Production Sense and Sensibility (2008 miniseries)

1 production

1.1 conception , adaptation
1.2 casting
1.3 filming
1.4 costumes , make-up

production
conception , adaptation

on 5 october 2005, reporter bbc news revealed writer andrew davies planning adapt jane austen s sense , sensibility major television drama due broadcast on bbc in 2 years. davies commented, when great stories, keep on coming them , doing them in different ways different people @ different lengths. davies explained script in stages , no actors had yet been cast. writer later expressed delight @ adapting novel during interview paul carey western mail, calling austen favourite novelist . admitted due acclaim received adaptation of pride , prejudice, there pressure on him sense , sensibility right. davies later stated aim of miniseries make viewers forget ang lee s 1995 film adaptation of novel.

the opening episode of sense , sensibility features moment willoughby seduces eliza, young schoolgirl. davies told carey , claire hill western mail wanted justice willoughby s story, saying quite interesting , steamy stuff lot of underage sex goes on , talked about. want put on screen. davies elaborated on further in interview independent s peter chapman, saying seduction , abandonment of schoolgirl in novel needed dramatising. believed readers hardly notice moment, felt important. writer noted series more overtly sexual previous adaptations of austen s works , added, novel sex , money social conventions. davies included duel between colonel brandon , willoughby in screenplay, event absent lee s film adaptation of novel.

davies believed lee s film did not overcome problem of guys girls not seeming quite enough , , set out try find way of making them heroes in script. said austen should have made reader feel edward worthy of elinor , explained how marianne falls in love colonel brandon, after having heart broken willoughby. writer increased male roles, turned stronger characters. davies told hill team worked hard on men. brandon seen rescuing people , doing lot of fast horse riding, while edward given wood-chopping scene vents frustrations engagement. davies made dashwood sisters younger , more vulnerable how portrayed in lee s film. hattie morahan, portrayed elinor in drama, stated, trying play story written. in novel girls 19 , 17, these romantic relationships real rites of passage them.

casting

davies commented have liked have been in charge of casting. revealed had objected hattie morahan being cast in role of eldest dashwood sister, elinor. however, glad objections ignored, because fell in love performance. morahan told daily telegraph s jasper rees deliberately chose not watch 1995 film adaptation of sense , sensibility or think emma thompson s portrayal of character. explained had not [b]ecause go mad. distort work. thought, ll original virtue of fact s me doing , there 1 me.

charity wakefield auditioned role of marianne dashwood. actress revealed, marianne embodiment of youth , hope. excited offered part because felt role attack. understand character , feel have lots in common. dan stevens chosen play edward ferrars, elinor s love interest. actor revealed bbc journalist had wanted part , excited challenge of character. stevens became ill tonsillitis during shoot, , quipped there few shots of him in full health still in series.

david morrissey portrayed colonel brandon. actor sent script agent, , questioned whether austen adaptation needed. however, read script , thought brilliant , davies had added more scenes featuring male characters. dominic cooper took on role of john willoughby, brandon s rival marianne s affections. describing character, cooper said way tried persuade myself wasn t bad s 25-year-old young guy , genuinely falls in love marianne – s not doing 1 moment in time. cooper said had fun working on project.

janet mcteer , lucy boynton cast mrs dashwood , margaret dashwood respectively. mark gatiss portrayed john dashwood; casting revealed in june 2007. claire skinner received role of john s wife, fanny, while mark williams cast sir john middleton. linda bassett , jean marsh given roles of mrs jennings , mrs ferrars respectively. robert bianco usa today commented both women wonderfully cast . actresses anna madeley , daisy haggard portrayed lucy steele , sister anne, character omitted 1995 film.

filming

loseley park served exterior of barton park, home of middleton family.

