Xuan Le

Writing 39B
Professor Haas
May 20, 14
Essay 2, Draft 1
Half Detective, Half Superhero
Before the Victorian Era, crime fictioninal and mysteriesy fictions were well published to
the people ofin England. Seeing this opportunity;, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle combined these
earlier genres to make the detective genre and introduced to the world Detective Sherlock
Holmes. Conan Doyle was able to capture peoples attention through many different short stories
about Sherlock Holmes adventures. These stories excellently reflected the society and criminal
problems in England at that time. As a result, Sherlock Holmess short stories were a great
success within a short amount of time. It also marked the movement beginning of the classical
phase of development for the detective genre. of the Detective Genre in England. Indeed, the
Detective Genre <not a title, so no caps was <use present tensemainly about the investigation of
crime, and often relates to murder cases, which are solved by a professional detective. This genre
usually has a sidekick who accompanies the detective and also his nemesis, the mastermind
villain and follows up with a protagonist. <<here it would be good to have a transition sentence
about how even though it is more than a century later, this genre is still highly popular with
audiences today (and that is because of the successful modern-day adaptations)However, as
time passes by, new genres are being born to entertain people. As of today in the twentieth
century, the Superhero genre has become one of the most popular genres and is being featured in
many films and being showed in every movie theater. Even though, the Detective genre has
faded with time,<<actually it has notevery decade since CD, there has been a wildly popular
adaptation of Holmesif you look at the beginning of the Delameter excerpt (in Materials)
youll find a good quote about this the come back of the Sherlock Holmes TV Show and the
Sherlock Holmes movies, directed by Guy Ritchie, have brought back the fire in the audience,
the love for the Detective genre. Today, the modern Sherlock Holmes has been modified to fit
the time period, which implies that Sherlock Holmes no longer belongs in the single category
known as the Detective genre, but in the Superhero Genre as well. <<it would be good to
backtrack a bit and mention some history facts about the superhero genre (easy to find if you
google)---it was born in the 20
th
century in comic books and the early comic book writers (ie, the
ones who created Batman for sure) often borrowed from Sherlock Holmes when they were
creating the genre (because Holmes was still popular then too) Then make the point that now in
the 21
st
century, we mash up both of these genres together into blockbuster films and TVThere
are countless reviews, comments about these two modern Sherlock Holmes about them being an
incredible detective and a fearless hero. The well-known New York Times <you should mention
the writer of the review and quote from it about the popularity of the film published an article
about the Sherlock Holmes film, that the modern Sherlock was not only intellectual but heroic as
well. There are many different movie rating websites like Metacritic to show countless peoples
opinions about the movie or a show they see. <<This sentence isnt neededits off focus. Keep
your focus on your purpose: to write about how the modern-day adaptations of Holmes mash up
classic conventions from CD with conventions of the superhero genre
Guy Ritchie is able to catch peoples attention on the mixed detective-superhero genre at
the very first moment in the first Sherlock Holmes movie by showing the audience Sherlocks
thinking process on how to protect himself as well as attacking someone. This technique was
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used twice in the movie to create an effect of Sherlock intellectual ability. However, the second
scene shows Sherlocks action and thinking process better. In this scene, the audience sees
Sherlocks fight inside a boxing ring.Would be good to mention the passage in The Sign of the
Four where Holmes is recognized by the boxer (if you read the wikipedia article on Sherlock
Holmes there is a paragraph about all the places he is mentioned as a fighter in the stories)
then make the transition to say how the film updates this by making the fighting much more
pervasive throughout the story, and also by mixing Holmes deductive genius (his ability to see
the moves of the fight ahead of time) with the action of a fight scene when we then see it happen
in real time As a matter of fact, he is fighting with someone who is twice his size; thus,
unavoidable, he starts to lose after receiving many punches from this large man. At the moment
that Sherlock is about to give up, his opponent spits at him to show superiority. Of course, a man
like Sherlock would not leave after being made fun of.<<part of his arrogance (pride)another
classic SH convention At this moment, the movie begins to play in slow motion in order to show
