicted how Kristin Stewart and Robert Patterson looked in the movie. According to an article on EW.com, Stephanie Meyer will be playing a large role in the production of the comic book, and will oversee all the panels being drawn. There hasn’t been a scheduled release date for the graphic novel, but it is definitely in the works. 

As you can see, Twilight has transformed from print to movie and now back into print as a graphic novel. People are wondering if the fans will be receptive the graphic novel because of the anime style which it’s being created in. The novel and the film adaptation were very successful, so comic book readers will have to wait and see if its success will continue.

Heroines always go home with a vegetarian.  But they dream about the bad guy.  Why is that?  They’re safe with their hearts’ desire but their body’s lust pushes them out of their comfort zone and makes the story that much more interesting.

Now, that vegetarian isn’t always a vamp.  Vegetarian = someone who won’t bite our heroine (at least…his bite won’t turn her into a vamp!)  But that bad boy is always a vamp.  And he always really, really wants to nibble on the heroine.

Two wildly popular series, Twilight and True Blood, have this down to a ‘t’!  Bella is our heroine and even tho Edward repeatedly puts her in danger, she never falls for Jacob, the vegetarian.  Sam, Alcide, Quinn…Sookies’ veggie list goes on and on.  But first she’s with vampire Bill and then Eric catches her eye and won’t let go….I can’t wait to find out what Sookie gets into next!

Even The Vampire Diaries follows this “forbidden fruit” story.  Stefan can’t stay away from Elena and Elena SHOULD fall for Matt, the best friend who has been around forever and is clearly her perfect match….But Stefan and Damon are right there in the way.

Clearly it’s lust for the unknown.  The vegetarian is our constant…he’s always there to pick up the pieces.  He’ll always love you and always support you and will take you back no matter how many times that stupid blood-sucker breaks your heart.  And somehow, in every story, our heroines’ life is perfect and then the bad guy shows up and sows a seed of discontent…and we’re off and running!  But I guess it wouldn’t make much of a story if there wasn’t discontent.  Who likes to open a book that says “and they lived happily ever after.  THE END” on the first page?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to decode the compelling success of Stephanie Meyer’s vampire series, Twilight. If 17 million printed copies and a movie adaptation are any indication of its influence in young adult literature, then Twilight is redefining this genre through giving it an edge like no other.

Twilight may well owe its success to the intriguing and gothic romance between a normal teenager, Bella Swan, and an intoxicatingly charismatic vampire, Edward Cullen. Just like Romeo and Juliet, the tie binding Cullen and Swan are even more strengthened by the obstacles they had to face due to the opposing existence they tread—Swan as a mortal, and Cullen as a vampire, one of the scary creatures of the night known to have roamed the world of the living for centuries.

Vampires and other scary creatures of the night have been a famous character since the early 1800s. These dark creatures possess an eerie combination of beauty and lethal danger. Both repulsive and attractive, vampires are a borderline between monstrosity and humanity. Capitalizing on these scary creatures’ grim and fascinating characteristics, Stephanie Meyer has created a world like no other—A world where love between a mere mortal and an enticingly dangerous scary creature of the night is within the bounds of possibility and reality.

Instead of the stereotypical vampires replicated over and over throughout the years, the book has introduced us to a fairly different set of vampires. Rather than being portrayed as pure evil, we are welcomed into the world of conscience-ridden vampires that could choose to feast on human blood or jeopardize their existence by denying their nature. Edward CullenEdward Cullen (Edward Anthony Cullen) was born in June 20, 1901. He was saved by Dr. Carlisle Cullen to grant Elizabeth’s (Edward’s mother) dying wish. However, the only way to do so is to transform him into a vampire—a scary creature of the night that doesn’t eat, sleep, breathe or age. Frozen in his 17-year old body, Edward has survived the century by feasting on animal blood.

He instantly fell in love with Bella as soon as she arrives in Forks. Fighting the urge to kill her because of his nature and wanting to love her, he faces a bout with himself almost throughout the story. Jacob BlackHe is werewolf who is later revealed to be a shape-shifter as he doesn’t transform on a full moon. Being Bella’s best friend, he’s determined to protect and stand by her no matter what.Carlisle CullenHaving brought compassion from his human life, Carlisle Cullen spent most of his early years as a vampire in perfecting his resistance to human bloodlust and becoming a doctor. In the book, we are told of Carlisle’s love affair with Esme and how he transformed her into a vampire to save her life. He also transformed Rosalie Hale and Emmett into vampires. Esme CullenShe is the wife of Carlisle and adoptive mother to Edward, Rosalie, Alice and Emmett. She has no special power, but has a strong ability to love passionately. She committed suicide because she couldn’t bear the pain of her son’s death.

It was in this condition when she was transformed into a vampire by Carlisle. Rosalie HaleBeautiful and alluring, Rosalie Hale is one of these scary creatures of the night adopted by Carlisle and Esme. In the book, we see her as a repulsive character for always undermining Bella. But in the latter chapters, we find that the reason behind such callous behavior is her insecurity towards Bella Swan’s mortality. Wanting to be mortal herself, Rosalie tries to convince Bella to stay as she is and not transform as a vampire.

