Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow, As Well As The Sherlock, Which Are

Yao
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Yuting Yao (Ariel)
Lynda Hass
Writing 39B
20 May 2014
Sherlocks Holmes Intelligence and Eccentricity
It is so normal to make a popular novelnovels into moviesfilms these days;
moviesfilms do not only provide a new perspective of the novel, but, they also make
some changes of adapt the story to create an even attractive story based on the
original one by using moderncinematic elements. One of the scriptwriters and
directors favoriteThe Sherlock Holmes stories is Sherlock.of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
are favorites for adapting to films. In the movies and films Sherlock Holmes and
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadow, as well as the TV series Sherlock, which are
based on the stories of Sherlock Holmes, the most outstanding detective created by
Conan Doyle, creators doesdo not exactly follow all of the conventions but change
some charactercharacteristics of the main heroes, SherlockHolmes and Watson, to fit
the modern days. Moreover, they update to match the timefrom Victoria era to 21
st

century. For most of the conventions, such as Holmes another characteristicdrug
addiction, they stay what they were in the novels since they appear as a mirror to
reflect back to Victorian era. The most obvious one should beconvention that
Sherlockis always kept is that Holmes is still a genius who possesses the three
necessities of a qualified detectiveobservation, knowledge and deduction; and he
tries his best to figurefigures out the truth of every case for his own interest instead of
money or fame. A story is not a detective story is not a perfect story without an
intelligent detective; Sherlock Holmes plays the most important role in those stories.
Like theLiterary scholar Leroy Lad Panek asserts that Sherlock Holmes was actuallyis
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a mathematically accurate crime-solving machine (82) in his book An Introduction
to the Detective Story. The BBC TV series Sherlock, directed by Paul McGuigan and
first released in 2010, proveproves that most conventions especially the intelligent
and eccentric characteristics of Holmes are kept even in the modern society. The
storyfirst episode of the series A Study in Pink is about a woman who is found dead
after three other people who are reported died for the same reason. In thise story,
Sherlocks Holmes intelligence and eccentricity are well described.
In A Study in Pink,, Sherlock Holmes first meetmeets Watson and they
become roommates. They solve cases together and Watson is impressed by
Sherlocks Holmes intelligence, to be clear, is which mainly shows on his ability of
deduction. In Conan Doyles The Sign of Four, Sherlock Holmes deduced the
closeness of Watson and many details of Watsons brother including his brother from
a watch. Compared to the original story, here in the movie, they creators changed the
deduction subject from watch to cellphone since cellphones are more reasonable for
21
st
century. It is undeniable that Sherlocks deduction ability is impressive. Though
the object is different, the ability to read things and make a deduction remains the
same. From the close observation of the cellphone, he reaches the conclusion that
Watson has a brother but they do not get along well because his brother iswas an
alcoholic. In that from an old watch. Similarly in the episode, Holmes has the ability
to deduce quickly and accurately. When Holmes arrives at the crime scene, they sit in
the cab and Sherlock explain how of the fourth suicide incident, he observes the
evidence first. Taking a close look of the surrounding and the dead body, he
successfullyquickly gets important and accurate conclusions. For example, by
examining the victims ring, he finds outthat the victim (a woman) has been married
for over ten years but she is in unhappily marriage. The simple reason is that the
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inside of the ring is clean but the details about his brother; after Sherlocks close
explanation, Watson is shocked by his impeccable ability.outside is dirty, which
indicates that the ring has been frequently taken off. As the scholar audiencereviewer
Mike Hale mentions in his articlereview of season one, The Latest Sherlock Hears a
WhoWho, that, Holmes tells men hes just met that theyve traveled around the
world twice in the last month or that they spent the night with that woman over there.
SherlockHolmes can deduce a persons whole life just from tiny details or objects.
