#sherlockedusa

[friskykatt]

Reeeaaallllly, Mr. Gatiss?

Out of nowhere today I remembered sitting casually with Mark and about 7 people at the US Sherlock con, post season 4. Of course, we were all trying to figure out “WHAT WAS THAT? WTF??” whilst also being polite. So I asked if there was an element of the “unreliable narrator” in season 4, and he professed to NOT KNOW WHAT THAT WAS. At the time I was like “oh, ok”, explained it, I and others brought up some of the many inconsistencies of S04, and Mark started brushing them aside (“oh the lights on the flat’s staircase change because blah blah blah”) and the convo flowed along. But just today I was thinking.....in WHAT. POSSIBLE. UNIVERSE. does Mark Gatiss not know what an unreliable narrator is?? This is like, English 101 stuff. Unless Britain for some obscure reason uses a different term, this man was 100% straight-faced bullshitting us. And we fell for it!!

[fffinnagain]

Rachel Talalay and the Case of the Missing Transitions

Some times experiments don't work out. Sometime big projects include mistakes and it takes a lot of compromises to satisfy the real goal. So was the case with The Six Thatchers.

To a room of ~100 people, Rachel Talalay explained something of the complicated backstory to the first episode of Series 4 and shared with us a little of the amazing footage that had to be left on the cutting room floor.

In Mark Gatiss's initial script, the story was going to be told with a complicated chronology. The story was supposed to start somewhere in the middle, with flashbacks inserted into scenes. This show has played with chronology before, but this plan was more ambitions and experimental than previous episodes. In the spirit of Sherlock's cinematographic ingenuity, Talalay decided to demarcate these flashbacks with fantastic transitions in and out of the scenes into which they were inlayed.  

The filming proceeded with this non-chronological order of scenes, but when the material was assembled in a temp edit, it became apparent that the narrative didn't really work. Talalay had her doubts about how it came together, and Moffat and Gatiss made the call to change the sequence to the straight forward chronology we saw broadcast. Talalay took pains to explain that the switch was necessary for the sake of the story and that no one was at fault for how the experiment failed. They took a risk together and these things don't always pan out.

The choice to reorder was the right one, but it was also a very difficult compromise for two reasons. First it changed the purpose of many scenes, and with no time to reshoot they had to work out new criteria to determine the best takes to make a cohesive narrative from what they had. Second, it meant abandoning these amazing transitions that were in and of themselves creative and technical acheivements that each took days to prepare and shoot.

It was these transitions that Talalay shared with us at Sherlocked USA 2018. They will never be released, so here are my descriptions of the transitions she shared. Some of them involve scenes that weren't part of the final edit at all. I've done the best I can to describe what I can remember from seeing these only twice.

1. In and Out of Cars This seems to be on the way to the first case with Greg, on the way to the WELSBOROUGH HOUSE. John, Sherlock, and Greg are in a taxi in the middle of the day. Greg says "So how long has it been then" and John replies "Three months." Sherlock rises from his right-forward facing seat and steps out of the passenger door into day light. The camera approaches his back until we only see the coat. Camera recedes and it is night. Sherlock steps back into the right passenger seat while typing in his mobile and Mary is wheezing in labour. The camera pivots to also catch John at the steering wheel, as seen in the show. There is another transition back to the original taxi shot and John repeats "About three months."

2. Walking through Doorways: As Greg, Sherlock, and John approach the door to the Welsborough House, Greg says "...We thought we'd never see you again." Sherlock replies "You weren't the only ones." As Sherlock steps through the doorway, he pass into the room where he and Mycroft are interrogated by Sir Edwin and Lady Smallwood. He sits down and takes off his coat. The scene that followed was the one used to open The Six Thatchers.

At then end of this scene, Sherlock says "Because I love it." and walks out the door and back into the WELSBOROUGH HOUSE.

3. To and From the Christening: John is looking at bus shelter and a bus goes by and reveals that he is wearing church clothes at the Christening for Rosie. John says to Sherlock something along the lines of "You could come visit Rosie" and Sherlock replies "The conversation would be a bit onesided."

Another shot of Sherlock approaching the camera down the aisle, framed by the arches of the church. I'm not sure if this transitioned to another scene.

4. Through the Mirror: In the sceen where Mary finds Sherlock in the Moroccan hotel, the shot begins with her standing by the table looking accusing and Sherlock sitting on the floor crossed-legged. Sherlock gets up and walks towards a mirror by a curtain in the back of the room. In the curtain we see a reflection of Mycroft's underground office. Sherlock walks past the mirror into the scene where Mycroft begins by reciting the wikipedia article for "Agra"

When that scene ends, Sherlock rises from his seat and walks back to the mirror to pass back into the Moroccan hotel room and sits down on the floor again to pick up the conversation with Mary.

5. Lastly, one of the magical transitions that were kept was Ajay remembering his torture and then falling back onto the carpet. Apparently the sequence was initially filmed as a single shot, with four sets lined up side by side. Like wow.

***

I can't attest that these are perfect descriptions of what was in these shots, and I know I'm missing some details. If anyone else remembers other things, please add them in.

Talalay had every reason to be proud of these transitions. They were breath taking (my descriptions do not do them justice!) and the audience gasped and clapped through the three minutes of footage that she shared. I am so sorry they had to make the compromise of removing these. I understand that it was deemed necessary, and Talalay was very clear that she agreed with the decision to change the order of the scenes, but it is a tragedy that we lost these beautiful tricky transitions.

[foxestacado]

Loo and then Rupert came to Artist Alley just to say hi to me ❤ How is this my life???

I'm literally writing Loo a note when I look up and see her in front of me! She says hi and shakes my hand and introduces herself (lol as if I didn't know). Loo insisted on buying a "We Can Do It" shirt even though I had planned to give her one. She also saw my Sherlolly Shirt and I did the full Ask Me About My Ship demo ("So, ask me about my ship! And then I do the flash reveal) and so she got to see the Johnlock too. She thought it was funny and cute.

THEN RUPERT comes in not 20 mins later, sees that I'm with a customer and INSISTS on waiting until my customers are done, even though they were happy to step aside so that he can say hi to me. SO HE STANDS AT THE DOORWAY AND WAITS FOR LIKE 5 MINUTES and I'm going nuts knowing he's right there and he's there specifically to see me. THEN when I finish the transaction he comes to me, shakes my hand, and says he got "my message." I MEAN other people have told him to come see my table and I was like UH here's a shirt for your wife. (A few weeks ago I communicated with her via @gravesdiggers and she had asked for a Lestrade shirt when I offered, and I was going to hand it to her when I run into her during the Con). I tell him "It's a shirt with your face on it" and he goes "the last person who needs a shirt with my face on it is her!" 😂😂 So I tell him it's for the times he's gone on a shoot 😂😂 He thanks me and makes sure that I actually want to give him one (yes!! Enthusiastically!!). I ask him if HE wants a shirt and he's like NOPE 😂😂

I AM SHAKING AND CRYING

[ledbytheunknown]

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Rupert and Tom providing us in line with free entertainment #sherlocked #sherlockedusa

[drinkingcocoa-tpp]

Are you coming to #SherlockedUSA? Come to @foxestacado‘s merch table for these special edition octopods, available only at this convention!  All proceeds go to benefit @threepatchpodcast.

From the top:  1) Group shot. 2) Sherlock Holmes, the pirate. 3) In fact, you’re an army doctor. 4) It’s a drugs bust! 5) A minor position in British government. 6) Is yours a snorer? 7) The dead center of town! 8) Sit. Down. 9) Play with me, Sherlock! 10) You shouldn’t have lied to me. We could have been friends.

[threepatchpodcast]

There will be a small (but mighty!) @threepatchpodcast contingent coming to Los Angeles this weekend! Come & meet @ThreePatchCocoa @fffinnagain @FoxEstacado @iamjohnlocked4life at #SherlockedUSA! Here is a schedule of our planned meetups. Just look for the TPP banner and join us!

[james-moriarty-mass-criminal]

[consultingfangeeks]

I think Lestrade would need these for his office 😂 #notmydivision #lestrade #sherlockedusa #sherlock #sherlocked #sherlockbbc #sherlockholmes #sherlockian #rupertgraves

[momof4-mmnk]

I'm late to this fandom! I have been binge watching on netflix! But I'm now completely obsessed and fan girling over it!!

