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Nadine Tawfik
Lynda Haas
Writing 39B
August 18, 2014
The Superhero Holmes
During the Victorian era, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has writtencreated Sherlock Holmes, as
a consulting detective. The conventions Doyle created around Holmes are still followed, as thisis
worldwide known genius has been standing out from any other type of novelsis still as popular
now as he was in Doyles time. As the years go by, technology develops and people start
becoming less fascinated. More specifically, people have been exposed to the idea of Sherlock
Holmes for many centuries now. As a result, modern-day writers who haveto recreate Holmes,
some modern have made changes have been made to his storiesto appeal to current audiences.
For the 21
st
century, Sherlock Holmes has becomeis most often presented in cinematic
productions. To modernize the genius detective, directors have transformed the Doyle novels
into series and films. The mostOne important way the Holmes character has become modern is
through a mash-up. The mash-up is the combination between Sherlock Holmes written by of
Doyles conventions with the modern day superhero cinemaconventions from another very
popular genre todaythe superhero. Thus, the recreation of a superhero Sherlock Holmes
creates the modern version of the stories. <probably dont need this sentence
A superhero is someone with extraordinary powers which make them<<superhero is
singular, stay consistenteither change to superheroES or make it all singular>> unique
(AMCaMc filmsite). Those powers make them have advantage compared to normal people.
Thus, they are distinctive people. Super powers can come in different ways. In Sherlock Holmes
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the movie, <<which one? There have probably been at least 50 Sherlock Holmes movies made.
You have to introduce your text thoroughly and provide some details of rhetorical situation (who
directed it, when it came out, etc) Sherlocks super power is his intelligence.<<how is this
different from Doyle? Away from stereotypical heroes, Holmes depends on his brain and
attention to details. He depends on his memory and meticulous memory palace. In the movie, he
is created in a unique way to reveal the hidden hero.<whats hidden about it? In his article The
Brawling Supersleuth of 221B Baker Street Socks It to Em, A.O. Scott writes He [Sherlock
Holmes] was a proto-superhero, amenable to all kinds of elaboration and variation, and even a
measure of mockery, as long as the basics of the brand were respected.<<It sounds like this
quote is about the original Holmes, not the Downey version. Make sure your quotes are relevant
to the point you are making. Thus, Sherlock Holmes plays a heroic role in the movie. Since
Sherlock Holmes is a consulting detective, it makes the movie a detective movie as well. A bit
too obvious to be considered insightful in any way The reason why is because of all the
suspense, the clues, the crimes, investigations and the audiences thrill while they play the game
stress-free. The detective films focus on the unsolved crime (aMc filmsite). With the
combination of a thriller detective movie and a superhero detective, the movie Sherlock Holmes
is a Mash-up of both superhero and detective genre film. No analysis of a particular scene
from the film where the mash up of both a superhero convention and a detective convention are
illustrated; since there is no analysis, the conclusions you make are all very vague and general
On the other side, the mash-up is present in Sherlock the series. This mash-up is
mentioned in the scholar article Sherlock Holmes For The 21
st
Century: Essays On New
Adaptations.<this is the name of the book and it contains many essays. You need to be more
exact about which essay and writer you are going to use as a source here The author writes about
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a scene in the first episode of season one where the position of the two characters reveals their
meaning. Kayley Thomas says, John glances up while searching for a cab. He see Sherlocks
silhouette on the roof in a strikingly superhero-like pose, coat billowing around him like a cap.
() acknowledging and challenging the notion of a heroic Holmes (Thomas 70). Here, the
author underlines the cinematic settings which uncover the heroic side of Holmes. Through
cinematic trick, the director gives a combination of a hero in a detective. Thus, they create the
mash-up.
