Trivia
Robert Pattinson took a boat driving lesson so he would be able to drive the boat in the honeymoon scenes. Despite taking lessons, he crashed the boat in both the lessons and while filming in Brazil.
It took three hours to apply all the necessary make-up effects to Kristen Stewart to create Bella's emaciated physical appearance. Effects that couldn't be achieved with make-up were created digitally in post-production.
The sex scene between Edward and Bella originally caused the film to receive an R rating by the MPAA. The scene had to be reshot and edited to receive a PG-13 rating. According to interviews, Robert Pattinson and director Bill Condon blamed Kristen Stewart's wild "thrusting" during filming. Condon said, "Well, I think that's true. [Kristen] got very into it. I hate to be clinical, but [there are] guidelines on thrusting intercourse. Not to make people too excited, it was never explicit, but I think any movement that suggests that it is is what [the MPAA] object to."
A puppet and a real three-week old baby were used for the birth scene. Strawberry jam and cream cheese were mixed and used to simulate blood on the newborn.
In order to keep the budget on both parts of Breaking Dawn reasonable, even though it is substantially greater than the previous installments in the series, much of the film was shot in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Celtic Studios in Baton Rouge.
The wedding scene in Part 1 was the last scene the cast and crew shot. It was also shot under tight security. A helicopter hovered above the set, off-duty police officers surrounded the location, and sheets and umbrellas were used to protect the set from aerial shots being taken.
There are over 1400 special effects shots in the film. Most of which were used on Kristen Stewart to achieve Bella's pregnancy appearance.
Kristen Stewart said Taylor Lautner was in tears when the cast watched an unfinished cut.
Robert Pattinson went through a strict diet and exercise regime for six months in preparation before filming. He stopped his routine after filming the much-talked-about sex scene.
When Jacob first enters the Cullen house to see Bella, she's wrapped in a quilt. This is the same quilt Bella's mother, Renee, gave her in the previous film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010).
On the third day of filming in Brazil the cast and crew got stranded overnight on the island location used for Isle Esme due to a severe rain storm. The crew had to cover the furniture and props in the house with tarps to prevent water damage due to the rain and people having wet clothes.
Kristen Stewart said in an interview that filming Bella and Edward's honeymoon sex scene was hard to do, but she was very happy with the final result.
Stephenie Meyer handpicked Carolina Herrera to design Bella's wedding dress. Herrera was pleased when Kristen Stewart loved the dress because her ultimate goal was to please the bride.
During their vows and first kiss as husband and wife, the song "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron & Wine plays. This is the same song they danced to at the prom at the end of the first Twilight (2008) installment when Bella first tries to convince Edward to turn her so they can be together forever.
Robert Pattinson learned to speak Portuguese for the scenes where Edward interacts with the housekeepers, Gustavo (Sebastião Lemos) and Kaure (Carolina Virguez) in Brazil.
In Breaking Dawn 1 and 2, Jackson Rathbone has his own hair rather than a wig for first time in the franchise since Twilight (2008).
Director Bill Condon reveals in the DVD commentary that the Isle Esme house had to be recreated on a sound stage in Baton Rouge, Louisiana due to production only having one week on location in Brazil. Most of the indoor honeymoon scenes were shot on the sound stage in Louisiana and not in Brazil.
Costume designer Michael Wilkinson worked closely with Ashley Greene to design Alice's dress worn at the wedding. They decided on a flapper-like dress to reflect her native time period of the 1920s. Wilkinson also worked closely with Nikki Reed to create Rosalie's dress.
Similar to the book, the film briefly shifts from Bella's point of view to Jacob's. Director Bill Condon commended Taylor Lautner for pushing himself to dig into Jacob's character more to show his side of the story.
Sofia Coppola was very interested in directing this project, but she was only willing to direct one part of 'Breaking Dawn', which Summit wanted to split in two parts.
When Bella tries on wedding shoes with Alice, Bella is wearing two rings which both belong to Kristen Stewart in real life.
According to Bella and Edward's wedding invitations, the address of the Cullen residence is listed as 420 Woodcroft Ave, Forks, WA.
The soundtrack song "Cold" by Aqualung and Lucy Schwartz includes the lyrics "sing for the lion and lamb}. This is a line from the first film/book of the franchise when Edward says "So the lion fell in love with the lamb".
It's almost a foreshadowing about Bella's pregnancy when she eats chicken while Edward is away hunting on the main land. In all of the previous installments, she only ate vegetarian dishes (garden burgers, mushroom ravioli, salads). She even encouraged her dad to cut back on steak.
