on a bed in catherine hardwicke's house is where pattinson kissed stewart for the first time for the "twilight" screen test. "that bed made pattinson who he is right now," says reed. that's also where hardwicke auditioned evan rachel wood, when she had her get into her bed with nikki reed for the film "thirteen". when asked about her lair, hardwicke says, "mtv came and did an episode in my house filming the bed. it’s legendary." principal photography took 44 days, after more than a week of rehearsals, and completed on may 2, 2008. similar to her directorial debut "thirteen", hardwicke opted for an extensive use of hand-held cinematography to make the film "feel real". meyer visited the production set three times and was consulted on different aspects of the story; she also has a brief cameo in the film. cast members who portrayed vampires avoided sunlight to make their skin pale, though makeup was also applied for that effect, and wore contact lenses: "we did the golden color because the cullens have those golden eyes. and then, when we're hungry, we have to pop the black ones in," facinelli explained. they also participated in rehearsals with a dance choreographer and observed the physicality of different panthera to make their bodily movements more elegant.