Pemberley Digital...

Hello to all of you lovelies! So, this week I wanted to shed some light on a couple of my favorite adaptations, done by Pemberley Digital, a video production company that has re-imagined some of my favorites novels. Including "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" by Jane Austen, "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott and "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley.

Growing up, I had the privilege of reading all of these wonderful works and have seen many film adaptations (some are definitely better than others), however I love what Pemberley Digital has accomplished. They have taken classic literature and created modern interpretations, while staying true to the original story and the characters that readers have loved for decades. In addition, to adapting these novels to film, they have also put them into a format that will allow a modern audience to enjoy the characters' and their stories. 

Viewers have the opportunity to watch each adaptation in intervals. Each video is about 5 minutes long and tells a portion of the story. For those who have read these books, you can enjoy a modern take on these time-less characters, their relationships, the obstacles they face and how each story is resolved. For those who have not read the novels, these are entertaining short films that will keep you wanting more (and hopefully they will inspire you to read the original content--but that's my hope). Each digital adaptation is filled with great writing; the scripts are funny, smart and relatable, and the actors fulfilling the roles have done a great job balancing the historical persona and adding contemporary features to these characters (which is not an easy thing to do-- these characters are beloved in the literature community and many-- myself included-- find it difficult to relinquish our vision of the characters and allow Elizabeth Bennett. Emma Woodhouse, Dr. Frankenstein or Jo March to be someone different then who we had pictured while reading the novels). But Pemeberly Digital has made these classic characters, modern and "real" beings, allowing a whole new generation to enjoy these wonderful tales.


Now, this is kindof cheating-- because I've actually been a fan of Pemberley Digital's work for a few years now, but recently I've started to re-watch their videos and I have to admit that the second time around (okay let's be honest, it's more like the 5th time), is actually even better. I have picked up on hidden jems that have been placed in each episode, and I love seeing their modern take on the relationships between the characters--whether it is between family members, love interests or colleagues/friends. 

Pemberley Digital has also showcased strong female characters, different types of evolving relationships and the affects of technology/ social media (both positive and negative) on a real person. The new media format has, for the first time, given viewers/readers the opportunity to interact with these characters, through: Q&A episodes, blog posts and social media interaction. Which in my opinion, is a clever way to engage with the online community. 

I highly recommend viewing each of Pemberley Digital's series and diving into these beautiful works. I have falling in love (again) with these stories and have enjoyed watching Pemberley Digital's take on the classic novels. However, to be fair they have taken some liberties with stories; for example in "The Lizzie Bennett Diaries" there is only three sisters-- Jane, Lizzie and Lydia, which differs from the book, where there is five (Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia). But nonetheless the video series unfolded nicely. So far, my favorite series has been "Emma Approved," based off of the novel "Emma." I found the caliber of script writing and acting to be the best (so far)-- it was funny, emotional, the characters were charming and developing the story around a "match-making/ life coach" was a creative ways to bring in tertiary characters. Not to mention, I loved that they had a character cross-over from the "Lizzie Bennett Diaries" (even if it didn't come from the original content, it was a clever way link everything together).

Check out Pemberley Digital's upcoming projects, blogs and video series at: http://www.pemberleydigital.com/
And you can also watch these series on their YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PemberleyDigital

(You can also find both links, located under my "Faves List")

For now, I say good night and hope that the my random ramblings have peeked your inner bookworm. 

~BL

 Hello to all of you lovelies!