Glass and spatial metaphors, or, Why I love Sherlock (BBC)

The nicest thing about a blog of this nature is that I can discuss any subject in as much detail and verbosity as I wish, which is not a freedom I enjoy elsewhere, and for this reason I find myself compelled to come here and spill my heart. At the moment, there is only one thing, in the depths of my soul, that I truly wish to discuss, and that is Sherlock (of the BBC).

I was once a member of fandom, though it was for a different show. After something like two or three years there, I left, and while I've visited others since (most notably, the Buffy and Castle fandoms), I've never been able to stay due to the experiences I tend to have in these generally eclectic (though oddly homogeneous) communities. My experience in fandom will likely be the subject of a different post, so I'll not focus on that here, but I figure I'd give some context as to why the analysis I'm about to give isn't being posted on some fan site (though to be perfectly frank, I can't imagine anyone is or will ever be reading this, so I'm not entirely sure why I feel compelled to explain).

Anyway, Sherlock. I'll admit I didn't love the show at first blush. I only vaguely appreciated it. I watched it at some point between the airing of s1 and s2, and I only made it through the first two episodes before deciding it wasn't holding my attention. It was interesting, but Sherlock as a character annoyed me, I found the plotting to be odd, and I absolutely could not buy some of the deductions. More to the point, at the time all I was looking for was another incarnation of the Woman, and a show with two male leads, one of whom could make House and Perry Cox look meek, just wasn't what I wanted. But somewhat recently I gave it another go, and now I see its genius. Not only that, but I can now see the Woman in Sherlock Holmes (not Irene Addler; the other Woman, the conception of her that I posited in my first post) quite clearly, and I cannot help but view him with an empathy that before I couldn't feel.

I'll save a discussion on Sherlock characterization for a later post, because while a fresh perspective on it was one thing that helped me to get into the show, that was by no means the thing that caught my attention, sucked me in, and now continues to cause me to rerun it and think about it. My obsession was founded in the cinematography and how the actors move through space. There is an extreme and subtle genius in it, and I find myself constantly finding something new to appreciate.

I could talk for ten minutes about this still, and I probably will...

Part of me is tempted to couch this discussion in some great comparative framework. It would be relatively simple for me to make my points on Sherlock by grabbing stills from other shows and saying something to the tune of "And this is why Sherlock does it better." But I've decided not to do that. I've also decided that I'm not going to generalize my discussion to the whole series. Since this is my blog, I'm going to go through each episode one-by-one, and I'm going to talk about the cameras and the acting and whatever else I feel like talking about. I simply have too much to say to be constrained to the big picture. But before doing that, I wanted to give a broader summary of my thoughts as they are now, just so I can provide an idea of what points I'm going to be making. This is probably the only part of my discussion that is going to be spoiler-free, so if anyone is reading, what lies below is safe if you haven't yet watched Sherlock (though if this is the case, two questions: why are you here, and why haven't you?).

First thought - The way the show is shot turns Sherlock into a character who is simultaneously empathetic and completely enigmatic. While he seems accessible, the viewer constantly will find herself at arm's length from him, never truly meeting him at his level. The viewer is effectively put into John's shoes without her ever actually directly occupying them. I will end up spending a lot of time on this point, so I'm not going to expound much on that here, but the main thing I want to suggest is that this is as a result of cinematic decisions mainly. I will not deny the importance of the performance and the writing, because certainly BC's acting is a large part of what sells it, but I will argue that its his relationship with the camera, rather than with the words, that makes his role so interesting. I will end up making a similar case when talking about John Watson, and his relationship with Sherlock, as well as other characters.

this still says more than simply how sexy that coat is

Second thought - The show makes excellent (and constant) use of negative space. Anyone who's watched the show will probably think immediately of how text is projected on blank space on walls and in the air, and while negative space is often employed for this purpose, that is by no means its only use. Negative space is often used to spatially literalize the distance between characters, and its use as a metaphoric device truly deserves some attention and recognition.

negative space here, used for several purposes

Third thought - Extending off that point, Sherlock utilizes metaphors in its camerawork in more ways than just its use of negative space. One of the more obvious is scenes shot through glass, like windows and doors, as well as the use of mirrors and other reflective surfaces. While this cinematic device is nothing new to film, I would nonetheless like to talk about how clever its employment often is, and why it deserves to be discussed. There are other metaphors I saw expressed through scene composition, but I will save specific examples for later posts.

ultimately, this is more than just artful composition

I have other thoughts, many of which have to do with how clever I find the cinematography to be in more of a general sense, but I will not spend the time to list them all here, given that they center around one scene or one episode.

And so that is the game plan. I look forward to talking about this, perhaps in greater detail than anyone cares about, because I cannot bear to not talk about Sherlock for any longer. Distance from fandom does indeed have its disadvantages... But, at any rate, onward, to "A Study in Pink."