A video shot in Bath that sees a Jane Austen statue come to life has become an internet sensation.
‘Jane’s Day Out’ sees the famous author take to the streets of the city to sample its delights and in two days has reached more than 250,000 people worldwide.
Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LIG6A9zAnQ&list=UUg6OlV7wbI7cKQ_tNMx4lTQ
The video, which is two and half minutes long, begins with Martin Salter, senior meeter & greeter at the Jane Austen Centre, bringing the Austen statue outside the Centre magically to life.
‘Jane’ then heads off to enjoy a day out in the city, turning heads and raising smiles as she does so. Other scenes include her posting a letter, enjoying an ice cream, posing for photos, and taking an open tour bus ride around the city.
All of this takes place against the backdrop of the World Heritage City’s famous Georgian architecture.
The video was made by Doubleshot, a Frome-based production company who had been commissioned to make a new visitor film by the Jane Austen Centre, located in Gay Street.
The presenter of the visitor film was Adrian Lukis, who played Mr Wickham opposite Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy, in the BBC’s 1995 version of ‘Pride & Prejudice’.
It was while shooting this film, however, the idea to make ‘Jane’s Day Out’ came about and the company simultaneously shot footage for both of them.
David Lassman, the Centre’s PR & Marketing Manager, said: “The response to ‘Jane’s Day Out’ has been incredible. We only posted it on the Centre’s facebook Monday morning and already it has reached a quarter of a million people.”
Jade Thomas from Doubleshot said: “It was really fun and exciting to work on this project and it was great to use state of the art equipment to bring such a popular historical figure to life.”
UK tourist organisations have already shown an interest in using the video to promote the city.
The actress playing ‘Jane’ is Lauren Thompson, who is a tour guide at the Jane Austen Centre and studied Performing Arts at Bath Spa University.
