Anatomy of a red carpet photo, with Ashley Greene

On the days after award shows like the Oscars, stargazers might find themselves flipping through dozens of celebrity photos, making split-second assessments of the actors' outfits, faces and jewelry.

Something viewers might not think about while forming best-dressed lists in their heads: What goes into creating that red-carpet moment?

Actress Ashley Greene, who is known for starring as Alice Cullen in the Twilight movies, and is playing Mia in Rogue, which premieres March 23 and is available to DirecTV and AT&T U-verse customers, gave us a taste of the red carpet and talked us through the anatomy of a specific press line photo. This one was from Sunday's elite Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party.

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The face

Walking down a red carpet can be rather alarming for a celebrity being photographed, "no matter how many times you do it," Greene said. "There’s a bunch of screaming, yelling photographers telling you to look in every direction. They want to see the front of the dress, the back of the dress, have you turn this way, smile and not smile... The best advice is just to ignore them and know what you’re gonna do on the carpet and stick to it, because otherwise you look like a deer caught in the headlights."

The dress

In her pre-Oscars dress-fitting (which USA TODAY tagged along for), Greene, 29, had narrowed her outfit choices to three: a plunging purple Amanda Wakeley dress, a red off-shoulder Safiyaa gown and a beaded Naeem Khan number.Greene opted for the third dress. "I showed a photo of it (to a friend), and he’s like ‘That’s beautiful, and you could tell you feel good in it.’ I’m glad he said that, because I had already picked it out," Greene said. The choice called for a quick and complicated alteration from Greene's tailor, Pasha. "Anything he had to take in or take off, he took off the beads and then altered it and put it back on. He’s a magician."

The jewelry

Greene borrowed a Bulgari ring and droplet earrings that are "probably worth more than my house" for the event, she said. "I did a Save the Children campaign with (Bulgari) and worked with them a few times. So I ran into them at the Vanity Fair Young Hollywood party at the Chateau (Marmont) and they were like… we should come give you jewelry. And I was like, 'Yes, please.' So they brought over a couple options and I immediately gravitated toward this ring. Literally, I’m returning it here before I leave."

The shoes

Greene wore borrowed strappy black Jimmy Choos she chose at the fitting. "I think I'm gonna go buy them," she said, because they stayed comfortable throughout the long night.

The party

Photos from the red carpet are often the primary visual from an event. However, so much goes on inside, away from the red-carpet cameras. Greene's fashion photo was taken well before she watched the Academy Awards from monitors in the tented ballroom with Brittany Snow, a good friend, and the "hilarious" Kelly Osbourne, who was seated next to Greene. "When Leonardo DiCaprio won, the entire room erupted, and it was like we were actually at the Oscars." Another big moment from the party: when host Elton John performed for over an hour.