Concept and creative process
Opening titles for an adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's feisty and passionate story, set across the social divide in the changing world of Victorian society. A floral vignette framed several portraits of Margaret Hale, played by Wendy Williams. Starting with a full length shot and mixing ever closer, to a head and shoulders profile, which dissolved into a black cameo image of her. Finally, a panning shot over a Victorian illustration of a Northern industrial city is seen through a soft-edge vignette, forming a background for the credits. The sequence was shot entirely in-camera on a film rostrum.