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So, after a much-needed shower and eleven straight hours of sleep, I feel coherent enough to share my experience at Comic Con. Let me preface this entry by saying: it was EPIC, and worth every bit of the craziness involved to be a part of it.

I’ve been to Comic Con before. In fact, I was an occasional attendee of Comic Con several years before I read Twilight. But I also attended the convention last year and got into the now-famous Twilight panel where thousands of screaming fans first freaked out the actors. So I had a pretty good idea of what it would be like to try to get into the New Moon panel this year.

Well, I thought I did, anyway.

The one thing about Comic Con that people need to understand is that it is MASSIVE. I can say that as many times as I want, but it’s one of those things that you would have to be there to really understand. Given how huge the convention is, lining up early is always a big part of getting inside the really popular events. But the interesting thing is that Comic Con has never, EVER seen something like the Twilight panels before… On the night before the panel, hundreds of Twilight fans were already camping out in line, just to get inside Hall H. (The panel didn’t start until 1:45 p.m. the next day.) And as it happens, I was lucky (and crazy) enough to be one of those people.

When my sister and I went around 7:00 p.m. to see if anyone was camping out, we were shocked to see not dozens, but hundreds of people already lined up outside. So I talked her into joining them, and we began a crazy wait that lasted almost seventeen straight hours with no sleep, occasional runs for food, and bathroom breaks at the nearby Marriot hotel where we were staying. The tricky thing was that we still needed to get our Thursday-only passes to get inside the event, but registration didn’t start until 9:00 the next morning. Luckily for us, my mom came along for the trip, and she offered to hold our spot in line while we got our passes.

This doesn’t really half describe the craziness, though, because everywhere we went, there were THOUSANDS of Twilight fans, many wearing t-shirts or carrying signs. Many of us also had Twilight-themed Burger King crowns that were handed out to those of us who camped out the night before. They were pretty cool, actually! You could pick a “Team Edward” or a “Team Jacob” one (I got one of each, but I gave my Edward one to a fan named Liz who just barely missed the volunteers who were handing them out). And the pictures on them are GORGEOUS. As someone who wasn’t 100% pleased with the promotional pictures for Twilight, I have to saw, the New Moon photos are a thousand times better. I can’t wait to buy more unnecessary merchandise this year, haha.

Anyway, all craziness aside, we were eventually lucky enough to get into Hall H. Even though we camped out for so long, we still sat about where I sat during the Twilight panel, just a little closer than halfway to the stage. (This says a lot about how much worse the crowds for New Moon, because I showed up around 7:30 a.m. last year!) We got treated to two other panels before the Summit panel, both of which involved lots of up-and-coming 3D movies. It was the first time they presented anything in 3D at Comic Con. The best part was definitely when Tim Burton arrived to promote his upcoming Alice in Wonderland film. His surprise guest was Johnny Depp! For anyone who likes Tim Burton movies, that this movie looks like a must-see. Visually, it’s absolutely stunning, almost like all the colorful art of an animated movie has come to life. (I think Kaleb Nation might have the trailer up on his YouTube site, in fact, so be sure to check it out!)

When the time came for the Summit panel, you could tell the excitement was building. Everyone knew that virtually all of the 6,500 people in that theater were there for New Moon. When they introduced it, all the fans started screaming like crazy, just like last year. And I can say this right now: we weren’t disappointed in our excitement. (At least, I know I wasn’t!)

Last year, it was fun to see all the fans at the panel, but the panel itself didn’t reveal any new clips of the movie. This year, we got not one, but TWO clips, and they were by far the best part of the event, even though it was fun to hear from the actors and Chris Weitz as well.

Let me just say this right now: New Moon is going to be even better than Twilight. I’m sure of it. As far as I can tell, Chris Weitz has made a movie that is not only faithful to the book, but emotional and visually beautiful in a way that the last film wasn’t. That’s not to say that Twilight was a bad movie or that I disliked it. I loved it, in fact!

But I also understood the criticism by certain fans that there wasn’t as much romance as they expected, and that the effects and filming style looked somewhat cheap, more like an independent film than a studio production. I haven’t seen the whole movie yet, but just based on the clips I’ve seen, I would like to say that New Moon will deliver on both levels in a way that Twilight did not. I hope all the fans out there will be just as pleased about that as I am.

The panel started when the moderator introduced Chris Weitz, our wonderful director. Can I just say something about him? He’s amazing. He was so gracious and kind during the Q&A, and it’s obvious that all the actors loved working with him. But even more amazing, I really get the sense that he knows us as fans, and he’s doing his absolute best to please us.

