By now, you have surely seen the 90-second trailer for “Eclipse”. We decided to break it down and analyze the scenes from the trailer and see how they tie back to the book (or not). We’ll also take a little look at what was not included in the trailer and speculate on what that might (or might not) mean.
Let’s take a closer look at what we’ve seen thus far.
7 Seconds:
The Summit logo colored like the “Eclipse” poster with dark storm clouds in background appears in the opening splash.
11 Seconds:
We see a familiar landscape shot of mountains and forest. This is consistent with the footage from first two films and brings cohesiveness between all three films.
12 Seconds:
We hear the voice over of Edward beginning the proposal to Bella. The dialogue is different from the book, but is still very, very close to the original words from Stephenie Meyer.
15 Seconds:
Edward and Bella are in the meadow. Is this after the newborn battle and the scene from the end of the book? This is in question because there is another shot of them in the meadow included in the trailer in different clothing.
18 Seconds:
Edward and Bella are in the meadow again, and in different clothing from the other scene and Bella seems to be sporting an engagement ring on her left hand. In the book, they only went to the meadow one time – at the end of the book.
24 Seconds:
There is an appearance by Jane, Alec, and two other members of the Volturi. They see that Bella is still human and Bella and Edward that the Volturi don’t give second chances. This should be the scene following the newborn battle. Edward is wearing a blue shirt in this shot and it looks like the same shirt that he’s wearing in the scene at 1:01 on the cliff.
32 Seconds:
Bella and Edward are in Bella’s room and she asks him why he’s against her becoming human. He tells her that he knows the consequences of the choice. Perhaps this is from the conversation that they have in Chapter 12 that leads to the “that girl” and “that boy” conversation.
39 Seconds:
Bella hugs Renee while sitting in beach chairs overlooking the ocean. This would be the trip to Jacksonville that Edward talks Bella into taking to protect her from Victoria. It looks like Renee is wearing the same hat that she wore when she and Phil drove Bella to the airport in Phoenix at the beginning of the first movie.
45 Seconds:
Jacob tells Bella that he’s in love with her. Jacob declared himself to Bella at the end of Chapter 14. Three pages later in the book, he kisses her and she punches him, breaking her hand.
51 Seconds:
Standing outside of Charlie’s house by Bella’s truck, Jacob tells Edward that he has to consider the idea that he might be better for Bella. That part of the conversation is very reminiscent of part of the conversation from the “tent scene” and there isn’t a conversation between the two of them outside of Charlie’s house in the book other than when Edward threatens Jacob for kissing Bella.
1:01 Minutes:
There is a voice over of Bella saying that “she found us” with shot of Edward atop a cliff. Obviously, “she” is Victoria and it’s a deviation from canon because, in the book, Seth let out a whine, Edward froze next to Bella in the tent and the tent was suddenly ripped open as the attack with Victoria began. It took a few moments for Bella to make that connection. The image of Edward on the cliff obviously goes along with that part of the story, but exactly where is not clear.
1:03 Minutes:
Victoria flies across the screen, jumping over a river. Seeing how she’s alone, I am making the assumption that this is from the first part of the book when the wolves and the Cullens went after her when Bella and Edward were in Jacksonville. This resulted in the showdown between Edward and Jacob in the school parking lot because the wolves believed that Emmett crossed the treaty line while going after Victoria.
1:11 Minutes:
A shot of a distraught-looking Bella appears on the screen. It looks like she’s outside. Perhaps this is from the fight scene between Edward and Victoria? Maybe when she tried to pull the “third wife” stunt during the fight?
1:15 Minutes:
Edward tells Bella he’ll “protect [her] no matter what”. It appears that they are outside at night. Could the conversation be taking place when the Cullens met up with the wolves to discuss the newborn situation? Or could this be after Edward picks up the scent of a strange vampire in Bella’s room?
1:17 Minutes:
Bella telling Jacob that he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. It’s difficult to see the background in the shot, but could this be from the graduation party when the idea emerges for the wolves to work with the Cullens to take down the newborns?
1:19 Minutes:
We see a shot of a shirtless Jacob on a cliff. It only stands to reason that this is tied into the newborn battle portion of the film. Is it before or after Bella kisses him in her desperation to keep him from getting himself killed in the battle?
1:21 Minutes:
This dialogue ties back to the scene from the 45 second mark when Jacob declares his love for her and before he kisses her (and gets punched).
What didn’t we see in this trailer? Well, there’s actually a whole lot that we didn’t see, including:
- Newborn vampires and battle scenes
- Scenes from Jasper’s past
- Scenes from Rosalie’s past
- Wolves or the pack (in human form)
- Edward, Bella, and Jacob in the tent
- The proposal scene
- Bella punching Jacob
While we are all so very, very anxious to see as much as we can as soon as we can, I have to admit that I’m actually glad that they held back to keep from spoiling things too soon. There’s the fact that there is an inordinate amount of CGI that will go into the completion of the film, particularly with the wolves fighting the newborns, and Summit should have learned a lesson about putting draft versions of CGI out there after they got slammed with comments about the wolf in the “New Moon” teaser that aired during the MTV Movie Awards. Keeping things close to their vest this time is a wise move on their part with the amount of attention these films attract.
While this trailer may have left us desperately wanting more, it served its purpose. We know that Victoria is still after Bella and that it’s “game on” for Jacob to try to woo Bella away from Edward. We know that Bella wants to become a vampire, Edward is against it, and that Edward proposes to her. The trailer sets the stage for romance, action, and conflict and gets people talking. That’s the intended purpose and it did just that. In fact, the video on the official Twilight account on YouTube has had over eight million views since it was released a mere five days ago. They wanted to create buzz and they certainly achieved it!
What are your thoughts on what was and wasn’t in the trailer? Join us in the forum and speak out!