Emmett CullenHis curls and innocent appearance reminded Rosalie of her dead son. Because of this, she decided to take Emmett back to her father to transform him into a vampire. Emmett is married to Rosalie Hale. Alice CullenThis petite vampire with a graceful gait has a special ability to see the outcome of a decision once it is made. She also uses this ability to help Bella to surpass the dangers that await her. When she was still a mere mortal, she was sent into an asylum for having premonitions. She later learned that she was transformed into a vampire to protect her from another vampire that haunts her. Jasper HaleHe was transformed into a scary creature of the night when he was 20 and soon developed the ability to manipulate the emotions of people around him. Due to his past, where he was able to feed on humans whenever he chose, Jasper lacks strong self-control to feast on human blood. In addition, his body is covered with crescent-shaped scars, after the many years of fighting and training newborn vampires.

The Twilight book series has overtaken Harry Potter as the new sensation among preteens, and the teens and adults who still enjoy reading books aimed at younger people. With the first book being made into a blockbuster movie the series is starting to attract even more attention.

The movie will only tell the story of the first book but there are three books after that (and another one on the way!)

The first book is titled simply Twilight and it sets up the story of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. At it’s heart this is a story about the unlikely budding romance between Bella and Edward. What makes it so unlikely? Edward is a vampire who is over 100 years old (although that’s actually quite young for a vampire!) Bella on the other hand is just a 17 year old girl. But while Edward is over 100 years old, he looks 17 too and he will look 17 forever because that’s how old he was when he became a vampire. Yes, that’s how it works!

The second, third, and fourth books are called New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. I do not want to give a synopsis of each book as that would be giving too much away.
There is a fifth novel planned by author Stephanie Meyer. The 5th book isn’t really an extension of the story but rather a different point of view of the story. The four books are told through the point of view of Bella and Breaking Dawn will tell that same story through the eyes of Edward.

While that’s an interesting literary device (have you ever read The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner?) it does seem unlikely to be ripe for a film adaptation but perhaps if the Twilight movies do as well as the Harry Potter movies, the movie studios will go ahead with it anyway!

The movie version of Twilight stars Robert Pattinson as the vampire Edward and Kristen Stewart as Bella. Robert Pattinson has become a heart throb for many young girls (and some older girls who should really know better.)

Pattinson first gained attention as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Kristen Stewart has been in movies such as 2002′s Panic Room (she was Jodie Foster’s daughter) and 2007′s Into the Wild (which is a very good movie by the way.)

If you enjoy “young adult” fiction and in particular romantic young adult fiction then you may very well enjoy these books. They will not be for everyone that enjoyed Harry Potter (which I think has a wider audience) but if you do like the Harry Potter books that may be an indication you would like these books as well.

Not too long ago Anne Rice was the queen of vampire fiction with her creation of the legendary Lestat.  However, in the past few years Stephenie Meyer with her Twilight Saga,  Charlaine Harris with True Blood, and other authors with their vampire creations have stormed the best seller charts.  But what are the most popular series with the legions of online vamp lit fans?

The top ten most popular (based on online chatter) vampire book series are:

10. Riley Jensen Guardian by Keri Arthur

9. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton

8. The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

7. The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine

6. Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber

5. The Darren Shan Saga by Darren Shan

4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

3. The House of Night by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

2. The Southern Vampire Mysteries / Sookie Stackhouse Novels / True Blood Series by Charlaine Harris

…and the most popular Vampire Lit Series is no surprise…

1. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Not quite making the top ten were:

Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost
Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith
Undead and … by MaryJanice Davidson
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Vampire Beach by Alex Duval
Night World by L.J. Smith
Nikki and Michael by Keri Arthur
Mackenzie Vampires by Nina Bangs
Almost Human by Melanie Nowak.

The top two series on this list have also been adapted for the screen, with the wildly popular Twilight Saga movies and True Blood television series on HBO.

This can have only helped their dominance in this poll.  While great literature does not need to be adapted for the screen, it will clearly raise awareness of a series and bring in a whole new group of fans.  A Darren Shan motion picture (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant) will be released in late 2009.  Both House of Night and Vampire Academy films or TV adaptations are almost inevitable, although neither seem to be even close to production.  If the new CW Network TV series based on L. J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries is a hit, then those novels are bound to be in the top ten for my next vamp lit poll.

And, finally, it is lovely to see that modern vampire literature icon and pioneer Anne Rice made the list, even if she was not in the top five.  Oddly, only two of Anne Rice’s novels (Interview with the Vampire and The Queen of the Damned) were ever turned into feature films.

I compiled this list by searching for each of the vampire book series on a number of search engines and ranking them by the number of web pages, discussion forums, photos, videos, etc that are available online. Read more about vampires at SpookyFiles.com.