Bella and Edward pass through Rio de Janeiro on the first night of their honeymoon. This is the second time the city has been featured in the Twilight Saga; in New Moon (2009), Edward was in Rio when he believed that Bella had killed herself.
In the books, Edward's time hunting humans is revealed much earlier. It was Robert Pattinson who approached director Bill Condon about including that arc in the film.
Was filmed back to back with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012). Filming began on November 1, 2010 and wrapped on April 15, 2011. They were filmed on location in Vancouver, Rio de Janeiro, and Baton Rouge.
Carter Burwell, composer for Twilight (2008), returned to the franchise to score this movie and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012) as Burwell had worked with director Bill Condon before. However, in an interview given in 2015 he admitted to not finding the experience particularly interesting as a composer.
Talks for a Breaking Dawn film started after Summit Entertainment approved the second and third adaptations of the franchise, and scheduled the two films to be released six months apart.
The movie Edward is seen watching in the theater in the flashbacks is "The Bride of Frankenstein." Like Bella, in Edward's point of view, it is about the titular character marrying a monster.
In the indoor chess game, Edward missed the best move, Qa1, as placing the queen in the corner instantly checkmates.
The opening scene of the film in which Jacob receives Bella and Edward's wedding invitation and phases into his wolf form before running into the woods is from the books, however it is actually the epilogue of Eclipse, rather than the prologue of Breaking Dawn.
With the exceptions of "Sister Rosetta" by the Noisettes and "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron & Wine, every song featured in the film and on the soundtrack is original and written specifically for the film, while "Sister Rosetta" and "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" appear as new versions re-recorded for the film.
Actress Mía Maestro who plays Carmen of the Denali clan had her song "Llovera" featured on the soundtrack.
The largest release gap in the franchise is between this and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010). Eclipse was released in June of 2010, while this and the other Twilight films are released in November of their respective years.
The note Edward leaves Bella while she was asleep on their honeymoon: "I've gone to the mainland to hunt, be back before you wake. Edward."
First time audience can see Edward in is his past life and how he lived during the darkest period of his life.
In March 2010, it was announced that Summit was searching for Academy Award-nominated directors to helm the project.
The wedding invitation reads: "Isabella Marie Swan and Edward Anthony Masen Cullen together with their families request the honour of your presence at the celebration of their marriage Saturday the thirteenth of August two thousand and eleven 5 o'clock in the evening"
In one of the chess scenes when Edward knocks over on of Bella's chess pieces he put his chess piece in the wrong spot on the chess board.
When Bella and Edward have sex for the first time it is prefaced by a scene where Bella is unable to find a swimsuit in her suitcase and decided to enter the water completely nude. However in a later scene Bella and Edward go swimming again and Bella now has on a swimsuit.
The last Twilight film not to be distributed by Lionsgate, nor carry the byline "A Lionsgate Company." Lionsgate purchased Summit Entertainment nearly two months after this release.
In June, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaptation of the fourth book would start filming in November. The first part was released on November 18, 2011, and the second part's release date is set for November 16, 2012.
Spoilers
Bella's body was prosthetic from the shoulders down in the birthing scene. There was an opening in the table so Kristen Stewart could comfortably lay down underneath the table top while still allowing her head and shoulders to be visible. To achieve movement of the prosthetic limbs a puppeteer was also under the table controlling the limbs.
One of the key elements in both the book and the movie was how Edward tries to distract Bella with activities in order to keep her from thinking about having sex again. In the movie, one of the activities is a game of chess, with both red and white pieces, just like the pieces on the cover of the book.
Bill Condon chose not to show Edward ripping Bella's body open with his teeth during the childbirth because he felt having the audience experience it via sound effects and having Robert Pattinson slightly out of frame made it more potent. He also felt it made the scene more special for viewers who have read the book.
Director Bill Condon specifies that Bella's walk down the aisle during the wedding scene was shot through her point of view thus giving it the longer time frame. He thought the walk would feel long to Bella so he incorporated that into the film so the audience could feel what she would be feeling.
To achieve the effect of a newborn Renesmee, the visual effects team used the motions of over 30 real babies using the Lola projection rig. Small bits and pieces were taken to create the final look. Images of Kristen Stewart were also used so the baby would most resemble her like in the book.
The visual effects team used a Lola projection rig to age Mackenzie Foy during the imprinting scene. They used footage of an 18-year old model running and digitally aged a CyberScan of Foy, then 10-years old, to match the model's mannerisms. The team used similar software that companies use to age and locate missing children.
At Esme Island, Bella's chess pieces while she's playing are white in color, foreshadowing her character's transition towards the start of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012). The transition was also related by Stephenie Meyer in regards to the theme of the book's cover (red pawn, white queen).
