In the opening minute of Sherlock, the aspects of Film Language have been incorporated effectively. Mise en scene, Cinematography, Sound, and Editing were all used.
The actors in the opening scene were introduced in a way in which suspense is built in the audience.The first character introduced is a little boy whose costume is a tracksuit bottom and a jumper; this suggests that the boy may not be very wealthy and looks poor. He is also holding a bag whilst he’s running, which creates an enigma code as the audience begin to question what’s in the bag, why is he running, and whether he stole the bag. Also, the colour of the bag is black which connotes evil and portrays that something bad might be in the bag. When the second character is introduced, we barely get to see who they are and what they look like, however we see that their skin is pale in colour and that they are falling down some hill. Another enigma code is introduced as we don’t know who the person is, what they look like, and what happened to them which caused them to fall down. The next character introduced in the opening sequence is off an old lady who is holding a dog; the costume he is wearing is a hat, a jacket, a shirt, a jumper, trousers, and a ring. The type of clothes he is wearing suggests to the audience that he is a farmer and due to him wearing a wedding ring, it connotes that he is a good guy. Then at the end of the opening sequence the last character is introduced who is the young boy grown up; we know this as the camera zoomed into his face as a young boy and zoomed out of the young mans face. The costume he’s wearing is a dark grey jacket and a chequered scarf; this shows that he is wealthy and has a made a change from his childhood where he looked poor. Lighting is used effectively, as natural light from the sun is used. This allows the audience to see where the characters are and relate to what they’re going through. When the shots of the other character falling down the hill are shown the lights are used to create a dazzled effect. This allows the audience to see how the character feels as the shots are dark and the lighting changes and spins like the person when he is falling down the hill. Also, at the beginning there is little lighting as the trees are covering the sunlight, and when the little boy is running away it gets lighter. This suggests that he is getting away from danger.
There was little make up used in the opening scene as the producers wanted the actors to look as real as possible. This was effective as the audience felt like the event really happened.
The props used in the opening sequence are good in creating suspense in the audience. The black bag which the young boy is running with creates an enigma code as we don’t know what’s in the black bag. The audience then wants to view on as they want to know what it is thats in the bag.
There was a wide range of Cinematography used in the opening sequence. A Long shot of a tree was first shown which then panned across to see a young boy running. A steadicam was used throughout the scene of the young boy running. This was very effective as it showed the pace at which the young boy was running and where he is. It also created tension in the audience as the camera was shaking due to the steadicam shot which allowed the character to implement how he feels and how he is frantically running, on the audience. Close ups of the characters faces are used to show their facial expressions. The close ups allow the audience identify what the characters are going through as the young boy was worried, the old lady looked curious, and the young man at the end looked anxious. There was also a point of view shot of the dog going closer to the young boys face. At the end of the opening sequence there was a crane shot as the camera had zoomed out and lifted up.
There was a lot of editing in the opening sequence. There was continuity editing as all the shots were in order. There were fast straight cuts between each shot to show the young boy running and the action. There was also a wipe when the young boy is screaming and then there was a shot of the young man. This was effective as the audience were then able to see that the young boy has become the young man and is all grown up.
Sound in Sherlock is very crucial in the opening sequence. Diegetic sound was used as we could hear the young boy gasping for air. The sound was loud and his breaths were fast; this portrayed how much he was running and how fast he was running. There was also the diegetic sound of the crows caw, and crows connote death; there was also the sound of the man screaming whilst falling down the hill. At the end of the sequence there was a non-diegetic sound of a dramatic soundtrack.
Audience:
Sherlock is a British TV crime drama based on the Sherlock Holmes detective stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sherlock’s target audience is ranged from 16 to 35 years old as it is about a detective who investigates crime scenes based in a modern London whereas the original narrative is based in a 1900’s London. The TV programme has violence and crime.
People that watch Sherlock have to wait a long time until the next series as there are only 3 episodes in each series. This allows the audience to become engaged and build suspense as they would want to know that happens next.
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