Before SherlockHolmes makes a conclusion of his deduction, he examines the objects
first. This matches what Conan Doyle proposed in The Sign of Four, a professional
detective must possess three necessities at the same time, observation, deduction and
knowledge (221). He collects clues when he examines the objects, no matter a real
object or a body, and with his crime-related knowledge, he can successfully make a
correct deduction. What surprised the audiences is that his deductions are barely
turned out to be wrong (Binyon 11). SherlockHolmes possesses plenty of knowledge
that would be useful for solving the case; Leroy Lad Panek described
SherlockHolmes as a person who fills his cranial attic only with those things which
help him solve crimes (82). Just as when Sherlock Like in the scene, Holmes
deduces the woman came from Cardiff from her wet coat by connecting his
observations and Watson are chasing the cab, Sherlock has a clear mindhis
knowledge of local weather. He figures out where to go. The map of each street that
audiences see on the screen is actually in Sherlocks mind. It is not only a simple
map of the road, but also combines the signals of each intersection. From the
map, he is ablerains heavily to find the most effective way to chasebackground of
the cabvictim. The use of modern technology clearly shows what Sherlock is
thinking. Meanwhile, this also proves SherlocksHolmes intelligence, as he is able
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to remember such complicated things. The characteristic is kept for 21
st
century
audiences since it perfectly represent Holmes.
When the moviefilm portrays the intelligence of SherlockHolmes, some
significant patterns will appear. In the crime scene of A Study In Pink, when
Sherlock is requested to help the police to solve the case of suicide and he comes to
the crime scene of the pink ladys body, he observes the dead body and the
surrounding carefully. Here the use of sound is ingenious. The background music is
mysterious, creepy and a little bit exciting; when it combines with. Nobody is
speaking at the time; the sound Sherlocksthat audiences hear is the sound of footstep,
opening door and instrument. This sound shows a mystery atmosphere since people
are all wondering what is going on here. Moreover, connected to the story, here is
where the murder incident happened, thus, audiences feel scared but excited to know
the truth. When Holmes starts thinkingthe scrawling sound and, the scratching
sound, it shows a and scrawling sounds show exactly what is in his mind; along with
the sound, explanations will come up to screen as subtitles, which indicating his fast-
functioning brain, which is working. This makes audiences nervous about the case,
and also but at the same time, to think with Sherlock together.Holmes or to follow
his thoughts. In terms of the camera angle, when Sherlock Holmes is looking at the
body, the camera is at a lower angle, where that allows the audiences canto clearly
see the head of the dead body, and SherlockHolmes, Watson and the police officer
Lestrade at the same time. The body is lying on the floor while SherlockHolmes,
Watson and Lestrade are standing and looking at the body. Using lower angle to film
this scene makes Sherlock Holmes to look more powerfulsince he is the main
character to examine the scene and he plays an important role to solve the case. For
Watson and Lestrade, they contribute less and they have the same role hereact as
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audiences to ask questions. Compared with Holmes, they both possess less power so
they are filmed the same way, in a lower angle than Holmes. HoweverMeanwhile, the
body on the floor is filmed by an extreme low angle to complete, which shows the
weakness of the dead person. Besides the angle, the composition of the scene also
reveals the importance of Sherlock. SherlockHolmes. Holmes is standing on the
foreground while Lestrade on the middle ground and Watson on the background. It is
Sherlock that whoseHolmes deduction that will help the police to solve the case, so
he is in the place where will attract most audiences attention. Compared to
SherlockHolmes, Watson is less important in this scene; as a result, he is in the
background. All theThe sound, camera angle, and scene composition here work for
pointing out the importance of Sherlocks deduction. These technical skills allow
people to pay more attention on Sherlocks Holmess deduction, rather than other
peoples conversation.
Another convention that has remained in the movie is Sherlocks eccentric.
Sherlockepisode is Holmes eccentricity. Holmes is the kind of person that who is
extremely obsessed with his jobinvestigating cases. When he has nothing to do, or
no cases to investigate, he will befeels bored and does strange things such as shooting
the wall of their apartment. On the contraryInstead, when he finds difficult cases, he
gets excited; this kind of characteristic makes him eccentric. In The Sign of Four,
SherlockHolmes said, Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse
cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and in am in my own proper atmosphere
(187). This best describes how hethat how desperately he needs cases feels when he
has cases to investigate. In A Study in Pink, he acts exactly the same as what was
described in book. After four people are thought to have committed suicide, Lestrade
askasks assistance from SherlockHolmes so heand goes to Baker Street. When
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Lestrade leaves, the smile on SherlocksHolmes face shows his happiness. He is
excited to accept a new challenge and he even describes the situation that he has this
case to investigate as Christmas. Audiences can easily read his feeling from this
exaggerated expression. His expression, his action and his tone reveal his excitement.
