Amavizca 1 Rebecca Amavizca Lynda Haas Writing 37 13 20 FebruaryMarch 2014 Modern-day Lestrade The detective story is such a pervasive

phenomenon of the contemporary worldnot only in books but in many other media (Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction). Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories adds that this particular fiction has definite laws unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding. These laws, or conventions, tend to be a lead detective, his sidekick, a crime scene, a criminal, and a police inspector. During the classical stage of the mystery genre, Sir Arthur Conan Doyles prominent Sherlock Holmes stories helped establish these fundamental conventions. Specifically, his well-known character, Lestrade, is Conan Doyles main police detective who has influenced other modern-day texts. These include author Agatha Christies 20th century police detective versions such as Miss MarpleDetective Inspector Slack and Inspector Jappbb. According to an online article by theatre scholar Alison Sundstrom, n online article states that the Golden Era of Detective Fiction in the 60s embraced the development and popularity of police detectives including Christies characters which have in turn starred in their own television series or film adaptations ("From Sherlock to SVU: The History of Detective Fiction" ). The influence of Conan Doyles influence of his police detective Lestrade has stretched all the way upas far as to 21st century modern-day television shows as well. Most dDistinctively is in BBCs Sherlock originally aired in Englandwhich began airing in 2010 and is still ongoing present day. BBCs Sherlock is based on many of Conan Doyles
Comment [RA2]: Revised details to reflect better expertise. Comment [RA1]: Made sure to add this important and relevant piece of information.

Amavizca 2 Holmes stories but offers a twist: struggling it represents with the most modern of our ripped from the headlines fears and [imposing]imposes the order that we hope and demand of technology and logic (Sherlock vs. Sherlock: A Study in Holmes). In Season Two Episode Two The Hounds of Baskerville, Sherlock and Watson join Henry Knight in Dartmoor to attempt to solve the murder of Henrys father in connection to the Baskerville laboratory and the mysterious and supernatural hHound from hell.Hell. In the midst of their troubleAfter deducing that the hound is not a real monster but a word standing for an acronym, Holmes and Watson bump into Detective Inspector Lestrade who claims that hes at the same innvisiting Dartmoor because hes on vacation. In this modern-day adaptation, Lestrade from Scotland Yard is played by actor Rupert Graves and is tall and of medium weight compared to stories physically small Lestrade. However, BBCs Sherlock, remains as a modern-day revision of Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories, updating the genre conventions for its 21st century audience; in particular, the police detective convention is an update of Conan Doyles character Lestrade, with specific revisions such an not being as incompetent and less regarded as one of Sherlocks friends. These police detective revisions are significant to 21st century viewers because it appeals more to the modern-day multicultural audience. Through the use of film editingcharacter dialogue, SherlockBBCs audience can note thatexperiences this modern-day Lestrade as a more capable detective than the character in Conan Doyles stories. is not as inept as the character in Conan Doyles stories. In this particular scene, the director Paul McGuigan chooses shot/reverse shot, which is two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation in order to focus on Holmes and Lestrade as they argue (Film Analysis). Over the shoulder framing is utilized in this shot/reverse shot as the camera switches from Holmes to Lestrade by shooting in the space
Comment [RA5]: My thesis is solid, however, it was lacking insight to the deeper meaning of Sherlock as a revisionist text. Thus, I added a following part to my thesis in order to express an insightful connection. Comment [RA6]: I revised my topic sentence to be clear and indicate to my reader that my analysis of the Sherlock scene is cinematic analysis so I added film terms. Comment [RA7]: Deleted my negative claim and reversed it into a positive claim to sound better and clearer. Comment [RA8]: Made sure to add credible facts. Comment [RA4]: Deleting unspecific phrases and replacing them with short summary and detail to be more specific. Comment [RA3]: Went through sentence by sentence in order to improve and elevate sentence structure and grammatical correctness.