During the Q&A, someone asked if anyone on the panel had seen the fan reactions to the New Moon trailer that was released during the MTV movie awards. Chris Weitz said that he, along with all the other people in the editing room, watched all of the fan reaction videos and have been using them as motivation to continue to make New Moon the best movie that they can. Personally, I thought that was incredible! It shows that not only does he value fan input, but he is making this movie for us, for everyone who loves these books and wants to see a movie that remains faithful to them.

The rest of the panel consisted of four actors, including the big three: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner. I would say who they play in the film, but I think you all know that. As for our final guest, it was Ashley Greene, and I was thrilled to finally get to see the actress who plays Alice Cullen in person! (Alice is one of my top two favorite characters, Carlisle being my other favorite.) It was fun to hear them answer questions from both the moderator and the fans.

Most of the questions were pretty standard (funny moments on the set, what it was like to work for a new director, challenges they had during the second film, filming in Portland vs. Vancouver). Rob and Kristen are notoriously bad at interviews, but they did a good job handling the questions overall, even though they seemed about as self-conscious as they were for the Twilight panel last year. (Both Rob and Kristen never stop touching their hair when they talk! It’s distracting, but I find it oddly endearing, haha.)

As for Taylor and Ashley, they’re excellent at interviews, and they’re both incredibly charming. It never ceases to amaze me, how great Taylor is at pleasing his fans. He was describing how difficult it was to work out in the cold weather, particularly in one scene where they had to create fake rain with water from a well, and he was wearing nothing but jean shorts (cue high-pitched squeals from the crowd!). He finished his answer by saying something like he was doing it all for the fans, so it was all worth it. It always impresses me, how quick he is to thank the fans and try to please us as much as possible. He seems like a nice guy, and I can tell how happy he is that he got the role of Jacob for the second film. (A role which was very well-earned, by the way. I can’t wait to see more of his performance!)

All the actors handled the constant screaming pretty well. Rob was making a lot of funny faces at people who screamed out his name (sort of an expression like “What are you doing?”, but in a good-humored way). It cracks me up, how Rob doesn’t seem to understand why girls are always screaming at him. (Well, I assume he does understand, at least on some level. But it’s almost like he doesn’t think he’s really all that attractive. Oh, Rob, when millions of other people disagree with you, you’re probably the one who’s mistaken, lol!)

I was also happy to hear people screaming for Kristen, because sometimes it seems like she doesn’t get enough love in the fandom. She’s not the best at interviews; I think she has a hard time getting out her thoughts in words quickly enough to express what she means. But if you listen to how she replies, you can tell she’s a really thoughtful person.

She also has an excellent grasp of Bella’s character. When someone asked what the actors have in common with their characters, Kristen described how Bella is someone who is unashamed of what she wants, and goes and gets it with determination. To me, that describes Bella perfectly. She may end up as a victim of circumstances on occasion, but she is anything but a damsel in distress. And her desires define her, because she doesn’t let anything stop her from getting what she wants, not even when supernatural forces are in her way.

The panel answered a lot of questions from the audience, more than I expected. So unfortunately, I don’t remember everything they said. I will say the questions were pretty good at this panel, at least when compared to the Twilight one. The first time, there were a few questions that were kind of inappropriate, as well as some that weren’t really questions. (”Hi, Rob, how does it feel to be the hottest vampire in the world WHOO I LOVE YOU BABY!!!!!”) I mean, it’s fun to hear people get so excited, but how is an actor supposed to reply to that without sounding like a narcissist? Lol.

Anyway, some highlights from the Q&A included the actors teasing Chris Weitz for wearing too many layers when it was cold (Kristen said he would wear like six shirts when he could have just worn a sweater, to which Chris said he was trying to just wear a shirt to support the actors who had to wear minimal clothing, only to end up wimping out and put on more layers). Chris also said he would carry around a stick on set (I think he meant to use as a walking stick, maybe?) because it made him feel more in control of what was going on, which he then said didn’t work at all, haha.

By the way, Chris is a really funny guy, and he’s also very humble. Most of his humor is very self-deprecating: he tends to give all the credit to the actors and teases that he has no idea what he’s doing, when that’s clearly not the case. He also made some funny jokes about Rob, saying something like he took the job as director because he just wanted to be close to such a hot guy. Both him and Rob constantly joked that all Rob had to do for the movie was stand there and look pretty!

