NextMovie Talks About '9 Thing They Learned on 'THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS' Movie Set'

Journals, interviews, and pictures of set visits are starting to surface. NextMovie talks about their experience on The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie set. They talk about 9 things that makes The Mortal Instruments unique.
1. Costumes Matter

In case you haven't already noticed, those Brooklyn demon-slayers wear some pretty rad threads. And apparently, all that leather and lace definitely lent favor to these actors getting to fierce mode.
"I love leather, and there's a s**tload," Jamie Bower told us of his gnarly wardrobing. Also beneficial? "The tattoos, I love tattoos ... hell, it makes him look badass."

2. This isn't your everyday fantasy film direction

Sure, there are nether-creatures and vampires and werewolves and angels and everything else under the fantastic sun in the mix here, but if you're gonna have a good drama, there's got to be more to it than just running from this monster or that. And for Cassie Clare, the thing that convinced her director Harald Zwart was up to the job of making her "City of Bones" a real magical movie place was the very fact that he wasn't a fantasy moviemaker by trade.

3. Art imitates life at least a little bit

There are some inherent similarities between these actors and their on-screen counterparts … ya know, apart from all the pretty.
To West, it's "how faithful" Isabelle is "and how strong and determined" of a sister she can be that relates to most. "I share family values so I was immediately drawn to her. I thought she was really funny as well. Sometimes, she'll get pissed off about things, and she's very spontaneous ... I grew fonder of her even more so as the books [went] by, and I thought, 'Wow, there's so much to do.'"

4. Nah, there's no pressure on these kids ... none at all

Just Google Image search "Jace Wayland" for a small sample of what fans had in mind for this one before Jamie Campbell Bower stepped into his Jace boots. Initial backlash is an increasingly common tale, after all. "Twilight" fans were outright peeved at the selection of Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen once upon a time if you can believe it, and don't even get us started on the Peeta Mellark debacle. Suffice it to say, expectations were high, and reactions were ... mixed.

5. Subtlety is key to sticky subjects

There are certain subtexts to "The Mortal Instruments" as a book series that, in order to successfully translate onto the big screen, require subtlety in performance and depiction. One such is the jealousy young Alec feels over Jace's blossoming relationship with Institute noob Clary.
"I didn't want to create a sort of one-dimensional character based on what his sexual preference is," Kevin Zegers told us. "I think people have the expectation that you have to sort of give all his secrets away early on, but if this one goes well, we'll have plenty of opportunities to sort of lay that all out." That's not to say he won't be catty with the girl. "From the moment he meets her, he's not really a big fan and doesn't want her around. And not just because he has a thing with Jace but because I think it's more about the whole family, the structure of the way things are with them he doesn't like someone interrupting that."

Read more of the article over at NextMovie