Amavizca 3 between the characters shoulder and head. This also adds to the editing, by showing the positioning of each character so that they are shown directly conversing one with the other. The filmmaker also uses continuity editing, or a system of cutting to maintain contin uous and clear narrative action circling from one face to another between Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade (Film Analysis). This form of editing is used for the purpose of maintaining the audiences attention on character dialogue. TheA surprise visit from Lestrade makesends Holmes complaining in exasperation;, however, as Watson points out, that Lestrade could be just the man [they] want. Watson invites the nice scary inspector from Scotland Yard to join them on the case because he knows that Lestrade might come in very handy. Although scripted,T the script helps the audience understands that Watson views Lestrade as beneficial to solving the case because he possespossesses an intimidating personality to efficiently interrogate the suspicious innkeepers positive quality that they could use in order to get closer to solving the case. In contrast, Holmes tells Watson in Conan Doyles The Hound of Baskervilles to invite Lestrade to join in the case stating that he is the best of the professionals, I think, and we may need his assistance (243). So whereas both the stories and the television show eventually portray Lestrade as a useful inspector, in this particular scene, at the current time in BBC Sherlock, Holmes is still resentful and has a prejudice towards the inspector. would prefer to work without him. In the same scene, the camera framing reveals the relationship between Holmes and Lestrade. perspective Point of view framing allows the audience to identify with characters (Film Analysis). Specifically, single character point of view focuses on only what the character is seeing. The scene is a frame continuously showing a frame of Holmes gazing, followed by what Holmes is gazing upon, which is Lestrade; and then back at Holmes and his reaction. When back at Holmes, the point of view switches to Lestrade, inviting the audience to view from
Comment [RA10]: Revision focus on adding clarity to sentence structure. Comment [RA9]: I had to revise a huge part of my body paragraphs because they were both lacking analysis. In my revision, I spent a good amount of time researching and learning film terms to effectively take apart the scene and provide cinematic analysis.

Amavizca 4 both point of views and not one in particular which gives Lestrades POV equality with Holmess. This framing technique allows the audience to be able to witness each character as they see and feel the situation. In addition, the director also uses close-up and shallow focus

framing. While close-up allows the audience to attend to nothing but the faces of the three characters, shallow focus sharpens the foreground while blurring out the background, forcing the audience to focus on their facial expressions. In this scene, Holmes gets into an argument with Lestrade because he is upset that Lestrade would interfere with Holmess case. When the argument breaks out between the two, the background immediately blurs out and the camera adjusts its center on their faces. is focused on the quarrel between Holmes and Lestrade. By the close up of his face, the audience can clearly see Holmess opposition in his annoyed facial expressions. Holmes After shouts shouting why the hell are you here thatat Lestrade was sent to spy on [him] incognito,, something that he would not say in the novels.the camera closes in on Holmes face, which reveals his irritation through the slant of his eyebrows and flaring eyes. Then the camera quickly cuts back to Lestrade to capture his offended reaction at realizing that Holmes does not know his first name. Three cameras film this scene while editing from one angle to the next in an axis of action to flip from the faces of the two major elements (Holmes and Lestrade) to a third (Watson) all showing dramatic expressions. With this effect, the audience can understand the layout of the scene in order to show that Holmes, Lestrade and Watson are in a public area while the director manipulates the frame to only focus on the characters themselves (Film Analysis). The camera placement and editing create a tense atmosphere that leads viewers to interpret that at Maybe at thise time in the television showseries, they Holmes and the police inspector were are not friends, and they struggle to work together. However, , but in the following episode in Sherlock, Lestrade isn formally invited to

Amavizca 5 Holmess apartment for Christmas. In other words, Holmes, otherwise counted learns to see the police inspector as more as a friend than justrather than a quarrelsome partner. an occasional partners that dont get along. FurthermoreThis attitude is reflective of the relationship between the two characters, in Conan Doyles The Adventure of Norwood Builder and The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, in which Watson begins referringrefers to Lestrade as our old friend Lestrade (Redecorating Middle-earth in Early Lovecraft - On Holmes, Lestrade, Conan Doyle, and the BBC's Sherlock). In short, thereThere are differences between Conan Doyles and Sherlocks character Lestrade but ultimately not many because the show is modeled after the Conan Doyle original. intended to allow the luxury of developing characters and storylines while remaining true not only to the spirit and plots of the original texts, but also to their thematic interests (Sherlock vs. Sherlock: A Study in Holmes). Thus the audience is allowed to view Conan Doyles stories come to life by using all his conventional characters and their characteristics. While the audience for Conan Doyle would be upper class, wealthy, and white people who would have read novels and stories in Victorian England, today, a TV show like Sherlock appeals to a multicultural audience. This is because, for instance, the 21st century revision of racial diversity in characters such as Lestrades subordinate, Sergeant Sally Donovan, who is both African American and a woman. As an ethnic and gender minority, playing the role of a police officer is modern considering that Victorian officers in Conan Doyles era were undoubtedly men and white (The Real PIs of Victorian London). The use of diverse characters in the show is thus awith his characters modeled after the original but set in modern-day revision to appeal more to modern-day viewers who do not put limits on what role a person might play. The classical stage of genre development is when genre is at its peak of popularity, the conventions of the genre receive their
Comment [RA11]: Revision focused on actually analyzing in the body of my essay. Before, I had absolutely no analysis and my essay was really short. In my second draft, however, I utilized film terms to analyze the scene and reveal one of my points in my thesis.

Comment [RA12]: In my revision strategy, I double checked for correct MLA formatting and fixed errors such as here.

Amavizca 6 fullest expression, and the audience knows what to expect while the revisionist stage is when genre films consciously question and/or reverse the established conventions of the classical stage of the genre. This applies to the TV shows updates on character changes. It reveals that genre is not a static thing but that it can change to match the audience it addresses. Hence, 21st century revisionist text Sherlock remains popular because it allows the luxury of developing characters and storylines while remaining true not only to the spirit and plots of the original texts, but also to their thematic interests (Sherlock vs. Sherlock: A Study in Holmes).London making this television series very appealing to modern-day viewers. Works Cited Delamater, Jerome and Ruth Prigozy, eds. Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction. New York: Praeger, 1997. "Film Analysis." Film Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://classes.yale.edu/filmanalysis/>. "From Sherlock to SVU: The History of Detective Fiction." Breaking Character. Alison Sundstrom, N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.breakingcharacter.com/post/2012/11/19/From-Sherlock-to-SVU-The-History-of-Detective-Fiction.aspx>. "On Holmes, Lestrade, Conan Doyle, and the BBC's Sherlock." Redecorating Middle-earth in Early Lovecraft. Amy H. Sturgis, 20 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2014. <http://eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com/444552.html>. "The Real PIs of Victorian London." Victorian Detectives. Rachael Griffin, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://victoriandetectives.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/the-real-pis-of-victorianlondon/>.
Comment [RA14]: Added suggested revision to be a more credible writer. Comment [RA13]: Lastly, my revision strategy also focused on improving and strengthening my conclusion. I did this my specifically adding that the show is an update of the original stories because it included multiethnic characters and diversity that would not have been appealing to a strict role structure of the Victorian era. I gave an example character and stated why the show is so popular. I also provided definitions of the genre stages.

Amavizca 7 "Redecorating Middle-earth in Early Lovecraft - On Holmes, Lestrade, Conan Doyle, and the BBC's Sherlock." Redecorating Middle-earth in Early Lovecraft - On Holmes, Lestrade, Conan Doyle, and the BBC's Sherlock. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014. <http://eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com/444552.html>. "Sherlock vs. Sherlock: A Study in Holmes." Word and Film. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.wordandfilm.com/2011/03/sherlock-vs-sherlock-a-study-in-holmes/>. ""Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories"(1928)." Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories (1928) by S.S. Van Dine. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/vandine.htm>.