[noshabbytigers]

Or is that me and Mrs. Hudson on the set? Una Stubbs is a lovely person

[txtsfromjohnlock]

“We don’t need guns or special outfits….” -James Moriarty. These are very special outfits in deed! How many do you know? @txtsfromjohnlock @shezzagirl

[friskykatt]

Re-posting for nostalgia and to reply to some of the comments. Later in the convention Mark said that the skull picture looked like different colors/levels of glowing because in some scenes it was way too bright and eye catching, so they toned it down in post. Do I believe it? Eehhhhh. Some commenters that were snippy about Wanda’s baby comments - if you met the woman you just couldn’t criticize. She was the cutest grandma ever, just radiating pride and love. So sincere. Yes, Jonathan was DEFINITELY hinting at a big Anderson crush on Sherlock, which took me by surprise as I wasn’t aware of that ship at all. And yes, Sue (and Mark) said that she’d like there to be another season, but who knows, everyone is so busy, etc. I have another post somewhere in which I describe a whole convo with Mark about “unreliable narrator” so I won’t rehash, but he basically doubled-down on S4 being “real” and not a drug- fueled dream or something. Again, did I believe him? Eehhh.

I’m a wee bit embarrassed,as the leader guy said “no selfies”, which doesn’t mean “no subtle pics ” to me, but he clarified that to no pics for the second half, so I’ve just got these.

Una was lovely, just a ray of sunshine, and said that Rupert was the naughtiest on set, and would nudge her (she mimed falling over) and tell rude jokes.

Jonathan I asked if he thought Anderson had a mental breakdown over Sherlock’s death/return, and he said yes absolutely, and then implied -implied only- maybe some repressed uh…feelings for Sherlock. Said “strong feelings, right from the start, not just the competitive aspect, but VERY STRONG FEELINGS” and “well we don’t know what was going on there….” He also said that he imagined Anderson now as trying to get his job back, with not much luck.

Wanda Ventam was lively and sharp as a tack, said that Ben was moving in October and described their babies (laughingly said the 4 month old boy has “alien eyes” like Ben). Briefly described Ben’s daily workouts of an hour, and what Dr. Srange producers required. Her hubby was sweet but very quiet, and said that Steven had the idea for them to be in Sherlock but ran it by Ben first.

Mark said that he always assumed they’d do more seasons, and anything else was “click bait” that he never said. I asked him - nicely!- if he thought using things like the Garridebs as throw-away references in the last episode took them if the table for future use, and he said no, and that “the big emotional moment, it’s there” or something like that (he rambles a bit), so I’m not sure if he meant the hug, or something in the future.

Major Sholto was funny and loved being there, saying repeatedly that they were a big family, as it’s the same crew,writers etc on many shows, and so he was invited in to be family, and now the convention was like a reunion 11 thousand miles from home.

Sue was smart and warm, and described trying to get another season going as “well I leave it a while, then I start calling them and saying sooo when are you free?” Also said stuff she’s said before, I’ll skip it.

Mark also said about the skull pic that the original artist was charging them a fortune so they just had Arwel make them one. Arwel pointed out that their budget was actually quite limited, and that 4.3 the “Bond lair” was his vision, and had to be done inexpensively. Sue also made some brief mention of having a small budget, so this is obv. a big thing.

Andrew Scott seemed a bit shy, like he was pushing himself past it, or maybe rather private? Great Irish(?) accent. I asked if he was thrilled to be asked back for 4.3 and he replied oh god yeah, especially with that entrance. Interestingly, he said the pool scene was never meant to be shot, it was written off-the-cuff as audition stuff, but then they liked it so much they wrote it in. Moriarity’s original line was “ that’s what people do, they grow old an die and blah blah etc” but he (Andrew) shortened it with that amazing delivery and that’s how it stayed.

Ok, must sleep now but if I remember more tomorrow I’ll post it!

[kelly-mads]

Got an #autograph from the absolutely lovely #AndrewScott #sherlockedUSA #moriarty #sherlock #bbcsherlock #convention #con #jimmoriarty #jamesmoriarty (at Los Angeles, California)

[ledbytheunknown]

Oh hello Jim. #sherlocked #sherlockedusa #moriarty #andrewscott

[cumbercougars]

My work so far this morning.

[threepatchpodcast]

Episode 65: SherlockedUSA Con Roundup

On a very special episode of Three Patch, @sundayduck leads consulting fans @headcumbernerd and @foxestacado in a report on the squee and shenanigans at the first official SherlockedUSA Con.

Show notes and direct download information are available HERE at three-patch.com. Or subscribe via RSS or iTunes.

Up for a discussion? Visit us on the Three Patch Forums or find us on social media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

Art by @foxestacado!