Were all familiar with the successful british drama Downtown Abbey. Its a drama set in the post edwardian era, focusing of the lives of the fictional aristocratic Crawley family. it is written by Julian Fellowes. beginning in 2010 with season one, the series has already gone into a 5th season as of 2014. Showing commercial success worldwide from the UK all the way to Australia and the Philippines.
The overall design of the show, has high quality and really exhibits the smallest details successfully.
having most of the show shot on the real Highclere castle has given Downtown Abbey a signature look and identification.
First off, the costume design of the series is incredible in its detail and reference to history, it brings attention to certain fashion trends of the era and is aesthetically pleasing, bringing forth the art deco style. As well as the set design of the show, the background is never missing an interesting spot to look at. The artistic design of the show serves as an influence in this modern era for many ideas and new trends in different industries like the fashion industry. Apart from the design of the series, the cinematography successfully reflects the elegance of the era portrayed in the series, many of the scenes move very smoothly with the characters. for the most part the choice of location and lighting is also very well portrayed, giving the show a natural look. One thing that i have noticed though is that i find the dialogue between the characters somewhat unrealistic at times, the diction seems a little too modern for the time period portrayed and the characters speaking. As well as the relationship between some of the upstairs and downstairs characters, but thats what has added to the drama and plots of the series.
I like how this series gives you a different view of the aristocracy compared to other films or series of this sort, the characters are much more developed and individualized and don't necesarily stick to the cliches. As the seasons have moved on ive been surprised to see the extreme changes in plots and addition of characters, at first i wasnt sure if those changes would be successful but, as the series has gone you see that theres been a shift in the focus of the series, the first few seasons, although having many character subplots, primarily focused on the courtship with lady Mary and Matthew Crawley, which had the danger of developing into a typical love story, but as the plot twists went on and characters were lost, the show was able to focus on the stories of other characters that would have otherwise stayed in the shadows along with their potential stories , like that of lady Edith in the new fifth season, and of some downtstairs characters like the kitchen maid Daisy. I think this shift in focus has been a good choice, it gives the series content for further development, and increases the themes of the show, to more creative things in reference to history like the increased individualization of women and revolts against the government.
