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Lena SzeYin Wong

Professor Haas
Writing 39B
May 21 2014
Sherlock Holmes amazing skills
What exactly is the detective genre? A scholar George Dove analyzes the detective genre
in a book-length study The Reader and the Detective Story. Dove explains the way this genre
engages with readers and audience. The detective fictions should be transitory, fundamentally
an intellectual undertaking, recreational, and disciplined (2). A detective genre does not contain
educational or emotional elements. It does not require serious attitude from audience. Readers
can enjoy the structured plot in a detective genre. (2). It is important to understand that genres
are not fixed in time. Instead, genres undergo different stages to be fully established. Detective
genre has many conventions in which later generations revise and change to fit the culture and
audience of the respective time period. As the professor Lee Horsley, in Lancaster University,
writes for over a hundred years now, Doyles stories have both influenced the development of
crime fiction and created an inevitable point of reference. The evolution of a genre depends on a
combination of continuity and change, and Holmes is unquestionably the first key figure from
whom other writers differentiated their protagonists. (Lee). Even though Conan Doyle
employed ideas from a fusion of other authors and writers, Doyle set a foundation for detective
genre in which the genre reached the peak of its popularity during the late Victorian era. Some of
the conditions during the time period are the incompetent police force, the appreciation of a hero,
the rising of literacy within the middle class, and the invention of short story. (Panek 10).
Holmes was a successful character because the stories were a reflection of the time period. In
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addition, in The Sign of Four, Holmes states the three qualities of an ideal detective are power
of observation and that of deduction knowledge (Doyle 213). Throughout Doyles stories,
Holmess observation and deduction skills are illustrated and still present in the modern-day
texts. As Dove claims, the pleasure a reader gets from the detective novel is of watching a
magic trick (3). Holmes performs his magic tricks with his observation and deduction skills,
which become one of the key conventions of Holmes. These particular conventions are depicted
in the film Sherlock Holmes, released in 2009, directed by Guy Ritchie and the BBC television
series Sherlock directed by Stephen Moffett. Both films followed the conventions from Doyle to
remix a new story. In these revisions and modern adoptions of Conan Doyles text, the classic
convention of Sherlocks close observation and deduction is followed, yet twisted by visually
presenting Sherlocks thoughts and shifting the role of narrator in order to fit the television and
film medium.
As a psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova states, [t]he scientific method begins
with the most mundane seeming of things: observation. Its not for nothing that Holmes calls
the foundations of his inquiry elementary. For, that is precisely what they are, the very basis of
how something works and what makes it what it is (14). Sherlocks scientific method of
thinking and solving cases is one of the important conventions of a detective. One of the scenes
that demonstrate how Sherlocks close observation is followed and updated to appeal to current
day audience is shown in Guy Ritchies film, Sherlock Holmes. It is the scene when Sherlock and
Watson are in the laboratory of Reordan. Soon after the discovery of the destroyed tomb of
Blackwood, Reordan is found dead in the coffin. Sherlock and Watson, with series of clues, find
Reordans house. With Sherlocks observation, he and Watson concludes that Reordan is trying
to combine science and magic. In this scene, with a different medium, several cinematic
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elements, especially editing, camera scale, and camera movements, are used to illustrate close
observation. In the beginning when Sherlock and Watson enter the laboratory, the director uses a
long shot to establish the setting and environment of the room. Then, there is a point of view shot
from Sherlock. This medium shot pans over different objects on the table to show audience what
Sherlock is seeing. Sherlocks staff serves as a guiding tool for audience as well. The camera
pans a following shot on the objects that Sherlock is pointing at with his staff. The convention of
Sherlocks observation is twisted by shifting the role of narrator from Watson, in Doyles text, to
the camera, the third person point of view. Audience is able to see what Sherlock is thinking;
rather than reading Doyles text where readers can only see from Watsons eyes. In order to
show close observation, point of view shots are established, thus, audience can follow Sherlocks
chain of thought. In addition, the background sound is low until Sherlock visually imagines
Reordans actions in the room. Before his flashbacks occur, the camera puts close-up shots on
each item on tables to show its importance. Then, as soon as Sherlock starts to imagine
Reordans presence, the sound bridge that transition between the laboratory and the flashback
turns loud to capture audiences attention. The loud music creates suspense within the story.
During the flashback, Reordan makes internal diegetic sound in Sherlocks mind. In addition,
lighting is high during most of the scene. However, the lighting is dimmed during Sherlocks
flashback. It is dimmed to create mystery and suspense. Editing plays a big role in this scene.