I see that here you are going to begin your analysis of the sceneI was confused above
when you had such a long summary of the events in the scene that I didnt think analysis was
coming. I suggest you summarize the scene in 1 or 2 sentences at most and then go right into the
analysis Firstly, in the movie Sherlock Holmes, the cinematic tricks strike out. For example, The
Mash-up scene is revealed distinctively when Sherlock Holmes and Watson are trying to save
Miss Irene Adler. In storage full of butchered pigs, Miss Irene Adler has been tied up on a rail,
getting closer to the chopping knife, close to getting cut in half. During this scene, the viewers
know that she will be saved. Watching with no stress<not quite trueits a scene that is
purposely creating anxietywill she be saved in time?, the viewers learn from the master, the
hero, Sherlock. They observe his use of his powers. He becomes the superhero when analyzing
the machines mechanism. With his mechanical and critical thinking, he analyses the different
parts of the machine, trying to stop the moving rail by blocking a part of the machine with bones.
After that fails, he looks at the water pipes. He knows specifically when and how to make that
work in their favor. Sherlock raises the water pressure; Watson and he jump on the rail to make
the metal weaker. In the end, the metal breaks and they all escape the sharp knife saw.
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The scene starts with the sound of the saw moving with an extreme close up on the
machine. The element is in the left, foreground of the frame. The reason why is to give the sense
of right direction to the audience, knowing that they are moving from the right of the screen to
the left. Thus, the negative space is at the right side of the screen, the audiences eyes are waiting
for the heros group and himself to come and fill in the negative space. The viewer's attention
is called to an event or presence in the diegesis that is not visible in the frame,<where is this
quote from? citation creating a sense of thrill.
The following scene is when the pigs are cut in half. With a long shot of the pigs going
through the saw one by one, the camera does not move, but the rail does. It shows time is
running out. It is a stable shot that can accommodate movement without reframing.
The following shot is Sherlock Holmes face. There are two elements in this shot. First,
the light is low-key lighting. There is no harsh or direct light to show Sherlocks face in detail. It
creates a shadow and obscure parts of the principal subjects. As a result, it creates tension.
Second thing is the framing.<this is a fragment The cameras point of view is at low-level.
Looking up at Sherlock, the audience feels like they are looking up at their hero in desperation to
save them. It gives a feel of the victims emotions and puts the audience in Irene Adlers shoes.
When Miss Adler is terrified of the moving blade, she looks straight at her density. Then
the camera takes a shot at what Irene Adler is exactly seeing. That is known as the Point-of-
view Shot where the camera sees with the characters eyes, showing what the character would
see. This is repeated when Sherlock notices part of the machine underground with an opening.
The audience gets a point-of view shot to understand Sherlocks plan. That is when the audience
relaxes with anticipation. This camera shot gets repeated throughout Sherlocks thought process.
The audience is lead to see what the hero is thinking of doing. Therefore, the audience believes
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more in the hero while learning from him. All this analysis is nice, but how is it connected to
your main point? (how the film mashes up conventions of superhero and detective genres
together?) The analysis has to be analysis that has something to do with that idea.
In the end, there is a shot of Irene looking straight at the camera with her face separated
by the line of the saw. It gives an excitement and suspense feeling to the audience. This close-up
of the victims face is fill[ing] the frame showing her face expression and emotions. It shows
how it feels like to be barely saved by Sherlock Holmes. Right after that shot, comes the life
saving shot where Holmes is holding to Irenes shirt to prevent her from slipping into the saw
and becoming two halves. That extreme close-up of Sherlocks hand holding Adlers shirt shows
the importance of that little detail. This analysis does a good job of explaining how the scene
creates suspense (the thrill of seeing how Holmes will solve it) and explaining how Irene must
feel---but I dont see how its a mash up of a superhero convention (what convention is
illustrated here?) and detective (you need to make more clear and focus on his solving of the
problem in the scene---its actually a convention often used in the detective genrea puzzle with
a time-clock on it---something that has to be solved in a certain amount of time (or else someone
dies). So that is the detective convention---what is superhero?