sense , sensibility shot entirely on location within england, in counties of berkshire, surrey, buckinghamshire, , devon. filming began in april 2007 , lasted until june. blackpool mill, fifteenth-century cottage in north devon, turned barton cottage, home of dashwood girls. art director series, james merifield, had walked past cottage in 2006 , thought ideal setting film. later sent cottage location manager sense , sensibility, , decided place right production. owners of blackpool mill, sir hugh , lady stucley, contacted in february 2007 bbc inquired possibility of filming there. caroline gammell daily telegraph reported camera crews, production assistants, directors , actors swarmed on blackpool mill, turning rustic four-bedroom home romantic hub of jane austen s novel. set designers took cottage more firmly 19th century, adding porch @ front dormer windows, fake shutters , chimney. interior of cottage little scruffy mrs dashwood s status, scenes featuring inside of cottage filmed in studio. filming took place @ cottage on 8 days in may.

wakefield revealed rained during filming, soaking cast , crew. however, bad weather led davies writing in scene featuring edward in wet shirt chopping logs in rain, rivalled famous lake scene in pride , prejudice. cooper told birmingham post s georgina rodgers bad weather affected first scene, in willoughby carries injured marianne home. explained scene shot on vertical slope rain machine, natural rain not show on camera. cloak kept getting caught under foot, made picking wakefield harder. cooper added, couldn t move , kept falling head on heels. wrotham park served exterior norland, dashwood family s home. ham house in richmond used norland s interior shots, while grounds used exterior scenes. national trust asked not cut grass several weeks before filming began. ham house doubled cleveland. loseley park chosen exterior shots of sir john middleton s home, barton park. library doubled colonel brandon s own, while entrance used scenes featuring gathering of guests day out. oak room used scenes involving marianne, after falls sick. other filming locations included dorney court, hall barn, lincoln s inn , clovelly pier.

costumes , make-up

the costume designer sense , sensibility michele clapton. , assistant costume designer alex fordham undertook large amount of research looking inspiration. spent hours looking @ paintings , books time period, while visiting art galleries , victoria , albert museum. during interview drama s bbc online website, fordham revealed tried find references every area, including eighteenth-century cartoons. clapton stated team wanted make lot of costumes, rather re-use available other productions. sense of colour wanted, had dye , create lot of pieces. wardrobe team worked closely make-up department , production designer. after first meeting, came colour palette whole show. clapton chose give elinor , marianne contrasting wardrobes. flighty , artistic marianne wears strong colours compared elinor, has different personality , complexion. fordham revealed marianne being younger , wild child , wardrobe contains lot of buttercup yellows, suited wakefield s complexion , character s freshness.

willoughby s wardrobe designed reflect poetic , fashionable nature, while fordham believed edward more suited eighteenth-century rural colours. colonel brandon being stronger character, costumes halfway between two. clothes designed out of date , firm, using more heathers instead of rural colours. production had emphasis on youth , passion, clapton incorporated work. designer said, ten years ago, female characters in 19th-century dramas have hair done in precise ringlets, neat , perfect in portraits. re trying achieve more believable, natural look, when dashwoods @ home. added director had wanted characters feel more human. morrissey commented period costumes uncomfortable modern life, cast riding horses or walking across fields, realised why made way. added, when re dancing, re quite restrictive, s quite posture – posture different then, , s important. give feel character advantage actor.

karen hartley-thomas hair , make-up designer production. began prepping couple of months before filming began, , met director , producer on discuss whole of film. costumers, read books , went art galleries during research. female characters in sense , sensibility wear no make-up because in time period in film set, lower classes have worn white , pink make-up. dashwood sisters wore no mascara , little corrective , blush. hartley-thomas used little make-up on men, not them looking made up. discussing hair, hartley-thomas said elinor s hair quite neat , done, marianne, being freer character , more rebellious, has lots of different looks , lots of wild looks hair loose. explained of male actors wore wigs because men in days have had lot more volume hair, whereas modern styles tend shorter , clippered. john dashwood , son given red hair, hartley-thomas wanted them stand out amongst more natural colours of other male characters.