The frequent transitions between the laboratory and flashbacks help audience to visualize
Sherlocks mind and observation. Audience is no longer limited by Watsons narration in Conan
Doyles stories. In fact, a reviewer Katey Rich claims this scene allow[s] him [to] visual[ly]
flashbacks to all the clues that led him to his conclusions and avoiding the dreadful slowness that
comes with most mystery-solving monologues. Miraculously the audience is right there with
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Holmes even during his most out-there epiphanies. The convention of Sherlocks observation is
followed from Doyles text because this is the magic trick that ties the stories together. It is
followed, yet twisted by visually showing audience his process of observation. In the Doyles
text, readers only get clues when Sherlock explicitly tells Watson. However, in the modern
version, we can get clues from Sherlocks point of view. Sherlocks observation is not only
shown through cinematic elements, but also his actions. When he is in the room, he performs
close observation by sniffing several times, even though audience is not able to join this aspect
of the game, which demonstrates one of the limitations of a visualized medium. Although the
convention of close observation is twisted to fit into a new medium, it still in use for modernized
version.
Besides Sherlocks observation, his deduction skills are shown throughout Conan
Doyles stories, as well as each episode of the British television series Sherlock. The convention
of Sherlocks deduction is both followed and twisted in the same way as Sherlocks observation
is to appeal to a current day medium. In the episode A Study in Pink, where Sherlock starts
partnership with Watson, Sherlock deduces the ladys marriage status with close observation.
Detective Lestrade asks Sherlock to deduce the death of the fourth serial suicidal person who
leaves a note. In the crime scene, or the ladys death scene, Sherlocks deduction skills are
shown with different cinematic elements. When Sherlock and Watson first enter the crime scene,
the camera starts with a close up shot on the ladys pink nails. The camera is set close to the
victim and establishes a long shot from a low angle to set the environment of the room. As soon
as Sherlock walks in, he starts observing the victim and the surroundings. When Sherlock
examines the parts of the body of the lady, the camera shows a close-up shot on each part. Then,
the camera freezes to indicate Sherlocks process of thinking and deducing. These close-up shots
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show the significance of each body parts as well. The background music is low throughout the
scene. Yet, whenever Sherlock starts deducing, there is a light bulb sound that tells audience
that Sherlock is processing the information. The main focus of this scene is on Sherlock. The
convention of Sherlocks deduction is twisted in the scene by shifting the role of narrator.
Throughout the whole scene, Watson is puzzled and shows discomfort of a death woman. If this
scene was narrated from Watsons perspective, it would not have achieved the same effect
because he is intellectually behind Sherlock. He doesnt have the power to deduce the same
information. This convention is twisted in order to engage audience in a different way than
Doyle does. The director engages audience by telling them Sherlocks thoughts. On the other
hand, in this scene, the convention of Sherlocks deduction is still follow. During the process of
Sherlocks deduction, the camera shows visual words next to the items that Sherlock is looking
at. These words are Sherlocks deduction. For example, when Sherlock is looking at the note R-
A-C-H-E, the background sound becomes a typewriter that types out Sherlocks thoughts.
Sherlock tells the audience the clues and hints even before he explains it to any characters.
Audience, as a participant of the game, has the advantage of knowing the clues before anyone
else through the modern day media. The camera is in a position behind the words, which are
flipped to face Sherlock, indicates that audience are viewing and looking at Sherlocks process of
deduction. After series of deductions and observations, Sherlock deduces that the lady is
unhappily married for more than ten years, she is a serial adulterer, and she removes her ring
regularly. Sherlocks deduction models after Doyles text because these are the key features of a
detective genre. These features are important to solve cases and to tie the stories together. The
convention of Sherlocks deduction is both followed and twisted to fit into modern day context.
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In conclusion, the detective genre is popularized after Conan Doyles creation of
Sherlock Holmes. Doyle has created different characteristics of Sherlock that become
conventions of a detective. In the book Sherlock Holmes for the 21
st
Century, Lynnette Porter
states, whether an adaptation for a non-print medium, an attempt to re-create Conan Doyles
prose style Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the most popular he has even been, especially to an
international audience (5). Sherlocks observation and deduction skills are modeled after
Doyles creation. Yet, with a different medium, directors twisted the conventions by shifting the
role of narrator to the camera and visually presenting Sherlocks thought.
















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Works Cited
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Sign of the Four. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2013. Kindle
eBook. Online.
Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1997. Print.
Konnikova, Maria. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. New York: Viking, 2013.
Print.
Lee, Horsley. "Classic Detective Fiction." Crime Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1987. Print.
Porter, Lynette. "Introduction: In Search of the Real Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes for the
21st Century. ed. Lynette Porter. Jefferson, NC: Macfarland & Company, 2012, 5 Print
Rich, Katey. "Sherlock Holmes Review." CinemaBlend.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2014.