Compared to his action now and before, he is more relaxedhe speaks faster; he
walks quicker; and he even jumps. While before the case comes in, his movements
are small and he is not energetic. This comparison perfectly shows his . Ateccentricity.
this time, his eccentric characteristic completely showed up. As the scholar audiences
Alessandra Stanley asserts, Particularly on television, its almost impossible to find
another interesting crime solver who isnt driven by childhood wounds or crippling
psychological flaws or fixations. Therefore, it is quite obvious to see how Sherlock
Holmes differ from other investigators like police officers; he is much more energetic
when facing a new and difficult cases. Just because of Holmes extreme interest in
solving cases, his eccentricity becomes a symbol of him; and this is also the reason
why this convention is kept in films of 21
st
century.
Just like the pattern of specific ways to portray Sherlocks Holmes
intelligence, there is a similar way to make the eccentric Sherlock Holmes stand out.
Compared to the sound that uses to show Sherlocks Holmes intelligence, the sound
here is more relaxing. The background music of the scene is quite happy and
enthusiasm. To point out, the background music is the theme music of the whole
series; it usually comes up when Holmes receives new cases to show his excitement.
The use of background music successfully portrays a more relaxing atmosphere,
which can better represent Holmes feeling at that time. Combined with his talking
sound, they successfully shows how excited Sherlock is, which in other words, how
eccentric he is. In addition, he talks with a quicker speed, which illustrates that he
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cannot wait to get involved in solving the crime. Besides, for the scene that after
Lestrade leaves, it contains mainly medium shot, which frames the subjects from the
waist and up. Even though when Sherlock Holmes jumps up to show his excitement,
it is still a medium shot; but the position of camera is sets perfectly so that his body is
fully in the frame. This can clearclearly show the expression and action of
SherlockHolmes; therefore, audiences can have a better understanding of his
eccentric. The choice of medium shot for this scene can show the whole surrounding
of the living room, at the same time, audiences will not miss any important
expressions of Holmes since his facial expressions are also clear to see. Besides that,
the composition of the scene is different from the last one. When Sherlock Holmes
leaves the room, the camera is set from the side of Watson, so he is in background of
the frame while Mrs. Hudson and Watson in the middle ground. This does not mean
he is not important any more. Instead, he is still the key role through the whole story.
Putting Watson in the front makes Watsons expressionsusceptible look, clearer.
From Watsons look, Sherlocks Holmes action becomes even more eccentric. By
using Watsons expression to reflect Holmes eccentricity, the effect will be amplified
since Watson stands for normal people like all the audiences. With the help of the
sound, camera scale and composition, it is much easier to follow this convention
Sherlocks Holmes eccentric behavior.
Detective stories are even more popular today modern elements. MoviesFilms
like Sherlock changechanges some characteristics of the main characters but remain
most of the storystories to be the same. Sherlocks Holmes intelligence and
abnormal are perfectly showed in the series. It is certain that detective stories will
continue flourishing in the future. Just like John Gary, a famous photographer said,
The fictional detective retains his grip on our imaginations, even in an age when we
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have lost faith in the power of reason to solve problems. That is exactly what
audiences and readers expect from the story.

Works Cited
Gary, John. A Point of View: The enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes. 17 08
2012. 20 05 2014 <http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19268563>.
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Hale, Mike. The Latest Sherlock Holmes Hears a 'Who'. 21 10 2010. 20 05
2014
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/arts/television/22sherlock.html?partner=rss&e
mc=rss&pagewanted=1>.
Stanley, Alessandra. The Logical Sherlock for Our Time. 17 01 2014. 20 05
2014 <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/arts/television/benedict-cumberbatchs-
sherlock-is-back-on-
pbs.html?action=click&module=Search&region=searchResults&mabReward=relbias
%3Aw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3F
action%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3
DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry478%23%2Fsherl
ock>.
Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State University Popular Press, 1987. Print.
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Sign of the Four. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2013.
Kindle eBook. Online.
Binyon, T.J. "Murder Will Out": The Detective in Fiction. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1989. Print.


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