Furthermore, in the series Sherlock, introduce Sherlock and give details of rhetorical
analysis. Both of these texts should have been introduced in the first paragraphs too the audience
experiences many scenes where the mash-up is highlighted. For example, in season one,
episode three The Great Game, Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as a hero trying to save the
victims who are on the phone. The scene where he looks straight at the painting trying to figure
the proof that the painting is a fake represents the mash-up clearly. Holmes determined to
investigate the painting at the last seconds while he tries to save the young boy on the phone
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provides the evidence that Sherlock is portrayed as a detective hero. This is another illustration
of the detective convention of a puzzle that must be solved within a particular time
The scene starts out with a Shallow Focus<<does not need to be put in quotation marks
or capitalized on Sherlock Holmes with the painting behind him. The director <<what is his
name? easy enough to look up on IMDB.com makes the audience focus on the hero and
detective while being able to see what he is trying to solve. With that in mind, the audience
knows the sole purpose of solving this mystery is to save a life. Thus, this shot conveys the idea
of a hero detective wanting to investigate the painting.
The second shot comes with Frontality <no caps and quotation marks and a close-up
of Holmes face. The detective side of Holmes is revealed when he tries to expose the fraud
painting. The Frontality brings the main character to direct address with the audience, resulting
in the audiences eagerness to understand what is going in the detectives mind. The close-up
uncovers Holmes while at work. He focuses on every part of the painting to expose it while the
spectators observe every emotion on Holmes face. The combination of the two cinematic tricks
makes the audience feel closer to Holmes and looking up to him in a heroic sense, even though
he is doing a detective work.
Furthermore, the second shot is the painting itself. This shot is the point-of-view shot
where the audience is directed to what the main character is looking at. Hence, the spectators can
understand what is going through Holmes mind and what he is seeing with his eyes. This is
important to involve the audience with Holmes, creating the suspense present in any detective
and superhero film. In addition, this shot is an extreme close-up so that the viewers will feel
exactly what Holmes is seeing and going through. Furthermore, while going through the painting
with his eyes, the audiences go through it with the cameras. This is called Pan which creates a
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feeling of danger. As a result, the shot makes the spectators feel like detectives while being on
the edge of their seats. They experience a mash-up of anticipation and detective genres of
cinema.
Lastly, the last shot is the close-up of Holmes face when he figures out the answer to
his problem. This is when the viewers are relieved from their anticipation. It is important because
the spectators feel that Holmes has saved the boy at the last minute by being his meticulous self.
At that moment, the detective is a hero who saves the young boy.
In brief, in Sherlock Holmes the movie and Sherlock the series, the cinematic methods of
the different shots reveal the heroic side of Sherlock Holmes. It gives another dimension to the
character: heroic. The cinematic techniques prove the mash-up of the detective and the heroic
genres in Sherlock. Therefore, the new combination modernizes the old Holmes stories. That
twist of style makes the detective more approachable to the modern day audience. With the many
types of films and series, Sherlock Holmes has to stand out with unique techniques and
modernized side of the Doyle novels. The mash-up takes the best of Holmes and makes it better,
exciting, and less historic to the nowadays audience.
Hi Nadine
I think you have a pretty good analysis of how these two texts update (with visuals) a classic
Doyle convention: the puzzle that must be solved in a short amount of time (usually to save
someones life). I do not think you have enough (or even any) focus on the superhero genre.
Therefore, I think you should take out all the references to mash up and superheroes, and instead
re-frame your essay as one about the convention of the short-fuse puzzle. Both the scenes you
analyze create suspense and anxiety as we watch the detective quickly solve the puzzle. Focus on
that.
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Work Cited
"Detective-Mystery Films." Detective-Mystery Films. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.filmsite.org/mysteryfilms.html>.
"Film Analysis Guide -- Plain HTML Version." Film Analysis Guide -- Plain HTML
Version. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2014. <http://classes.yale.edu/film-
analysis/htmfiles/nojava_index.htm>.
Scott, A. O. "The Brawling Supersleuth of 221B Baker Street Socks It to Em."The New
York Times. The New York Times, 24 Dec. 2009. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/movies/25sherlock.html?_r=0>.
"Super-Hero Films." Super-Hero Films. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.filmsite.org/superheroesonfilm.html>.
Thomas, Kayley. "Sherlock Holmes For The 21st Century: Essays On New Adaptations."
(n.d.): n. pag. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
<http://writing.colostate.edu/files/classes/10452/File_0BF6FFA2-A099-FBDC-
9F2FC3CFCED6396C.pdf>.