The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Cassandra Clare Set Diary: Day 1

Cassandra Clare’s Diary from ‘The Mortal Instruments’ Set: Day 1

Surprise, Shadowhunters! While we’re sure you enjoyed reading what the set of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was like from our perspective, we know you’re going to LOVE our latest affiliation with the upcoming book-to-movie. Teen.com’s partnered up with our friends at Screen Gems to give you an EXCLUSIVE look behind the scenes of the film, from the eyes of none other than author Cassandra Clare. (We know, you’re totally freaking out right now.) So, what are you waiting for? Read on for Cassie’s point of view — plus pictures! — and make sure to keep coming back for more. (This is only her account of the first day!)

Day One: Monday

I show up on the set actually the first week that they are shooting entirely in-studio and not on location. The studio is an old glass factory, so it has a lot of room inside — the production offices.

There are a bewildering number of people, and it’s kind of alarming to realize that all these people have been herded together to make a movie out of my books. Sets, props, costumes, from the huge Institute set to the littlest family ring, all look like they came out of the book’s pages. It’s frightening. There are runes up everywhere, even in Gersha’s (the costume designer) office:

Cassandra Clare

On set, there’s a section of director’s chairs where the actors sit, and another section, across a bank of equipment, where the producers sit and watch the “playback” — whatever scene just filmed. Harald [Zwart], the director, ironically does not have a chair that I can discern, but is running around like a whirlwind issuing commands so that may not matter.

I have my own chair with my name on it!

Cassandra Clare

The producers’ chairs have their names on them; the cast chairs have their character names. It’s fun to see them lined up, though I can never see Jace’s name since Jamie [Campbell Bower] appears to own 30,000 jackets.

Cassandra Clare

During the day, the actors come around to say hi, except Robbie [Sheehan], who isn’t there yet. Everyone looks fantastic. There’s a buzzer that goes off when they start filming, which means we have to be really quiet, and watch the filming with headphones on so we can hear the sound. I am once again impressed with the patience of actors, doing the same thing over and over and over again. Robert the Producer explains to me that when they think they’ve got the right take of a scene, Harald says “Check the gate,” which means they check the camera and then move on to the next scene.

I demand to meet Sideburns Guy, but no one can track him down. Tragedy!

EXCLUSIVE: A Play-By-Play of Our TMI Set Visit