Sherlocks thinking process. By using deduction logic, Sherlock plans out his moves where he
distracts his opponent with a handkerchief while in the mean time he attacks him as well. With
that in mind, Sherlock successfully attacks the large man with punches to the face, chest and
slaps in both ears. As a consequence, Sherlock successfully knocks out his opponent and leaves
the ring with the cheers of everybody. Truly, the audience can see a very active Sherlock, who
actually does use actions like a superhero and incredible mind as a detective to win over
something even though the only super power that he has is his excellent mind. According to the
New York Times movie review, But Holmes has never been much for physical violence, and
the chief innovation of this new, franchise-ready incarnationplayed by Robert Downey Jr., is
that he is, in addition to everything else, a brawling, head-butting, fist-in-the-gut, knee-in-the-
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groin action hero.<this is a good quoteit might be better at the beginning of your point as a
way to help you introduce it Thus, this impression proves the opinion that Binyon states On the
excerpt of Murder Will Out by Binyon, he greatly praises Sherlock as a hero: He is another
proud, alienated hero, superior to and isolated from the rest of humanity.(10) Hence, Sherlock
Holmes is not only an amazing detective but a fearless hero as well.
There are many different cinematic effects to influence the heroic acts of Sherlock
Holmes in this movie. First, the camera angle was mainly focused on the portraits of the
characters to show their facial impressions. It is important because Conan Doyles Sherlock does
not have much interest or excitement in fist fighting; but the modern Robert Downey Sherlock
does. Adding to that the low-key lighting of the scene makes the fight more intense and serious.
It was dark but the audience can still see the characters faces, which makes it more dramatic as
well. Moreover, the camera proximity in that scene mainly a medium close up and medium shot,
gives the audience a closer look at Sherlocks humorous and intensive face. Nevertheless, sound
also plays an important role in this scene. There are a lot of sound effects like the slapping,
beating, screaming, and the crashing of the opponent with the wall. These diegetic and external
sounds help the audience have a feeling of how painful or how hard something could be. The
direct background music for this scene seems to be relaxing. Overall, these cinematic effects
have a great impact in the movie, it shapes the way the audience sees and thinks about the movie.
It helps create a heroic detective Sherlock Holmes.<<what you need to do with these cinematic
elements is explain how they create an action sequenceor follow the conventions of a fight
scene in an action film (because this is the mash up that is happening here). It might not hurt to
google a string like this: conventions "fight scene" film action and then read a few texts about
conventions of a fight scene and use that knowledge as part of your analysis
The BBC Sherlock Holmes Show also introduces a very competitive Sherlock Holmes in
the Superhero Detective genre. The New York Times as has classified this Sherlock Holmes,
played by Benedict Cumberbatch, the modernized incarnation of Arthur Conan Doyles
consulting detective.<<this isnt really an idea worth quotingall it says is that Cumberbatch is
a modern version of Holmesquote something that shows insight or some detail that adds to
your point Truly, there have been countless times that the BBC Sherlock proves to be the real
hero of England. The most unforgettable and most painful scene when Sherlock sacrifices
himself to save his loved ones lives occurs in the second season, episode 3 The Reichenbach
Fall. In this scene, Sherlock meets Moriarty, the number one super villain in England, on the
roof of a hospital. After solving many different riddles from Moriarty and being blamed as a fake
detective, Sherlock bravely threatens Moriarty to appeal to Moriartys true identity to the world.
In return, Moriarty does not show any fear, but he also reveals that there is no code in the game
that theyre playing. Moriarty also claims that Sherlock has to die to complete his plan or his
loved ones will die for him. With his intellectual mind like Sherlock, he quickly understands
Moriartys intentions of assassinating Mrs. Hudson and Watson, his best friends. At last, to save
his loved ones, Sherlock decides <stay in present tense when recounting plot events d to commit
suicide. He first called Watson and lied to him claiming that he is just a fake detective and
Watson played along. The purpose for Sherlock to say so is to lessen the pain and increase the
hatred in Watson after Sherlock commits suicide. Thus, saying those painful lies truly show the
heroic identity of Sherlock, a hero that does not need any credit for himself, but willing to die for
other people. Then, Sherlock lets his body fall from the rooftop of the building all the way down
