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Kristy Kim
Dr. Lynda Haas
Writing 39 B
21 May 2014
Twisted Detective Genre Conventions in the 21st Century
A detective story is very different than most genres because a detective story forces its
audience to engage with the characters to find a resolution. In his book-length study of the genre,
literary scholar George N. Dove describes the detective genre as transitory and purely
recreational and intellectual for its audience (2). The Conan Doyle texts rose to fame during the
late Victorian Era, when the audience became enamored with his eccentric, intelligent detective
who was more competent and successful than the police were. As the classical stage of the
detective genre, Conan Doyle's stories of Sherlock Holmes created the conventions that have
been reinterpreted in endless ways throughout many decades. Although the genius of Holmes
may have been tweaked and twisted in various ways, the classic genre convention of engaging
the audience to play along with the game of solving the mystery remains. In the Conan Doyle
texts, readers were provided with a limited knowledge of the plot because the point of view is
strictly limited to the narrator, John Watson. As a representative of the average person, Watson is
clever, but is not up to par with Holmes. His lack of deductive skill allows Conan Doyle to
preserve the element of surprise, and readers are able to "play the game" with Holmes in order to
solve the mystery. The 21st century interpretations of Holmes, specifically the BBC One series
Sherlock, twists the classic convention of limited knowledge of the narrator and presents
perspectives of various characters, allowing the audience more knowledge of the plot. The first
season of the series aired in 2010; it was written and directed by Steven Moffat and starred
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Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as John Watson. Even though
this reinterpretation of Conan Doyle's stories does not have a limited narrator, it still invites the
audience to "play a game" and engage with the story.
Unlike having the audience look through Watson's eyes, the camera becomes the
omniscient narrator and switches perspectives to highlight different aspects of the plot. In
episode 1, "A Study in Pink," as Holmes investigates four serial suicides, special effects, sound,
camera angles, and editing all work together to encourage viewers to see from Holmes'
perspective. In this episode, Holmes, Watson, and inspector Lestrade investigate the crime scene
of a woman in a pink coat, the last of the series to commit suicide. As Holmes investigates the
dead body, the camera hovers where his eyes are as the special effects of superimposed texts
appear, listing the deductions he is making. For example, when Holmes puts his fingers under the
woman's collar and discovers that it is wet, the text "wet" appears above his fingers. The
attention of the audience is drawn to the superimposed text as it is accented by the sound of a
rainstorm. The music during scene has a fast tempo, which gives the audience adrenaline and
excitement. Before the investigation, minor tones in the instrumental produce a mysterious effect.
As Holmes progresses with the investigation, the music plays major sounds, creating a happier
tone and emphasizes Holmes' feeling of accomplishment. The camera is often at a lower angle,
having the audience look up and making Holmes seem superior. A shot/reverse shot is generally
used for conversations, but this technique is applied in this scene between Holmes' face and the
clues from the body to reveal his interactions with his observations. The scene allows the
audience to feel confident that they are sharing knowledge with Holmes. All the cinematic
elements are carefully structured to broaden the perspectives for the audience, and this engages
them and creates the experience of working as a detective themselves.
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In Sherlock, the camera allows the viewers to explore various perspectives, but there are
times when limitations become necessary. Literary scholar George N. Dove discusses that the
role of the audience in the classic Conan Doyle texts is "both recreational and intellectual; the
[audience] voluntarily accepts the limits, in order to permit the game to be played" (4). In the
Conan Doyle texts, solving the mystery is a game and the audience is just a player who can only
use what is given to them. The same idea is applied to the television show, but the series now
places the audience as a player who is given the clues before the other characters have access to
those clues. Permitting the audience to have the clues beforehand is acceptable because the
television show must be able to relate to the current audience as the 21st century becomes more
technologically driven and people desire immediate results instead of waiting. In an essay about
the 21st century Sherlock Holmes, literary scholar, Rhonda Harris Taylor, says that "information
overload is actually an important part of the paradigm" (141). Although many clues are thrown
at the audience, they are still accustomed to their automated way of thinking and they must
depend on Sherlock to explain everything eventually; psychologist and journalist Maria
Konnikova emphasizes that the audience is lacking the "natural skepticism and inquisitiveness
toward the world," further proving their inabilities for deductions like Sherlock Holmes (17).
