Fandom: Downton Abbey

I LOVE Downton Abbey. And from this love, this GIF of the Dowager Countess staring down Lady Mary was born. 

Some possible captions I came up with (feel free to submit your own in the comments section!):

• If looks could kill, Downton Abbey would be a minefield. 
• No one stares as well as Dame Maggie Smith. No one.  
• I'm not sure what intimidates me more--the Dowager Countess' fortune or her stare. 
• When I have children, I will reproach by stare rather than words. 

(And for those of you who love it soooo much, because obviously it's that adorable, and are tumblr-ers instead of bloggers, you can repost it from my very dusty rusty tumblr site. Yes, my attempt to become viral is about as successful as a bacteria's.)

The process of making a GIF is pretty easy (figuring out how though was the time consuming part). 

A quick and dirty summary (sorry I don't have time for the lengthy little numbers I normally do on Take a Tech Tip.

How to make a GIF using Image Stills

Tools you need

• Mac OS X's Preview program
• Adobe Photoshop Elements (or the full version if you're lucky enough to own a copy) -- my Elements v8 came with my Wacom Bamboo Capture tablet 

Files you need at your disposal

• Images from a scene of choice 

What you gotta do

[1] Get your images down to around the same size (either in Preview by eyeballing or in Photoshop where you can use more exact image and canvas resizing techniques). 

[2] Open a new file in Adobe Photoshop with the dimensions of your aforementioned images. 

[3] Copy and paste each of your scene images into the .psd file. Doing this will result in a new layer for each image. Make sure they're in the right order. Click on the image below to see a larger version that shows you the Layers palette and how the layers order corresponds with scene ordering. 

[4] Move and alter as desired, although little will have to be done if all you want to do is play the images in sequence. (Some people like to make fancy GIFs with zoom effects or some more motion. That's all doable, but involves a little more tweaking). 

[5] Go to File > Save For Web

[6] Make sure the settings are appropriately set. Click on the image below to see the full size version and its accompanying key:

[7] Press OK and you're done! Now you can share your GIF as you please.

Video: Downton Abbey 2 Interviews with the Cast

God, I can't get Red Nose day out of my head every time I watch Downton trailers. The parody makes a special effort to laugh at the long gazes and solemn stares with musical interludes. Also, I'm pretty sure part of the show's success comes from the music. I love this intro music. Almost as much as I love the Little Dorrit music.

Super thanks to the Baker for sending this to me.



Downton Abbey Theme


Little Dorrit Theme

TV: Downton Abbey Season 2

If you haven't watched Downton Abbey (BBC) on Masterpiece Theatre, you should! It's a great period piece. Love! Social class schisms! Scandal! Political instability! Women's rights!

The show's back for a second season this year, and it's bound to be just as enjoyable as the first. For a catch up on what's happened to your favorite Downton characters and to find out what's in store for them, click here for a nifty slideshow.

Read an old post here showcasing a very funny parody of the show.

Many thanks to the Bakery for sending this to me! Without her, I think I'd be totally out of the loop on all this Downton drama! 

Watch the full episode. See more Masterpiece.

I love Masterpiece Theatre! The accents, the period clothing, the old school, overly formal way of speaking. I love it all. Upstairs Downstairs is the newest show on Masterpiece, and I just watched the first two episodes. The cast is big, and you can bet that with so many minor characters, the drama and scandal will flowing a-plenty.  

It's Raining Men, BBC style

Brought to the attention of yours truly by: the Knitter

Red Nose Day: Uptown Downstairs Abbey

Brought to you by: The Baker

Uptown Downstairs Abbey Part One - Red Nose Day 2011 - BBC Comic Relief Night (by BBC)

If you've watched Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Theatre, I think you'll find this hilarious. If you haven't...go watch the original! Immerse yourself in some major period piece drama.