LEGO Ideas 21354 Twilight: The Cullen House straddles real-world and fantasy locations, presenting a unique challenge to designers.
21354 Twilight: The Cullen House is inspired by the Cullen family's house in the Twilight franchise, which is in turn based on the Hoke House, so named after its owner John Hoke, a Nike footwear director. The Portland home was completed a year before the first Twilight movie was shot and acted as a filming location throughout the movies – although not all of them.
This presented a unique challenge to the LEGO designers working on the set, as the on-screen location went through various transformations throughout the five movies.
"[21354 Twilight: The Cullen House] was an interesting challenge to design because the house is based on a real one in Portland," explained LEGO designer and self-proclaimed Team Edward fan, Laura Perron in a presentation to LEGO Fan Media, as reported on by YouTuber MiniSuperHeroesToday. "It's a beautiful piece of architecture and that's the house we know and love.
"In the second film, the production team used the same exterior shots but they used an entirely different interior built on a sound stage. Then in the third movie, they didn't use the house anymore and rebuilt the first two floors on a sound stage with the ability to pack it up to move and film in Baton Rouge."
Looking at shots from the first and fourth movies side by side, you can see how the house evolved, introducing a decking area in the later movies for characters to spend more time outside. While the core details of the house remained – the bright wood, open windows, and modern style – the LEGO set required some balancing between staying true to the movie and creating a working LEGO set in line with the company's standards.
"Long story short, the movie changes ever so slightly in every single film, including the layout," concluded Laura. "It was an interesting challenge to capture the essence and details while remaining faithful to the franchise and achieving a cohesive design within the space that we have."
Zooming in on the interior of 21354 Twilight: The Cullen House, it's clear that not every room has been recreated and not to the same scale as real-life. However, that leaves more room to dedicate to details from the franchise, packing in plenty of references, even if some rooms are technically missing. All in all, it seems like a fair trade-off.
Pre-order 21354 Twilight: The Cullen House right now for £189.99 in the UK, $219.99 in the US and €219.99 in Europe ahead of its release on February 1.
Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by buying your LEGO sets using our affiliate links. Thanks!
Comments
Be the first to comment!