At the height of its success, the Twilight Saga was one of the most popular movie franchises of all time. Based on Stephanie Meyer's best-selling books, the films charted the relationship between human Bella and vampire Edward. Of course, Jacob Black and his family of werewolves were also thrown in to add some drama to the plot!

Since the Twilight films featured a lot of supernatural creatures, it's perhaps unsurprising that they used a heavy amount of special effects. How else are you going to portray super-fast vampire running, or a dangerous vampire baby birth? Of course, this fact means that behind-the-scenes photos from the films often look very different from the final products. They arguably ruin the magic that visual effects created! Here are a whole host of behind-the-scenes photos that might change the way you look at the Twilight Saga for good.

20 Bella's Body Double

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In Breaking Dawn: Part One, poor Bella Cullen has to go through a pretty traumatic pregnancy. Her baby basically tries to destroy her from the inside out, and is almost successful. Bella becomes visibly ill and gaunt as her pregnancy progresses. Instead of getting Kristen Stewart to lose weight, though, the film's props department created this slightly terrifying Bella model! It's scarily lifelike...

19 Taylor Lautner's Motion Capture Suit

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If you've ever wondered how all of Jacob's werewolf scenes were filmed in the Twilight movies, here's your answer: through a whole lot of motion capture. Taylor Lautner had to don this pretty hilarious grey morph suit and act out all of his character's wolfish actions. At one point, he even had to put up with Kristen Stewart patting him on the head like a dog. The things actors go through for their craft...

18 A Romantic Wedding Venue?

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The Twilight Saga actually features two Bella/Edward wedding scenes. The first is a nightmare wedding that Bella dreams up. It's pretty horrific and involves a lot of corpses, but it takes place in a pretty nice-looking pure white paradise. This behind-the-scenes shot of the nightmare wedding does slightly ruin the effect, though. Imagine having to pretend to get married in an equipment-filled movie studio...

17 The Renesmee Doll

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Can we all just agree that this Renesmee doll is one of the creepiest things ever to exist? It looks like it belongs in a horror film, or in all of our nightmares. We know that stand-in dolls don't always look entirely realistic, but this doll is just ridiculous. Thank goodness CGI effects were used to make Renesmee look a bit more human in the actual film...

16 Bella and Edward Know How To Smile?

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It's a running joke amongst Twilight haters (and even some fans) that Bella and Edward are two of the most miserable characters ever to exist. They spend most of the Twilight films looking moody and brooding. Even in their happier moments, they can barely manage a grimace. However, this behind-the-scenes shot confirms that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson do, in fact, know how to smile. What a relief.

15 The Beauty Of "Nature"

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It's pretty disappointing when you realise that a lot of "outdoor" scenes in movies are filmed indoors. This particular shot, featuring Bryce Dallas Howard as evil vampire Victoria, may look like it's shot in a beautiful forest, but all of that "nature" is fake. Presumably, the "snow" on the ground is too - not to mention that green-screen backdrop.

14 Renesmee Riding The "Werewolf"

via: thehollywoodinquirer.com

Not all of the Twilight films' werewolf scenes were shot using motion capture. As this still from the set of Breaking Dawn shows, sometimes, the wolves were replaced by models - or at least, parts of models. Young Renesmee is riding on the back of half of a fake wolf. The rest of the creature was added in post-production. At least the "fur" looks somewhat realistic!

13 Stand-In Wolves

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In this photo, we can see yet another method of filming the werewolves in the Twilight Saga. Yep - those are paper werewolves in the background. Presumably, they're markers to show the CGI department where to add the fully-fledged wolves in post-production. It looks like all of the Cullens were present in this scene, meaning all of their actors had to work around these odd-looking props. Fair play to them for managing it!

12 R-Patz and K-Stew Before It All Went Wrong

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Remember when Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were one of Hollywood's most popular power couples? They seemed to be so happy together - until that Rupert Sanders cheating scandal hit, of course. In this behind-the-scenes snap, we can see the couple in happier times. They seemed to be having a lot of fun while filming Twilight's romantic meadow scene!

