SHERLOCK HOLMES

The genre of this film is historical action and adventure, it is action because Sherlock Holmes and Watson are seen fighting villains, it is also historical as it is set in Victorian England we can tell this from the props and costumes, for example the old lateen and horses and carriages, bowler hats and victorian dresses. In the opening scene you can see St.Pauls cathedral which anchors the location as London. The buildings are all very old, its all period buildings. There is definatley a sense of adventure created by the music which is a very fast pace which slowly builds up to get louder and quicker.  The lighting is very murky which is a restricted pallet of sepia gas light and black and white.

In the opening scene we see the cobbled ground and the sounds of the horses which creates some suspense and tension as you dont know where they are going. We are immersed in the action which is partly what creates the adventure as the camera is not help using a tripod, it is hand held which makes it look bumpy and makes you feel as if you are on the horse carriage and going with him. The tracking shot conveys speed and motion in the race to save a young woman and prevent her murder. There are some close up shots that are used to make sure the audience can see who the key characters are such as Sherlock, there is a very close up shot of him underground hiding behind a wall. But mostly in the part of the film we watched it was a tracking shot, a long journey on a horse and carriage.  Showing all that was around us, as if we where there. We experience dark alley ways hidden corners and very dark buildings and streets. This type of camera work is very jurky and bumpy which gives a sense of jeopardy

Theres a lot of editing in the sequence that we watched, a very good piece of editing was the slow motion used, it suggests that time is slowing down. I think there are some very unique and unusual parts of the editing which makes us able to share Holmes' thoughts and help us understand the story more.