Conjuring New Moon

Depicting the snarl of a werewolf, the sparkling skin of a vampire, or a handsome apparition were all in a day’s work for Matt Jacobs and Eric Pascarelli, visual effects supervisors who worked on the blockbuster film The Twilight Saga: New Moon. These masters of technology were charged with bringing the latest movie installment of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling novel to the big screen.

Jacobs and his team at Tippett Studio created New Moon’s CG wolves, a process that included getting up close and personal with fanged timberwolves at a California preserve in order to study their looks, movements, and behavior.

The task of creating most of the other visual effects in the film, including the shimmering of vampire skin coming into contact with sunlight, fell to Eric Pascarelli and his team at Prime Focus VFX. The source of their inspiration? Greek Thassos marble.

With stories from the set and film clips of their processes, Jacobs and Pascarelli, both from award-winning VFX studios in California, will illustrate how creativity and technology combined to convey emotion, create drama, and bring New Moon to life.

Seating is limited. Passes are available in the Museum lobby beginning at 5:45 p.m. on the evening of the program. First come, first served. Museum members may reserve a limited number of seating passes in advance. For information: mos.org/adults. Funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities Fund.