Tag: site updates

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2009 BBC Emma Filming Locations

Reader Bill kindly informed me that the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in the village of Send, Surrey, stands in for Highbury’s parish church in the new BBC Emma adaptation.  Portions of the current church structure date back to as early as 1220!  For photographs of the building and historical information, visit the Send Parish official site.

Send Church Exterior
St. Mary's Church in Send Village, Surrey, appears in the BBC's new Emma adaptation.
sendchurchinterior
The church's interiors are featured in the adaptation, as well!

Loseley Park is another Surrey locale utilized in Emma, portraying Mr. Knightley’s Donwell Abbey.  An Austen adaptation veteran (featured in the 2008 version of Sense & Sensibility), this Guildford estate has existed since at least the eleventh century.  While not an ex-abbey proper, Loseley house apparently deserves honorary abbey status; the current house, built in the 1660s, was partly constructed with stone retrieved from nearby Waverley Abbey!  You can read a nineteenth century account of Waverley’s ruins here.

Loseley Exterior
Loseley House as Donwell Abbey.

Vic has also posted a nice piece about several locations used in the adaptation, including Chilham Village (standing in for Highbury) and Squerryes Court (standing in as Hartfield) in Kent.

Squerryes Court is Hartfield.
Squerryes Court as Hartfield.
The village of Chilham stars as Highbury.
The Village of Chilham stars as Highbury.

Complete(ish) list of 2009 BBC Emma filming locations…

More Emma filming location links…

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Emma4 Episode 1 Screenshots!

See Emma screenshots here!

Emma titles...
Emma titles...

Additionally, Laurel Ann has posted a slideshow of official images here.

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Emma 4, Episode 1 preliminary review and general thoughts…

I first published this review in October of 2009 when Emma aired on the BBC, so some of the links and broadcast references will be out of date.

I don’t even know where to start with this.  Quel surreal, as Holly Golightly might have said.  There are spoilers here, so proceed with caution.

First off, if you have a UK ip address (hint hint proxy hint), you can stream each episode of Emma as it airs. Episode one is located here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00n7pk1/Emma_Episode_1/

Episode 2 airs on Sunday, October 11 on BBC 1 and should be posted to the site just after.  Here’s the schedule, for handy reference.

Emma, Episode 1 - Behind the scenes!
"Emma (Romola Garai) pays careful attention to Jim O'Hanlon's direction while Harriet (Louise Dylan) is more interested in the authentic produce carefully positioned in her basket." (BBC 1)

First, a disclaimer:  I wrote this in haste, late sunday night.  Since, I’ve been adding thoughts and clarifications as I remember them or as they strike me.  So.  Bear with me as this thing grows and changes.

Having seen episode one, I want to say that this is gonna be good.  So far, it IS good – much better than I expected.  Every frame is beautifully composed and shot.  The colors and textures are amazing.  The writing is solid and the story hangs together well without sacrificing important plot elements from the novel (though some of these elements are somewhat scattered).  In fact, at four hours long, this could be the definitive Emma adaptation we’ve all be wishing for (alphabet puzzles, please!  So far, only E3 has provided those).

Continue reading “Emma 4, Episode 1 preliminary review and general thoughts…”

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More on Emma 4, just in time for its BBC 1 premier…

The Independent published a piece on Emma adaptations…

Also, an Emma 4 behind-the-scenes preview video from BBC One…

And an Emma-themed “Culture Minute” from the Telegraph…

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London Evening Standard interview with Romola Garai…

Not much relating to Emma, but it’s here nonetheless.

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1972 Emma proposal…

…starring Dorin Godwin and John Carson.

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Emma first editions and Ayesha costume notes…

Deb’s Bygone Books Blog reports on two first editions of Emma at auction.  One is being presented by Swann Auction Galleries of New York, which included the following blurb with the lot’s online listing:

“First english edition. Austen had a falling out with her first publisher Egerton over publication of Mansfield Park and transferred to John Murray, who published the second edition of that title and the first edition of Emma on the same terms: each was published at the author’s expense, with profits to the author after payment of a 10% commission to the publisher. In keeping with Murray’s stated views on edition sizes, 2000 copies were printed. Emma is also the only one of Jane Austen’s novels to bear a dedication (to the Prince Regent). –Gilson A8.”

Also, a short article on Sonam Kapoor’s Ayesha wardrobe, from the Times of India:

“Sonam’s clothes for the movie have been designed by fashion designer Rehane. Though Rehane is not Delhi-based, she’s participated in fashion weeks in Delhi, and has also designed the clothes for Sonam in the movie. “I have actually done the western look for her. I was supposed to do the Indian look as well, but couldn’t because of my commitment to the fashion weeks that are to follow,” says the Chennai-based designer.”

I guess this means that Mona May isn’t working on the film after all?  Or perhaps she’s working on special pieces, as Rehane is only doing the “western” portion of Sonam’s wardrobe. 

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A more contemporary Emma?

Laurel Ann rounds up this weekend’s press on Emma4 and weighs in on the discussion about modernizing the story here.

For more on the miniseries, which is set to air in early October, see the Telegraph’s “BBC banishes stuffy period characters from new Emma drama” and “Values of Jane Austen characters are as important as the characters.”