Maggie recently went on a trip to Montepluciano, the location where New Moon will be shot for the Volterra scenes and she reports on her thoughts of the city.

I made my father pull over at one point so I could get a picture from the road as we approached the city, as I’m sure it’ll be an establishing shot in New Moon. The city sits on top of a hill and while it’s gorgeous in hues of orange, red and brown amongst the greenery, it is rather ominous and forbidding. That’s the point of these hill-fort towns though, to protect them against invaders and be forbidding; that’s precisely what Montepulciano does. It certainly ‘sets the scene.’

Obviously the Piazza Grande will be used. That will be the busy square that Bella runs through just as the clock (conveniently on the tower) strikes noon. There are two alleys on either side of the main building, and both are fairly atmospheric, but I’m not convinced that they’ll be the ones used in the film. Looking at the front of the building, the alley on the left is the town’s public toilets, and the alley on the right is a cash machine… practical, yes, but not very visually dynamic. You can see on the pictures though just how they might be dressed, or how the camera angle could change to include only those elements that the filmmakers want.

View it here.