11 That's Not A Werewolf... Just A Wolf

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There's a lot to unpack in this behind-the-scenes photo from New Moon. For one, Robert Pattinson seems to be staring at something in a pretty intense way - still in character as Edward, perhaps? Plus, is that a real wolf?! It's a wolfish dog, at the very least. Clearly, not all of the saga's wolves were CGI-generated! They kept some real animals on set too.

10 Wires Make "Jumping" Easier

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The Twilight Saga's werewolves are pretty powerful creatures. Even in their human forms, they're super-strong and pretty athletic. Jacob actor Taylor Lautner had to do a lot of moving around in these films, including a fair bit of jumping. Of course, he can't actually jump as high as a werewolf can - hence why he's attached to a wire in this behind-the-scenes snap.

9 Look Away, Team Edward Fans

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Back in Twilight's heyday, the Team Edward vs Team Jacob debate was pretty intense. Both sets of fans were totally convinced that they were in the right. Off-screen, of course, Kristen Stewart was dating Robert Pattinson - but as this photo shows, she was pretty good friends with Taylor Lautner, too. These three actors' on-screen conflict didn't continue when the cameras stopped rolling.

8 Just Hanging Out, Literally

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At first glance, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this photo is just a screencap from Twilight. It shows the scene in which Edward takes Bella for a run through the forest on his back. However, if you look closely, you'll see that Robert Pattinson is actually suspended from some wires, presumably for safety reasons. Most film studios wouldn't let their lead actor climb a tree without some safety procedures in place!

7 Am I Overdressed?

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The Volturi may not be the kindest vampires in the Twilight universe, but they sure know how to dress well. Here, Michael Sheen's character Aro looks pretty majestic in his formal robes. His attire contrasts pretty hilariously with the somewhat more traditionally-dressed crew member's clothes. Well, you can't expect everyone on set to come to work in heavily-embroidered formalwear!

6 Bella's Motorcycle Antics

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After Edward leaves Bella in New Moon, the human protagonist of the series goes somewhat off the rails. She doesn't really care about her personal safety any more and acts pretty recklessly. A lot of her antics involve motorbikes - as seen in this behind-the-scenes shot from the movie. Kristen Stewart clearly didn't leave all of the motorbike riding to her stunt double!

5 Keeping The Actors Safe

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Speaking of stunts, actors sometimes have to do some pretty dangerous things in the name of their craft. Here, Jasper actor Jackson Rathbone is basically having to belly-flop onto the floor. Luckily, he's got some squishy mats waiting to break his fall! Of course, these safety measures were all edited out of the final cut. Being a near-invincible vampire, Jasper wouldn't exactly need them in the same way his actor did.

4 No Hard Feelings Between On-Screen Enemies

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It's nice to see actors who play less-than-friendly characters getting along when the cameras have stopped rolling. Here, Robert Pattinson is having a laugh with Gil Birmingham, who played Jacob's dad Billy in the Twilight films. Since they were caught up in the old vampires-vs-werewolves conflict, the two characters didn't exactly get along on screen. Add into the mix the fact that Billy's son wanted to date Edward's wife, and you have a very awkward situation.

3 The Less-Than-Glamorous Catering Tent

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Sorry to burst your bubble, guys, but working on a film set isn't always glamorous. For example, you often have to eat in a less-than-fancy catering tent. This behind-the-scenes Twilight photo actually shows a special occasion: Kristen Stewart's 18th birthday! She's being presented with a cake that reads "welcome to the night shift" - a reference to the fact that as an adult actor, she could now work longer hours. Nice!

2 Breaking Dawn? More Like Breaking Character

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Here, we can see another example of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson breaking character on the Twilight set. They're having a cheerful moment just before the cameras start rolling! This seems to be one of the many Twilight Saga scenes that take place in a meadow. The producers really loved their romantic backdrops, didn't they?

1 A Green Screen Bedroom Scene

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This behind-the-scenes photo comes from the same filming sequence as the "wolf" photo we showed you earlier. We now know what Robert Pattinson was staring at: Kristen Stewart, in character as a sleeping Bella. It's weird to think that an apparently "intimate" romantic scene was filmed in front of dozens of crew members - and a green screen. It certainly takes some of the soppiness out of the moment.