It is no secret I am a Jane Austen fanatic. I’ve seen the 1995 version of “Pride and Prejudice” no less than 5,000 times. Almost equally as good: “Persuasion” also 1995. The one with all the ugly people in it. It makes the whole movie more relatable. I’ve even considered taking English Country Dancing lessons though, that may be equivalent to my Trekkie side wearing Spock ears in public.
Anyway, I was asked as part of my independent study class this summer to create three animation backgrounds. The first thing that came to mind was, “Regency Period in England circa 1811 to 1820!!!!!” (Lie: it was actually more like, “That one time when Elizabeth Bennett who is totally a real life historical figure was alive!”).
The past couple weeks have been completely immersed in the books, the movies, the music, the fashion, all in an attempt to get a larger picture of the time period.
I’ve been collecting hundreds of images as inspiration but what I really need to do to get the feel of this project is take a vacation and go on a Jane Austen tour in the UK. It may PERHAPS be a little elaborate for a 2 unit summer school class. I’m still holding out hope that a tiny Colin Firth-fairy will puff some pixie dust in the air and grant me my wish.
The problem is, I’m so wrapped up in the research for the project and imagining myself teleporting back in time and falling in love with Darcy’s slightly more attractive fraternal twin brother that not a lot of progress is being made on the actual execution of the project itself.
So, while you’re drinking in these images of Regency goodness, I’ll be off actually working on the background. Maybe watching a little “Emma” (2009). Or possibly freeze-framing on Captain Wentworth in “Persuasion” (2007) because, as we all know, Rupert Penry-Jones’ face was the ONLY good thing in that version (Anne did so much running in that movie. Why all the running? You showed up to your kissing scene all out of breath and snotty. Bad idea, girlfriend.) BEHOLD:
