Stickney 1

Yuri Stickney
Professor Linda Greene Haas
Writing 39B
May 21, 2014
Holmes In Action
Can you imagine Sherlock Holmes in a fistfight? The genius detective, brought to life
along with the detective genre by writer Arthur Conan Doyle in the Victorian era, was not
originally a brawler. He became popular in late Victorian England through his mental prowess
and unwavering resolve to solve crimes; Moreover, the stories were an excellent mirror of the
time period. Just as in the Victorian era, in modern depictions of the detective, Holmes mirrors
what the audience wants to see. One version of the 21
st
century Holmes is an action packed super
hero detective, set in the original Victorian era, played by Robert Downey Jr. in Guy Richies
movies Sherlock Holmes, released 2009, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, released in
2011. Film director Guy Richie is recognized for directing fast paced crime and action movies
with complex plots like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In his Sherlock
Holmes films, Richie does an excellent job of incorporating aspects of the action-adventure
genre into the classic detective genre conventions through the use of certain camera techniques
and by making Holmes into a beast, both intelligent and vicious. A bit of action was the secret
ingredient Richie used to spice up the juicy Sherlock Holmes formula.
There are multiple scenes in the movie Sherlock Holmes by Guy Richie that illustrate a
synthesis of both the detective and the action adventure genres. The action adventure genre is
actually just a synthesis of the action genre and the adventure genre. According to AMC Film
site edited by Tim Dirks, action movies have continuous high energy physical stunts and
Stickney 2
activity battles martial arts fights [and] spectacular rhythm and pacing
(http://www.filmsite.org/). Furthermore, action films have high potential of over-lap with many
other genres, including the adventure and detective genres. The film makes good use of action
conventions like martial arts or fighting, and physical stunts and activity as well as adventure
conventions like travels, conquests and explorations of the protagonist. However adventure is
already a major characteristic of the detective genre, since Sherlock and Watson have to travel
around on an adventure to gather information to solve their cases. Action is an aspect that did not
exist in the original Holmes that has made its appearance in Richies movie. A good example of
action in the film is the scene when Sherlock is in a boxing match with another man larger than
he is right after Sherlock has an unsuccessful first meeting with Ms. Morstan. In the old Sherlock
Holmes stories by Doyle, Sherlock was known to be an expert boxer as Watson mentions in A
Study in Scarlet, but there were never any stories in which Sherlock actually gets in a fistfight
with a foe. In this new era remake of Holmes, Robert Downey Jr. is an action packed superhero
genius with extraordinary physical as well as mental abilities. First, the scene starts with a quick
visual transition from Holmes eating a steak to being thrown around in a rink, and to smooth out
the sudden change, lively Irish music starts playing as Sherlock inserts the filet mignon into his
mouth. The whole scene is extremely fast paced showing the occasional close-up shot of either
the worked up sweaty Holmes, enthusiastically and violently yelling crowd, and his opponent, a
large and dumb looking brute. The scene highly utilizes whip pan to emphasize urgency or
action, and hand held camera from a slight upper angle to simulate point of view of the audience.
Most of the scene is seen from the point of view of the crowd watching the fight, and the
duration of each shot is very short, switching back and forth between different locations in the
audience to show various angles of the action. The camera techniques used here include the
Stickney 3
medium shot to show the struggle between Sherlock and his opponent from the waist up and
keep the audience focused on their bodies, a synthesis of the point of view shot and canted
framing where Sherlock is seen through the crowd by someone standing in the back, and
reframing to keep the camera centered on Holmes. The lighting in the scene is low-key and
emphasis is on the shadows and light gleaming off of the champions sweat, and since the fight is
in a basement in a homemade rink the shadows create the mood for the underground fighting
arena. When Holmes notices the handkerchief and looks around for its owner, Irene Adler, he is
knocked down and the high angle is used to show his vulnerability. After this Holmes goes into a
trance and the audience sees what Holmes is about to do as he maps it out in his head. Sherlock
uses his deductive skills to form a plan to cripple his foe by blocking every hit and countering it
with a critical strike, eventually discombobulating his enemy. This scene is shown through a
slow motion take of what Sherlock is about to do while he explains every move and states the
physical state of his opponent after he is through with his combo. Sherlocks use of deduction to
formulate a counter combo and know exactly the scale of damage he is about to deal is a classic
convention of the detective genre. This scene is a perfect instance of Holmes using his deductive
skills to destroy an enemy in a high action fistfight.
The movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows also includes countless conventions of
the action genre to complement and add energy to the detectives story. To establish that, like its
prequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a detective action film, in the first 6 minutes of
the film starts out with Holmes stalking his prey, the agent of a public bombing scheme, and
getting outnumbered and surrounded. The movie starts with Watson narrating as he types on a
typewriter and explains that Holmes has a radical theory of the bombings causing tensions
between France and Germany, quickly transitioning into next scene: a building exploding in
Stickney 4
Strasbourg Germany. Up to here is just background. The next scene is a long take of a package
being handed off to a woman, who is reveled to be Irene Adler who then walks casually with the
suspicious parcel. Holmes in disguise is a classic convention of the Sherlock Holmes in Doyles
stories. For example, in A Sign of Four, Holmes dresses up as an old geezer and presents himself
at 221B to Watson and Jones and fools them both. Holmes explains, You see, a good many of
the criminal classes begin to know me, especially since our friend here took to publishing
some of my cases: so I can only go on the war-path under some simple disguise like this (Doyle
Kindle Locations 1487-1488). Adler walks by Holmes disguised as a Chinese merchant by
wearing a wig, glasses, and whiskers. He gets up promptly and begins to tail her. As he gets up
he grabs a handful of rice and a handful of beans, which come to use later. He stalks her until she
enters a crowded marketplace where he sneaks up next to her stealing the package from her. She
invites him to dinner, and he pulls her off behind a carriage and exclaims that three men have
been pursuing her. She shows urgency and leads him hurriedly into a back alley where she
reveals that the not three but four men were in fact escorting her. The fact that Holmes got the
number off by one indicates the convention that sometimes Holmes is incorrect but not by very
much. The woman then takes the package and proceeds leaving Holmes behind surrounded and
outnumbered four to one. Up until this point, the camera techniques used work together to create
a focus on Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes walking through the crowded market place. Camera
movement is slow and some of the shots are long lasting up to 20 seconds; the background music
is ambient creating a calm dialogue. As soon as Holmes mentions the pursuers, the music
changes to an intense orchestral riff, creating suspense as Adler leads Holmes into the alley. The
music momentarily calms as Irene reveals the mens incentive. As she leaves the four men tear
off Holmess disguise and suddenly the leader of the pack grabs Holmes by the neck and slams
Stickney 5
him up against a wall. Holmes proceeds to get in an all out brawl with the men and at this point
the music is intense again and camera movement is fast, utilizing whip pan and short shots no
longer than a second. Camera level is at eye level to keep focus on the mens faces as they fight,
and camera proximity ranges from the medium long shot to the close up to show different
perspectives of the fight. From here on out, low key lighting is used on the men attacking
Holmes while Holmes himself is lit up a bit more to show the difference between good and evil.
Sherlock starts the fight by throwing the rice he grabbed earlier into the eyes of two of the men
stunning them, and skillfully counters the other twos moves. After struggling for a few seconds
three men manage hold Sherlock up against the wall. The leader tries to hit Holmes upon the
head with a crate, and Sherlock spits out the beans that he also took earlier into the mans eyes
stunning him momentarily, but not enough to stop him. The man breaks the crate on his head and
starts choking Holmes. Here the canted camera angle and hand held camera is used to show
chaos and instability. Holmes then manages to kick off the one holding his leg and the shot
changes to a medium long shot to show the full picture of the fight: Holmes being held against a
wall by three men being choked oriented on the right third of the screen and one man stumbling
on the ground trying to regain balance oriented on the left third of the screen. This shot shows
the true power of Holmes and that even with four men he is tough to keep down. Suddenly the
man on the ground notices policemen walking by and warns his friends. The men quickly back
off from Holmes and he slides down to a sitting position. They fool the policemen by throwing
Holmes change and winking at them. As the policemen walk away the men nervously look
around at one another. Here the close up shot is used to show their tense expressions and Holmes
relaxed face as he meditates with his eyes closed before them. Like in the boxing match, here a
take of what Holmes deduces each man will attempt is shown using extreme close up shots to
Stickney 6
emphasize their highly murderous intentions. Jarring and earsplitting noises go along with each
shot to create suspense. After these images flash through Holmess mind he opens his eyes, and
the men give the signal to jump him. One of the men throws an apple in the air and Holmes uses
a technique known to action films by TVTropes.org as Juggle-Fu. Juggle-Fu is when someone
throws an object in the air, performs some sort of action sequence while it is airborne, and then
catches the object on its way down (http://tvtropes.org/). Holmes counters the moves of every
man making them swing their lethal objects into each other and finally disarming the man with a
pistol at the end and then catches the apple. Dumbfounded and intimidated the leader of the pack
stands there alone as Holmes walks away hastily to catch up to Irene Adler. In Doyles stories,
there are no scenes that are devoted solely for Sherlock Holmes to beat the crap out of some
thugs in his way. This scene is a prime example of the mash up between the detective genre and
action conventions giving the movie high energy and good old five minute fight scenes where
the hero freely unleashes his power upon evil.
The addition of action to the Sherlock Holmes cannon successfully created excitement in
the detective genre. Action-adventure conventions work well in harmony with conventions of the
detective genre because the action-adventure genre is highly compatible with almost any genre.
Most movies out now that try to be exciting or fast paced dont work unless there is action;
therefore for the audience of now, action is almost a predicate for a movie to be popular among
all audiences. With this new tool called action, Sherlock Holmes, who successfully conquered
Victorian England, is ready to conquer the exhilaration craving 21
st
century audience.



Stickney 7
Works Cited:
Dirks, Tim. AMC Filmsite. "Action Films." American Movie Classics Company LLC. Web. May
17, 2014.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet. United Kingdom: Ward Lock & co: United Kingdom,
1887. [EBook #244].
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Sign of the Four. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2013. Kindle
eBook.
TVTropes. Action Adventure Tropes. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Web. May 21, 2014.