Working Title: Sherlock Holmes for the Modern World

by

Jonathan
Benjeet
Andrew
Kingsley
Vivian
Emily
Peipei
















First Draft
05/21/14














Working Title: Sherlock Holmes for the Modern World

(Possibly use pieces from Opening Scene from Sherlock BBC/Robert Downey Jr as an
introduction?)

(Narration- Scene - Narration- Scene, etc format)
Narrator: Why is Sherlock Holmes so popular in the modern world? We have a good grasp of
why this was popular in the victorian era, but what specifically about the contemporary iteration
captures the attention of a modern audience?

Cut to Flash transition Scene -
(London, Empty Hearse (16:44 - 17:01))

Narrator 1: Essentially, the character of Sherlock has not changed from the times of Doyle.
Sherlock is just as intelligent, and contains just as much deductive power as he did when Doyle
first created him. It is impossible to recreate Sherlock without also re-creating his magic trick --
it is the key piece of Sherlocks character, his defining feature, and without it, he would no
longer have an interesting persona

Cut to scene
Deductive power ( A study in Pink) - 00:18:50- 20:38 (BBC Sherlock)

Cut to scene
Deductive Power + Lacking social skills - Dinner scene with Mary and Watson - 13:50-14:50

Narrator 1: Here we see another essential characteristic of Sherlock that spawns from his
intelligence -- his lack of social grace and his eccentricity... that is, his deficiency in his
interaction with other characters. Lets flash back to the BBC version, and take note of how easy
it is to sympathize with the characters,

Cut to scene
Lacking social skills A Scandal in Belgravia - 00:42:30 (or 42:40ish) - 43:22

Narrator 1: Modern medium techniques have updated, but perhaps not majorly changed, many
of the classic conventions - as we have seen thus far in Sherlocks intelligence and eccentricity--
Sherlock is essentially the same character, but adapted to match the medium and technology.
However, in order to broaden Sherlocks scope, several major changes have been made to
some of the conventions to adapt him to a modern audience. One of the more notable changes
comes with respect to Irene Adler, a character featured in nearly every Sherlock recreation,

Cut to Scene - (Irene Adler, Because I took your pulse?, perhaps?... also, a scene from the
first movie, perhaps where the audience first meets Irene?)

Narrator 1: Elements of Sherlocks character, like his Intelligence, are so crucial to the genre
that they cannot be removed. However, other elements - such as the one with Irene, as we saw,
have changed the classical texts so the audience can connect more with the story. Modern
conventions often dictate a romance story, and many audiences have come to expect it, so,
what was predominately an unromantic character originally is now a romantic one for the sake
of a modern audience.

Narrator 2: Similarly, much of Watsons character has been left unchanged by the
modernization. One of his fundamental characteristics, his loyalty, remains as strong as ever --

Cut to Scene - First Sherlock movie, (44:19- 45:09)

Narrator 2: As Sherlock says in this scene, he relies on Watson-- and the converse is evident
in the BBC versionwe can clearly see that it is a symbiotic relationship

Cut to Scene-
Dependence ( Holmes and Watson need each other) - The Empty Hearse (00:50:38- 00:51:09
and 54:51- 55:16)

Narrator 2: Known as the split man theory, Sherlock and Watson, as seen together, are seen to
represent two distinct pieces of a greater whole. Sherlock, the Intellectual, and Watson, the
romantic - this convention, as we can see, has mostly gone unchanged.

Narrator 2: However, unlike the original texts, the audience is no longer shown the sole
perspective of Watson for the narration or development of the plot. Instead, in the BBC Version,
his narration is mostly limited to his blog. and the narration is almost entirely absent in the films.
This, of course, allows for the shift of medium from that of a written perspective to film.

Cut to Scene-
Narrator/Blog - A Scandal in Belgravia (5:16- 5:51)

Narrator 2: Also, from the Robert Downey Jr. Interpretation, Watson (Jude Law) has become
much more independent and free-thinking, while also being removed from the duties of
narration,

Cut to Scene-
(Great Game; Watson saves Holmes; 01:25:18- 01:26:05)
(Find a scene for this, perhaps a fight scene or the climax for the second movie?)

Narrator 2: Watson is not only an essential piece to Sherlock, but, in this rendition, a side-kick
to the superhero-like Sherlock of Robert Downey Jr. The fighting element of the modern
renditions is absent in the classic texts, and, in the case of the Robert Downey Jr. films, it is the
popularity of the superhero genre in this time period that gives rise to the adaptation of Sherlock
and Watson as that of a Superhero/Sidekick rendition of the split-man theory.

Narrator 1: For the most part, the conventions of Sherlock and Watson have been maintained.
They are also, however, products of their time. Along with the obvious updates in medium and
technology, there have been additional changes to the classical conventions in order to make
the characters more universally appealing to modern society. The goal is to make the genre as
appealing as possible for a modern audience, and, with this in mind, it becomes clear why so
many versions of Sherlock have been so successful.


Conclusion (Music, Credits?)