Countdown to Eclipse in Pictures Day 3: All Hail the Director

Countdown to Eclipse in Pictures * continues and here on day 3 it's Friday, our normally scheduled day for film releases and with that in mind I thought I would showcase none other than the driving force behind the scenes: the directors.

Catherine Hardwicke, director of Twilight

Director CATHERINE HARDWICKE on the set of the thriller TWILIGHT, a Summit Entertainment release, Photo credit Deana Newcomb

We started this Twi-film-journey back on November 21, 2008 with the release of the first film Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. This remains to be my first film in the series and I loved it even more when listening to the DVD commentary with her alongside Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Catherine Hardwicke really understood the world and emotions of Twilight, and will always remain awesome sheerly for bring this world to screen.

Chris Weitz, director of The Twilight Saga: New Moon

CHRIS WEITZ directs THE TWILIGHT SAGA NEW MOON, Photo Credit Kimberley French

Almost to the day year later, Chris Weitz helmed the second film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon which was released on November 20, 2009. We got more special effects in this film but I felt we lost a little of the heart. It did however, remain very true to the book.

David Slade, director of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Director DAVID SLADE and star KRISTEN STEWART on the set of THE TWILIGHT SAGA ECLIPSE. Photo Kimberley French, © 2010 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved

Update: Here's another David Slade one that is a little more complete to the theme of this series...

Director DAVID SLADE on the set of THE TWILIGHT SAGA ECLIPSE. Photo Kimberley French, © 2010 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved

I still remember when it was announced that David Slade (30 Days of Night, Hard Candy) was going to be directing the third film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, out next Wednesday June 30, 2010. First thoughts were it's going to be dark, dark, dark. Less than a week until we get to see for ourselves!

* Countdown to Eclipse in Pictures is a daily series for 1 week enjoying the images of The Twilight Saga in anticipation of the release of Eclipse. Be sure to check back daily for more pics!