I'm working on a secret project. I say secret because it hasn't officially been announced yet but we're working on it and it will all be clear in a few days time but that doesn't mean I can write about it and I *do* so want to tell you all about it since it's pretty much consumed my life for the last week.

The details are still top secret but I've been asked to work in a little project for a local site which ties in to the "New Moon" filming which recently wrapped in Vancouver. My job: track down some of these locations and boo hoo - this was much more work than I had expected. I managed to find the locations of the houses and I knew the parks they'd shot at but didn't know where so what this meant was a reconnaissance mission.

Last Thursday I grabbed my mom and we went scouting out Robert Burnaby Park which is just a few blocks from my place. We walked the entire park (a two hour feat) comparing some photos that a friend had sent me with the trees and bushes. We couldn't find it but walking out of the park in the same direction we walked in I spotted an area just off the trail which looked familiar and after standing around holding out the pictures we had with the surrounding area we came to the conclusion that that was the place. Can you believe it? We walked all over the park and the location was right there at the point of entry. On the up side, I took some fantastic photos which you can check out in this flickr set. Here just a few of my faves:

My mom was a total sport and got right in there with me and for that, I thank her - I doubt it would have been as much fun without her.

On Friday night, I took a walk through Burnaby's Central Park in search of yet another location. I knew they'd done some filming at the public pool there and headed in that general direction. I was looking for the location of the break-up scene and of the meadow, both of which we get to see in the new trailer. You realize this meant taking screenshots of the trailer right? Yes - I've reached a new level of obsession. These are the screenshots I was working from:



I found the meadow! After my blunder at RBP, I decided to stick to locations that are:

1) Easily accessible for lighting, cranes etc.
2) Near a parking lot (for the rest of the trailers/cars required on a set).

It was actually quite easy to find as it's one of the few wide open spaces at the park and though the grass is now greener than it was at the time they shot this, it's the same location. As for the location of the break-up...I just couldn't find it. Not that I didn't try either but none of it looked right!

But yesterday, I was checking out some of the photos I'd uploaded from the last few days and it struck me - OMG. I was looking in the wrong park the whole time. I was certain they'd filmed the breakup at Central Park but couldn't figure out what had been filmed at Robert Burnaby (though I had it from a *very* reliable source that the crew had been there). And then looking at this photo, it struck me. See if you can figure it out:

Is it as obvious to you as it was to me when I looked at it? The break-up was shot at Robert Burnaby! I told hubby when I got home on Friday that the trees at Central Park just don't look right - they're too small and the branches come down too far to the ground (unless you're in the *middle* of the bush which would be impossible for this particular scene (I'll explain why it's impossible in a second). But the trees at RB are perfect. Large old growth trees with very high canopies and to boot, the greenery around the trees seems to fit the shrubbery in the shot. As for why I don't this it was shot int he middle of the bush - check out this screenshot from the trailer:


Though from this angle it's not completely apparent, if you watch the trailer you'll notice the camera movement - that there's a crane shot which means an open space with no trees. I couldn't believe I'd missed it when I originally uploaded my pictures but looking at them now it's so obvious that it's RBP! Yes, I was pretty ecstatic when it struck me!

All this work will start to pay off later this week when the project is "officially" announced but let me tell you, I had a great (if frustrating) time scrounging for locations. What I've learned from all this: for "Eclipse", I'll have to try spotting locations (at least parks and stuff) while filming. This will avoid wandering around nearly blind after they've gone!

Stay tuned! I'll be announcing the project details in a few days time!