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1. Teaching Young Sherlock Holmes ysh

2. Teaching Young Sherlock Holmes • Holmes and Detective Fiction 2. Young Sherlock Holmes -Production History 3. Category and Genre - generic hybrid; tone 4. Narrative - two narratives, plot and story, narrative structure 5. Language - mise en scene, cinematography, editing, sound

3. 1. Holmes and Detective Fiction

4. Holmes and Detective Fiction 17th C. growth of journalism - broadsheets would be rushed out after major crime or execution although writing about crime been going on a long time, genre really took off in 19th century

5. Holmes and Detective Fiction Detective fiction given boost by real life detective: Eugene Francois Vidocq Former criminal, became police informer, finally policeman Founded the Sûreté - first professional police force in France Gerard Depardieu as Vidocq

6. Holmes and Detective Fiction Innovator - card-index records; introduced police to ballistics Master of disguise (as is Holmes) and surveillance Set up first private detective agency Published his (unreliable) memoirs which influenced subsequent crime fiction

7. Holmes and Detective Fiction Edgar Allen Poe (1809-49), Poet and novelist Drew on Vidocq’s memoirs and created “tales of ratiocination “and brilliant detective Auguste Dupin (eg “Murders in the Rue Morgue”) Highly intelligent gentleman crime-solver, tackling crime police unable to solve Conan Doyle great admirer (even if Holmes not!)

8. Holmes and Detective Fiction Born Edinburgh 1859, studied medicine in Edinburgh University where he started writing Holmes thought to be partly based on Professor Joseph Bell, known for his ability to observe patients and deduce facts about with amazing accuracy First significant work, novel “A Study in Scarlet”

9. Holmes and Detective Fiction Wrote four novels and fifty-six Holmes short stories. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr John H. Watson. Grew tremendously in popularity when started to appear in Strand Magazine in 1891; further series of short stories and two serialised novels appeared until 1927. Stories cover a period from around 1878 up to 1907, with final case in 1914.

10. Holmes and Detective Fiction What Holmes shares with general corpus of detective fiction. Detective story defined as “a novel or short story in which a crime, usually a murder – the identity of perpetrator unknown – solved by a detective through a logical assembling and interpretation of palpable evidence, known as clues.” * Good detective story generally follows six “unwritten rules” : * Hugh Holman “A Handbook to Literature”

11. Holmes and Detective Fiction • The Good Detective Story • 1 Crime must be significant, worthy of the attention it receives • 2. Detective must be in some way a memorable character • must be very intelligent, clever and observant. Should • also stand out because of some individual style, eg • eccentricity of dress or speech. • 3. Must be an outstanding opponent, a criminal clever • enough to be a match for the hero.

12. Holmes and Detective Fiction The Good Detective Story cont 4. Because large part of the attraction of genre is opportunity for the reader to try to figure out the solution along with the detective, all suspects must be introduced early. 5. All clues detective discovers must be made available to reader as well as detective. 6. Solution must seem obvious, logical, possible – not result of accident or supernatural causes; and detective must be able to explain all aspects in reasonable way.

13. Holmes and Detective Fiction Useful to get pupils to apply these rules to Holmes stories Does it work for “The Speckled Band”? Does it work for other Holmes stories? Does it work for Young Sherlock Holmes? Effective exercise

14. Holmes and Detective Fiction Repertoire of elements? Term usually associated with film genres but can be applied to genre prose fiction Perhaps can even say there is a Sherlock Holmes genre

15. Holmes and Detective Fiction Popular image of Holmes combination of Conan Doyle and number of illustrators, esp Sydney Paget in Strand Magazine. Stage adaptation anchored Holmes image in popular imagination where has remained

16. Holmes and Detective Fiction

17. Holmes and Detective Fiction • The ‘corpus’ of genre consists of works of Arthur Conan Doyle, ie “the canon” (Conan?) • But might also be said to consist of works emanating from canon to include • stage plays - particularly important in establishment of Holmes image in public imagination • adaptations (film and TV) • pastiche works • graphic novels

18. Genre • Holmes Genre: Repertoire of Elements • Holmes props: • Deerstalker, Inverness cloak, Meerschaum pipe, magnifying class, scientific • instruments, • “Catch-phrases”: • “The game is afoot”;”Elementary, my dear Watson” (exact words not used in Conan Doyle)’“You look but you do not see”

19. Genre • Holmes Genre: Repertoire of elements • Holmes’s use of disguise (eg “A Scandal in Bohemia”) • No interest in women (apart from Irene Adler) • Holmes’s powers of observation and deduction • eg in “The Speckled Band” - able to work out details of Helen Stoner’s journey that morning from a ticket and mud-splashes on her clothes

20. Genre • Holmes Genre: Repertoire of elements • Recurring characters: • Professor Moriarty - arch-nemesis • Inspector Lestrade (wants Holmes help but tries to take credit) • Baker Street Irregulars - street urchins who do odd jobs for Holmes (eg “A Study in Scarlet”) • Brother Mycroft

21. Holmes and Detective Fiction Examples of adaptations Basil Rathbone films of 1940s ITV series with Jeremy Brett (1970s) Tended to be reasonably faithful to original models though Rathbone films often switched settings to 1940 (eg wartime exploits against nazis)

