New Moon Shoot Wraps at Vancouver Island

The Canadian Press reports:

Filming of the Twilight Saga's next movie, New Moon, has wrapped up after a full day of shooting inside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and participants had nothing but good things to say about the bad weather.

"The weather is perfect for us: rainy, dismal, in the sense of the visuals, the mist on the ocean, the cloudiness, the erratic wind activity," Bill Bannerman, New Moon's co-producer, said after shooting wrapped Friday evening. "Everything is exactly what it should be."

Cast members Kristin Stewart, who plays Isabella, and Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black, arrived in Tofino by bus Thursday after poor weather grounded their flight.

Filming kicked off at the rugged and rocky South Beach, located near Wickaninnish Beach inside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve before moving to Incinerator Rock at Long Beach.

Bannerman said the crew needed to shoot a couple of scenes that would bridge the story's second act and show the characters evolving personalities and relationships.

Local topography proved vital to creating the feel of the Forks and La Push area of Washington's north Olympic Peninsula, he said.

"It forces you, when you put it to a visual medium, to go into really remote locations to try to find that texture," said Bannerman. "And so this is one element we couldn't find anywhere else. That's why we love it."

Joan Miller, commissioner of the Vancouver Island North Film Commission, said films such as New Moon can cost as much as $100,000 per day to shoot.

Bannerman said crews will be in the Vancouver area for a few months and will also shoot a couple scenes in Italy.

Filming will wrap up at the end of May and the movie will premiere Nov. 20.

Bannerman hinted Twilight may be back. "This is a substantial look that may be revisited in the next chapter," he said. "So more than likely, you know, Tofino is back in the equation . . .".