Deconstruction of a Period Drama

Pride and Prejudice


In this clip of Pride and Prejudice a character known as Mr Darcy is shown in a close up and then is cutaway to another scene where a young women known as Mrs Bennet is looking at a portrait of Mr Darcy. The fact that Mr Darcy owns a portrait of himself shows that he is a upper class citizen, this also suggests that he is vain. Various close up shots of Mr Darcy shows that he is one of the main characters in the period drama. The colloquialism of the way Mr Darcy and Mrs Bennet talk shows that they are form a posh and upper class family, therefore, showing that they are well educated and rather rich. Mr Darcy has a lot of land, a lake, greenery and fields that look over his mansion which indicates his wealth. Mr Darcy owns a horse which in those times was very rare to own, only upper class people owned horses, this would indicate that Mr Darcy is wealthy, also the way that Mr Darcy and Mrs Bennet were dressed in posh clean outfits would suggest that they have money juxtaposed to the cleaners and servants in the house. When other characters call Mr Darcy they would also call him by his last name rather then his first, this shows that Mr Darcy has got authority and power as he is referred to Mr Darcy. The non diagetic sound which is the background music is old and traditional, very posh, this could give the audience a hint that the series is portrayed in the olden times and also shows that the posh music would give the audience a sense that it is a series to do with rich people or highly powered people. The diagetic sound such as the water splashing, speech, footsteps is used throughout the series which at the correct points making it very effective for the audience.

A deconstruction would cover:
- Camera movement
- Camera angle
- Editing
- Sound