22. Holmes and Detective Fiction Not just in English-speaking world: Russian television produced adapations from 1979 - 1986 with Vasily Ivanov

23. Holmes and Detective Fiction Many films used Sherlock Holmes myth for new works - either straight or pastiche or parody The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (d. Herbert Ross) based on novel by Nicholas Meyer. Pastiche of Sherlock Holmes adventure, focusing on Holmes’s drug addiction Nicol Williamson as Sherlock Holmes, Robert Duvall as Watson, and Alan Arkin as Dr. Sigmund Freud. Laurence Olivier played the brief role of Professor Moriarty. “"It is cocaine," he said, "a seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?” Holmes to Watson in “The Sign of Four”

24. Holmes and Detective Fiction Celebrated German director Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1968) with Robert Stephens which speculated about Holmes’s ambiguous sexuality

25. Holmes and Detective Fiction Latest example in post-production (WB) Sherlock Holmes directed by Guy Ritchie . Holmes played by Robert Downie Junior Watson played by Jude Law Based on Lionel Wigram’s graphic novel (not published yet)

26. Holmes and Detective Fiction Young Sherlock Holmes and Holmes Genre will be considered in Section 3 .

27. 2.Young Sherlock Holmes Production History

28. 2.Young Sherlock Holmes Production History Released USA 1985 Rleeased UK (as Young Sherlock Holmes and the Secret of the Pyramid) March 1986

29. Young Sherlock Holmes Directed by Barry Levinson (1942 - ) Films include: Diner (1982) The Natural (1984) Good Morning,Vietnam (1987) Rain Man (1988) (Oscar for Best Director) Bugsy (1991) Wag the Dog (1997) Toys (1992),

30. Young Sherlock Holmes Original script by Chris Columbus (1958 - ) Films include: Home Alone (1990) (director) Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) (producer-director) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)(producer-director) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) (producer)

31. Young Sherlock Holmes • Production Companies • Paramount Pictures • Amblin Entertainment • Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)

32. Young Sherlock Holmes Paramount Pictures One of traditional “Big Five” Hollywood Studios Subsequently involved in distribution and finance Rather than production

33. Young Sherlock Holmes Amblin Entertainment Founded in 1981 by Steven Spielberg and associates Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. Produces but does not distribute films

34. Young Sherlock Holmes Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) Visual effects company that was founded in May 1975 by George Lucas and owned by Lucasfilm.

35. Young Sherlock Holmes CGI in YSH impressive given the date of the film. Supplied by George Lucas’s Industral Light and Magic company which developed the effects for films such as Star Wars. YSH was the first film to use a CGI that actually interacted with the characters on screen.

36. Language

37. Young Sherlock Holmes

38. Young Sherlock Holmes • Executive Producer suggests overseeing rather • than hands-on role • Spielberg had just finished Indiana Jones and the • Temple of Doom (1984) (prequel to Raiders of the • Lost Ark (1981) ) • Notable influence on Young Sherlock Holmes • see section on genre • Modest box office (not much more than • costs - c. $18 million) • But posthumous life on video/DVD

39. Young Sherlock Holmes Certification USA: PG-13 UK: PG Could producers have toned down more frightening scenes (eg Elizabeth about o be mummified)? Same problem with Indiana Jones films

40. 3. Genre and Other Categorisations

41. Genre Genre most important aspect of film categorisation Based on similarities in the narrative and other elements from which films constructed.

42. Genre • Films usually categorized in terms of genre according to their • setting: eg western • theme or topic or mood eg horror • audience eg teenpic, chickflick • protagonist’s occupation eg gangster

43. Genre Iconography - repeated visual (and sound) motifs associated with a genre eg western - desert, rugged landscape, frontier town, horses, stagecoaches eg gothic horror - gloomy gothic castle, garlic, inn with locals crossing themselves at the name of the vampire

44. Genre Iconography - repeated visual (and sound) motifs associated with a genre eg sci-fi - gleaming meallic surfaces, advanced technology, aliens eg gangster - backstreet urban setting, bars and clubs (speakeasys), weapons, sharp clothes (for top brass)

45. Genre Genres never “pure”, even in early cinema Eg “singing cowboy” films combined western + musical “generic hybrids” But became more common post 1970s eg Blade Runner : scifi + film noir eg Star Wars: scifi + action-adventure eg Prizzi’s Honor : gangster + screwball comedy

46. Genre • Young Sherlock Holmes a hybrid of different genres. • detective genre • action-adventure genre Action-adventure itself a hybrid of action and adventure

47. Action film Usually include spectacle, high energy, physical stunts and chases, rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-stop motion Often two-dimensional heroes (“goodies”) battling villains (“baddies’) - all designed for pure audience escapism.

48. Action Examples: Die-Hard films Lethal Weapon

49. Action Often combine with other generic elements such as police-procedural, espionage, war The disaster film (eg Towering Inferno) might be classified as an action film eg James Bond 'fantasy' spy/espionage series, martial arts films, and so-called blaxploitation films.

50. Action “ Clip “Bond, James Bond”/”Holmes, Sherlock Holmes