Textual analysis of Sherlock

This is my textual analysis of the hit TV show, Sherlock. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. This programme is based upon the great stories of Arthur Canon Doyle, but have a modern twist to bring it in to the current world. I will be analysing the opening scene to 'the hounds of Baskerville' Which is series two, episode two.

Firstly we get an establishing shot of the surrounding area. This helps inform of us of what could take place and where the original issue began. We are firstly introduced to a bright woodland area. We originally feel quite comforted and calm with the beautiful scenery but then the scene suddenly changes to red to represent calmness turning to chaos.

the establishing shot:

The edited shot:

Here they have used a close up to represent the desperation of this unknown character, we can see his hands trying valiantly to grab on to something to try and save himself and it's quite traumatic for the audience to watch an intense struggle. This also would make an audience want to carry on watching as we don't know what's happening or why! Also they have edited this shot by putting a red hue over the image, creating connotations of danger, blood and fire. They have also blurred out his hands and focused on the crumpled leaves, possibly to show his life fading away. The leaves could represent the young boy who we saw at the beginning and the grabbing hands could represent the character desperate to hold on to his life and his child, but the fade shows he is failing and it is slipping out of his grasp.

They use a lot of cutaway shots and fast editing to build incredible amounts of tension and panic in the audience. We see the young boy running from the situation ( the camera tracks him) and we see lots of different angles of the man being attacked. They are edited so quickly that it makes it difficult for the audience to get a grasp of what is actually going on in this scene, creating a lot of anticipation.

There are a lot of sound effects used on this clip. We hear a savage dog which could be quite intimidating for an audience. We gradually hear the pace of the soundtrack speeding up which increases the anticipation and curiousity to know what is going to happen. To conclude the opening scene we hear a child's scream which is quite dramatic and intense.