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Saho King
Dr. Lynda Haas
Writing 39B
8 June 2014
Building Suspense in a Multimodal Medium
The mystery genre came into prominence during the late Victorian Era with the
increasing popularity of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle
revolutionized the genre by combining the inspiration he drew from Poe and other writers before
him with aspects of adventure, intelligence, and emotion. Literary scholars often credit Doyle for
establishing the popular conventions of the genre, including a unique combination of action and
sentiment to form suspense. In the original stories, the structure of the plot kept the readers
engaged in the investigation, striving to solve the mysteries themselves. In his scholarly book,
The Reader and the Detective Story, George Dove claims that the detective story is different
because in the reading of a detective story, the compulsion to see how the story turns out is
much stronger that in other fiction (18). In other words, the suspense within every detective
story increases the degree and intensity of the desire to know the ending and resolution. By
writing the story from Watsons point of view and withholding the thoughts of Holmes from the
readers, Doyle conceals the truth of the mystery and adds an element of surprise. In the stories,
the readers only know as much as Watson and so they become aware of their lack of knowledge
about the development and outcome of the mystery and fall into a state of mental uncertainty and
anxious excitement. Since the mystery is no ordinary problem but a complex secret that appears
impossible of solution, (Dove 10) there is a combination of anticipation and uncertainty dealing
with the unpredictable future as the story unfolds. In the 21
st
century, Sherlock Holmes continues
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to have immense popularity and has been adapted numerous times in various mediums. Even
though the Sherlock Holmes films, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. and
Jude Law, are set in the same time period as the classic stories written by Doyle, they have been
greatly adapted to attract and please the modern audience. In the modern day film adaptations of
Sherlock Holmes, suspense is enhanced through the multimodal medium and can take advantage
of sound and visual elements, such as lighting and camera movement, proximity, and angle.
While the classic Holmes stories written by Doyle are formulaic and predictable, there is
no shortage of suspense and tension. The media adaptations take the same or similar plotlines,
but through Guy Ritchies use of a variety of cinematic elements, such as lighting, sound, and
cinematography, various suspenseful situations have been enhanced. The film Sherlock Holmes
starts with an action-packed scene to engage the audience and pull them into a fictional world set
in late Victorian England. The scene opens as Sherlock Holmes and his companion John Watson
rush to a mysterious building to prevent Lord Blackwood and his associates from committing
another murder ritual of a young woman. With their quick thinking and impressive fighting
abilities, they are able to stop the murder and capture the cultist serial killer just in time for
Inspector Lestrade and the police force to arrive and arrest him. In addition to acting as the
expository scene and illustrating some of the common conventions of the detective genre
modernized for the contemporary audience, this scene successfully builds suspense and provides
the foundation for the mystery that becomes the focus for the rest of the film. There are many
cinematic elements implemented in this scene that are key to building the mix of excitement and
tension. The low-key lighting used throughout the scene amplifies the suspense, as this type of
lighting uses very little light and creates strong contrasts between the brightest and darkest part
of the image and obscures parts of the characters with dark shadows. The darkness also sets an
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ominous mood and provides the audience with an unsettled feeling. Furthermore, the frequent
camera pans over the stage of the ritualistic murder create a bold contrast between the young
women wearing a bright white dress and the dark background. This emphasizes the mystery and
hints at the idea of good versus evil; Lord Blackwood, enveloped in the shadows of his cloak and
back lighting, portrays the evil force until Holmes pushes the hood out of his face. The short
glimpse that the audience gets of the antagonist is delivered through extreme close-up framing
which only reveals parts of his face, such as his nose and teeth. Withholding the identity of the
villain and only revealing bits and pieces of him builds the suspense, as the audiences curiosity
intensifies. Furthermore, a crane shot, where the camera moves freely in the air above the action,
creates a feeling of omniscience over the characters. During the fight sequences, a handheld
camera captures the full scale movement and emphasize the action. This type of camera
movement achieves a daunting sense of reality that induces an unbearable feeling of tension.
Throughout this scene, the background music plays a crucial role; Jeffrey Michael Bays writes
on his online article, Sound: Hitchcocks Third Dimension, that withholding sound from the
viewer to pique curiosity, exaggerating sound as a form of narrative emphasis, and creating
tension through both ambient noises and silence is key to generating suspense. When the action
reaches a climax, a strong gust of wind blows out the candles and makes the scene even darker,
perhaps suggesting that the conflict is not truly over. Even as Lord Blackwood is arrested, the
scene remains dark alerting the audience that the conflict has not been resolved and the serial
killer will return to cause further problems for Holmes and Watson.
Scenes that create suspense and mystery are necessary elements of an action movie and
there are many in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. This film follows Holmes and Dr.
Watson as they come head to head with the mastermind criminal, Professor Jim Moriarty.