But the best part of this panel, as I said, was the two clips of the movie. These clips were brilliantly chosen for the occasion: there was some action, but mostly lots of tension and emotion. And, probably not coincidentally, (note: the rest of this paragraph is a mild spoiler) they managed to pick one clip where Jacob takes his shirt off, and one where Edward does the same. Let me tell you, Chris Weitz and the rest of the crew knows their audience! This movie is going to be even hotter than Twilight, in terms of both romance and fanservice. Oh, yeah, and for those of you who are curious: yes, Taylor and Rob both look amazing without a shirt, as we’ve all seen in photos.

As for a more serious commentary on the clips, I’m going to start with a non-spoiler version. Then, if you want to read all the glorious, spoiler-y details, just click the link that says “Read More.” Here’s the general commentary, where I don’t give away which scenes they were (although many of you have already heard):

There was one scene with Bella and Jacob, and one with Bella and Edward. And let me tell you something: the chemistry for both pairs was perfect. (I say “pairs” and not “couples,” because I realize there’s some debate about whether Bella and Jacob are more than friends in New Moon. For my part, I think it’s a little bit of both, but that’s a long story.) With Bella and Jacob, you can tell that Jacob is in love with Bella, but Bella is still stuck on her feelings for Edward and can’t get over him. Obviously, that’s as true to the book as it gets. What surprised me was how tenderly Taylor handles Jacob’s feelings for Bella; you can tell that it’s slowly going from a kid’s crush to something deeper.

As for the scene with Bella and Edward, I feel like I can’t say too much without spoiling it, except WOW. Rob blew me away, and so did Kristen! The tension was electric, and you really get the sense that Edward and Bella are soulmates, on a level that I think they didn’t quite reach in Twilight.

And I want to say one other thing: this film looks absolutely beautiful. Twilight was good, but it definitely had the feel of an independent film, whereas New Moon looks like a big-budget studio production (which it is, of course). Rob even described how Catherine Hardwicke’s filming style involves lots of close-up and handheld camera angles, which is often the way that indie films are styled.

He then went on to say that Chris Weitz’s style is very different, in that it’s more fluid and graceful (he described it by saying it’s like a “dance” with the camera). When I saw these clips, I saw exactly what Rob meant by that. Chris Weitz is creating a gorgeous film on a scale that reaches epic proportions, especially toward the end. Of course, the scale of the story in New Moon is much bigger than in Twilight, so I think it’s fitting. I also think fans will be pleased with it, because the scale of it doesn’t get in the way of the romance; as far I can see, it only enhances it.

Which is all to say: I am very happy with what Chris Weitz is doing, and I hope all the other fans will be, too. I also want to mention that both of these clips were scenes straight from the book, easily recognizable scenes that fans talk about frequently. In fact, most of the time, the fans were screaming during the clips not because of the hotness of the actors, but because they recognized key elements from these iconic scenes in the book. And as a fan of the book, that made me extremely happy.

Now for the nitty-gritty details about each scene… Read on, but only if you want to be spoiled!

The first clip was Bella’s first motorcycle ride with Jacob. Jacob was teaching Bella how to ride, and right on cue, the ghostly vision of Edward appeared to remind her not to be reckless. (The fans screamed when he appeared, of course!) I really like the way they handled Edward’s appearance for the ghostly effect; in my opinion, it didn’t look cheesy at all. It was just a visual representation of what was described in the book, as opposed to only the sound of his voice. It really captures Bella’s feelings in a visual way, which is what a movie is supposed to do.

In this particular scene, the vision didn’t look or sound particularly creepy, but it was eerie, because it seems to follow her sporadically while she rides the motorcycle. And I think it’s going to please Edward fans, because it keeps him present in the scenes when he’s gone, a reminder of how much Bella is still heartbroken over their breakup.

Of course, Bella crashes the motorcycle when she can’t figure out how to stop, and she hurts her head, just like in the book. Also just like in the book, Jacob rides right over to her and tries to help her. This was the point when he took his shirt off, and wow. As everyone in the fandom already knows, Taylor Lautner is now incredibly ripped. The sequence of him taking his shirt off was definitely drool-worthy.

He then starts using his shirt to try to clean the blood off of Bella’s forehead, and you can tell that Bella is pretty woozy at this point; she just kind of stares at him. (Kristen’s version of Bella being woozy hasn’t changed much; it was somewhat reminiscent of when she first woke up in the hospital.) That’s when she says the famous line where she calls Jacob beautiful.

This was the point when Taylor’s performance truly impressed me. He’s really captured the sweet side of Jacob in this scene; there’s a pause, and he gets almost choked up when he tries to tease her, asking her just how hard she hit her head. This moment really proved to me that Taylor understands how Jacob is feeling; it goes without saying that Jacob’s feelings for Bella get much deeper during New Moon. You can tell that he’s starting to hope that maybe they can be together, that maybe Bella will heal from her scars over Edward leaving her and be able to fall in love with him.