to the street, which causes him to die instantly. Thus, the assassins plan is canceled and
Sherlock successfully saves Mrs. Hudsons and Watsons lives. In the article Sherlock Holmes:
a very British superhero in The Higher Education Times claims, Sherlock Holmes is the
closest thing we have to an authentic home-grown superhero, says Toby Finlay, one of the
writers behind two of the BBCs most striking offerings of 2013, Peaky Blinders and Ripper
Street. The Americans have Superman, Batman, the canon of comic book folklore. Our
legendary British heroes are Sherlock Holmes and, maybe, King Arthur.<<this is a very nice
quoteit would be best used in the intro or the conclusion There is also a comparison between
American superheros power and Sherlock Holmess power, the idea of Holmes as the
quintessential British superhero is not so far-fetched. He has a faithful Robin in Dr. Watson, a
steadfastly loyal Alfred in Mrs. Hudson and, instead of the gadgets and money of Bruce Wayne,
he uses his towering intellect and powers of deduction to solve the crimes he investigates (The
Higher Education Times, 1). Hence, the BBC intellectual hero, Sherlock Holmes has left tracks
in peoples hearts about his heroic acts.<<all of this is good, but its not quite on the point of
what you should be doing here (analyzing the scene)---consider moving this whole section into
your intro or use it for the conclusion
Nevertheless the cinematic effects in this show also contribute to the success of the BBC
Sherlock Holmes. In this tearful scene, the lighting is very special. It is a low-key lightning to
emphasize the sunlight. <<if its low-key lighting, its not like sunlight at all--- sunlight is high-
key Clearly, the sun is faded as if it is going to rain, but the audience can still see light on the
main characters face. This effect is there to create a serious tone in the scene as well as
foreshadow something dangerous. At the moment that Watson looks up to Sherlock at the
rooftop, there was a low angle camera to create a powerful, superior and threating scene.<<is it
not to make us see the scene through Watsons perspective (his limited perspective?>> Later on,
when Sherlock jumps, the angle changes to an extremely low angle that represent the weak
moment. Right after that, the camera once again changes to a high angle at Watsons face to
show his vulnerable self, sad and broken heart. The melody of the background is very soft to
create a dramatic sad moment. The direct internal voice from Sherlock makes the situation more
heart breaking. The camera proximity takes a medium long shot in this scene, which shows the
characters knees and up for the intention to give more space and allow more people to interact
within the frame. After all, these cinematic effects play an important role in this scene that shows
this dramatic, heart breaking and heroic situation.<<Im a little unsure about what this point is---
is it that as a superhero Holmes is willing to die for the people he protects? Thats a pretty
standard superhero conventionit would help if you had a source to help you state that this is a
convention of the superhero genre (at the beginning of the point) and then go on to introduce this
scene as an illustration of that convention. Google superhero film conventions or look up
superhero at TVTropes.org or wikipediathat will help
To sum up, The BBC Sherlock Holmes and the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes
have done a great job of showing a completely modern side of Doyles Sherlock. They both
prove to be more active and heroic in their actions. From the beginning to the end, these two
Sherlock Holmes prove to be brave, fearless and very heroic. Even though, they do not have
superpowers like any superhero that people see in movies, they use their brains and hearts to
accomplish their tasks to solve problems and to save people as well. Hence, Sherlock Holmes is
not only an incredible detective; Sherlock Holmes is a hero to everybody.

Nice draft, Xuanyou have some good analysis in your two scenes, but what you are lacking is
a focus around a central purpose. You have stated your purpose is that the film and show mash-
up conventions from the superhero genre with the classic CD detective genrebut then in your
analysis, you dont tie back each element to how it is representing the superhero conventions. So
first I think you need to be a little more familiar with how superhero films use film elements to
get across fight scenes and death-of-hero scenes---and then when you revise, weave that into all
the analysis and keep on that focus throughout




















Citation:

Binyon, T.J. "Murder Will Out": The Detective in Fiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1989. 9-12. Print.

"A Teasing Online Return for 'Sherlock'" ArtsBeat A Teasing Online Return for Sherlock
Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.

"Sherlock Holmes: A Very British Superhero." Times Higher Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May
2014.

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. 20 May 2014.