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Providing the main characters with a strong opposition creates conflict and tension which does
not resolve until the enemy is beaten. Towards the end of the second installment in the Sherlock
Holmes film series featuring Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock, Watson, Mycroft, and Simza attend a
peace summit in Switzerland to prevent Moriarty from creating an international incident. In this
part, Holmes faces off against Moriarty while Watson and Simza try to find her brother who is
disguised as an ambassador and stop his assassination attempt. The viewers are faced with
excitement and anxiety as the uncertainty of the situation becomes apparent. The director uses
numerous cinematic elements to create the feeling of suspense in this movie. The scenes of
Holmes and Moriarty playing chess outside is darker and has considerably more shadows, which
is a major contrast to the scenes inside the building. In the scenes where Watson and Simza
trying to find her brother, camera proximity is greatly utilized. There is also a great amount of
quick shot-reverse-shot between the ambassadors and the two characters, which emphasize
urgency and the intensity of the situation. Also when the brother is about to commit the
assassination, the action slows down and there is a slow pan to build suspense and tension. And
the scene quickly speeds back up as Watson tackles the brother to the ground after he pulls out a
gun. Throughout this part of the film, the camera is kept fairly close to each of the characters
faces so the audience can pick up on the slightest changes in their facial expressions.
Furthermore, there is little to no background music so that the viewers can focus on the dialogue
and feel the suspense building up. When there is music, it is dramatic, creates a sense of urgency,
and reaches a climax when something major and surprising happens. It complements the action
well. Lastly, the voice over scene where Holmes and Moriarty are both imagining and predicting
the outcome of their imminent fight adds great mystery and tension because the audience get to
see their thought processes and realize that they are a match both intellectually and physically.
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For the first time, the viewers are forced to question whether or not Sherlock will win the fight
with Moriarty. According to a feature article on Film Slate Magazine website titled Building
Suspense: How to Keep the Audience on the Edge of Their Seat, dramatic suspense in a film
depends on the screenwriters ability to evoke emotion, create conflict, provide opposition,
increase tension, and use surprise among a few others; these basic foundations are clearly
implemented in the movie. According to the article, establishing a finite time for your
protagonist to reach his or her goal increases the suspense. The screenplay writers implemented
this element and it is obvious throughout the scene that time is of the essence for the characters
to prevent the international incident. This point is further illustrated when Holmes and Moriarty
are playing a timed game of chess and they reference the fact that they have a limited time to
make a move. Also, the sound of a clock ticking can be heard with close listening, which
amplifies a sense of urgency and creates immediacy. In addition, the screen writers use surprise
to create the final moment of suspense when Holmes and Moriarty fall off the balcony together
into the waterfall and Watson believes that the detective has died. For a second it seems like
Holmes has the upper-hand on Moriarty and has solved the mystery, but the rug is pulled out
from under the audience as Holmes falls over the railing with his archenemy. The death of a
main character is something that the audience does not expect and makes for a great surprise and
twist.
The two Sherlock Holmes films directed by Guy Ritchie follows many conventions of the
detective genre developed by Arthur Conan Doyle in the Late Victorian Era. While sometimes
they are followed very strictly and accurately, most conventions have been adapted to satisfy the
modern audience. For example, the core characteristics of Holmes and Watson, such as the
detectives genius and social awkwardness and the doctors loyalty have not been altered in any
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of the adaptations. As Lynette Porter states in the introduction of Sherlock Holmes for the 21st
Century, the impact of the Victorian era on recent adaptations reflects modern interest in the
original stories as well as the demand to make old stories relevant to 21
st
century audiences
(10). Suspense is one of the conventions of the detective genre which was used in the classic
Doyle stories, but one that has been further developed in the modern interpretations. In
multimodal adaptations, like the BBC Sherlock and Guy Ritchies Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock
Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the feeling of suspense is intensified through multiple cinematic
elements. The audience is able to experience tension, anxiety, and excitement both visually and
audibly.

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Works Cited
Dove, George N. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1997. Print.
"Film Industry and Filmmaker Resource for Film News, Reviews, Film Festivals, Interviews and
the Art of Filmmaking." Building Suspense: How to Keep the Audience on the Edge of
Their Seat. Web. 18 May 2014.
<http://www.filmslatemagazine.com/filmmaking/building-suspense-how-to-keep-the-
audience-on-the-edge-of-their-seat>.
Porter, Lynette. "Introduction: In Search of the Real Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes for the
21st Century. ed. Lynette Porter. Jefferson, NC: Macfarland & Company, 2012, 1-12.
Print.
Bays, Jeffrey M. "Hitchcock's Sound Style (film Directing, Criticism, Film Sound)." Film
Techniques of Alfred Hitchcock. Borgus Productions, June 2011. Web. 21 May 2014.
<http://borgus.com/hitch/sound.htm>.