There are also scenarios when the knowledge of the audience becomes limited in Sherlock. In his
text, An Introduction to the Detective Story, literary scholar Leroy Panek notes that the original
Conan Doyle texts use "the narrator's ignorance to hide important facts and through him can
praise the detective and keep him civilly reticent at the same time" (80). However, the limitations
in the television show are necessary to fit the film medium and entertain its audience.
The element of surprise in Conan Doyle's texts often occur because of the restrictions of
Watson as a narrator; in some cases within Sherlock, the director chooses to make the audience
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experience this same limitation for the same purposeto create suspense or surprise. Once again,
the series uses the same cinematic elements of camera angles, editing, and sound, but now to
present the limited perspective of Watson to the audience. In episode 3 of season 2, "The
Reichenbach Fall," Holmes is forced to fight against his enemy, Jim Moriarty, who is determined
to destroy Holmes' reputation. Near the end of the episode, Moriarty has forced Holmes into
making a decision: to see his loved ones killed or to kill himself by jumping from a building. As
Holmes is standing on top of a four-story London building and Watson watches from the ground,
the camera shifts its point of view between Holmes and Watson. During their "last" phone call,
the camera often puts itself in a low angle behind Watson to make the audience feel as if they are
standing with him and watching Holmes from below. When Holmes finally jumps off, Watson
runs toward Holmes, but is knocked over by a bicycle rider. As Watson lies on the ground, the
camera switches to an oblique angle, emphasizing how confused and devastated he is. The
oblique angle puts the audience on the ground with Watson, forcing them to feel the
disorientation, as well. The dominant way the scene is edited is through Watson's perspective. A
handheld camera technique is used when focusing on Watson, inviting the audience to participate
in his conflicting emotion and panic as Holmes is standing on the building. Edits are made
abruptly throughout the entire scene to increase confusion and grief. The sound and music in this
scene creates tension and forces the audience to feel anguish. During the "final" phone
conversation, a slow, high-pitched violin instrumental is playing in the background, highlighting
Watson's puzzlement. As Holmes jumps off, the suspense builds up and the music becomes
louder with the sound of beating drums, resembling the sound of a nervous heartbeat. The music
briefly stops, then changes into a cello instrumental as Watson runs to Holmes' fallen body; the
minor keys provide a darker mood to the scene and the vibrato of the instrumental mirrors the
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sound of weeping. The intention of the scene is to compel the audience to believe that Holmes
truly threw himself off of the roof. However, it is revealed to the audience that Holmes is still
alive, but there is no explanation of how he had survived the fall. In his text, The Reader and the
Detective Story, literary scholar George N. Dove, says that the audience "proceeds with
confidence that the mystery will be solved" at the very end (18). This episode twists the
convention of letting the audience know the resolution at the end by instead giving them a
cliffhanger without a full explanation. Because this is the last episode of the season, the
cliffhanger creates anticipation for the next season. When revealing too early how Holmes had
survived, the audience will be unable to connect with Watson and share the same emotions that
he endures as he watches his best friend fall to his "death."
The 21st century interpretation of Sherlock Holmes takes the classic conventions that are
presented in the Conan Doyle stories and twists them in a fashionable way to appeal to a
modern-day audience. The detective genre was born centuries ago, but the conventions that
Conan Doyle implemented in his stories still remains today; Sherlock is different than Conan
Doyle's texts, but the essential formulaic structure of a detective story is maintained. A USA
Today critic, Robert Bianco, states that the popularity of Sherlock grew, and "the result is a sharp,
funny, clever series that remains faithful to the spirit of Doyle's stories while infusing them with
a vibrant spirit of modernity." The audience is continuously encouraged to engage into the game
of solving a mystery with the detective, but also allowing themselves to have certain facts hidden
for the surprise at the end. Although the adventures of Sherlock Holmes continue to be
reinterpreted in many ways, it is clear that the audience will remain to admire the detective genre
and "play the game" in delight.

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Works Cited
Bianco, Robert. "Modern-day Sherlock: Exemplary, My Dear Viewers." USA Today.com. USA
Today, 2010. Web. 1 June 2014.
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.
Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1987. Print.
Taylor, Rhonda Harris. "The 'Great Game' Of Information." Sherlock Holmes for the 21st
Century. ed. Lynette Porter. Jefferson, NC: Macfarland & Company, 2012. 128-142.
Print.

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