It’s a tender moment, but the fact that Bella was seeing Edward only a minute ago also reminds the audience that it’s very one-sided; Bella doesn’t love Jacob yet. (And as fans know, she never really gets to the point where she loves Jacob, at least not in the way she loves Edward.) It’s VERY true to the way their relationship is portrayed in the book. So I would say that fans who are worried that they’re going to make Bella and Jacob’s relationship too much like an official couple can relax, at least a little. So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. It’s no more or less than what Stephenie Meyer herself wrote.

As for the second clip, I was shocked when it was first introduced, because it was the most pivotal scene in the entire book: Bella is running through Volterra trying to find Edward before he kills himself. As a fan, I am SO pleased that they included this scene for the panel; I felt incredibly lucky to be there, because Chris Weitz said was the first time anyone outside of the editing room had seen it.

This scene was more than worth all seventeen hours of waiting for the panel; I would have waited seventeen hours more to get the chance to see it. It was, in my humble opinion, the best recreation of Stephenie Meyer’s writing that I have seen in these movies so far. My sister agreed that it was amazing, as did everyone else I overheard or talked to afterward. I hope that this reaction becomes universal after the premiere, because in my opinion, Chris Weitz and the actors deserve the appreciation of the fans for not only getting it right, but making it absolutely breathtaking.

The scene began with Alice driving through the streets of Volterra with Bella in the famous yellow Porsche. (Alice looked fabulous by the way; she was wearing a headscarf and sunglasses very reminiscent of classic European fashion.) She described what Bella needed to do, and then Bella began racing through the streets of Volterra, which were full of extras in bright red robes. (It looked a lot like the pictures that have already been leaked online by people who were at the set.) The tension in the scene just kept building and building, until she started running through the fountain. The clock began to chime, and the audience was already screaming with excitement.

But then Edward appeared, and as you can imagine, the screaming only escalated from there. (I think he might have been standing in a darkened doorway rather than an alley, but I’m not 100% sure about that. Honestly, it looked so beautiful that I hope fans won’t mind if that detail is slightly different from the book.) This was when I screamed, followed by when I stopped breathing. Why? Well, not because Edward proceeded to unbutton his shirt and let it fall to the ground (although that was an equally welcome sight; wow), but because Rob’s portrayal of Edward in this moment was just perfect.

I can’t even describe the look on his face when he stood there, preparing to kill himself. It was beautifully, utterly heartbroken. It was the most beautiful expression I’ve ever seen on Robert Pattinson’s face, in fact. (And yes, I realize that’s saying something!) I was stunned, honestly. I didn’t expect Rob to capture so perfectly the supernaturally terrible devastation that Edward is feeling in this moment.

After all, at this point in the book, Edward believes that he has lost his soul mate. As Twilight fans know, that’s supposed to be a devastating event for vampires, to the point that they virtually cease to exist; they become hollow shells who have no reason to live anymore, which is why Edward attempts to kill himself. One look at Edward’s face in this scene, and you can see that: he has no hope anymore. He simply has no reason to go on. It was beautiful, breathtaking, and heartbreaking. Everything it was supposed to be. I can’t wait to see it in the context of the whole movie.

The clip ended with Edward moving to step out in the sun, as Bella screamed out for him to stop. (I’m glad the scene ended there, actually, because this scene was already so spoiler-filled that I didn’t want to see the most climactic moment before it premiered.) It was so full of tension at this point that the audience still screaming when it ended; it was the perfect place to stop, in terms of a teaser. Again, Chris Weitz and the producers really knew what they were doing at this panel!

It was pretty amazing, and like I said, I would have waited seventeen more hours to be there. I hope it’s a sign that fans everywhere will be pleased with New Moon. I’ve been rooting for Chris Weitz to get it right from the beginning, and it seems that he’s well on his way to doing so.

That was the last event of the panel, and at this point, the actors as well as most of the audience began to leave. (Like I said, just about everyone was there for Twilight, not for the Avatar panel that was next, which was being billed as the highlight of the convention. Though that panel had thousands of people waiting to get in, people who are more like Comic Con’s usual audience.)

So, that was how the New Moon panel went! (Wow, that was an insanely long entry, haha.) For the second (also non-spoiler) part of my Comic Con adventure, I’ll be posting a new entry soon, which will cover my visit to the Summit booth at Comic Con and the special screening of Twilight at Gaslamp Stadium.