How 'Sherlock' Solves Mysteries Using Cinematography and Editing

When it comes to cinematography, sometimes it's better to show the audience a conclusion or idea, instead of dropping exposition. Sometimes this also is a matter of immersing in the world you're in, and getting you to experience what a character experiences, so you understand sometimes as the character does. In this example in 'Sherlock', we see both of these ideas put together, conveyed with clever framing, filming, and editing.

To tell a story from the point of view of a character, the most commonly used method is a monologue to explain the character's thought process, however the filmmakers on 'Sherlock' decide to take a different route to show the audience how Sherlock reaches a conclusion. With the character of Sherlock actually high on cocaine in these scenes, the transitions we experience are unusual, but creatively executed and make sense for the characters thought process. During a conversation scene, the shots used are actually structured Present/Shot and Past/Reverse Shot with different perspectives, which adds to the understanding of the scenes. Then, when Sherlock comes back to reality, we as an audience start seeing the pieces come together. We see a shot of Sherlock in the middle of a busy street. We then cut to a shot of a man yelling a Sherlock from his car. Then we get a reverse shot of Sherlock. Then we cut back to the man, but the man is now Sherlock's drug dealer. Then we do another reverse shot to Sherlock, but when we cut back to the drug dealer, he's in Sherlock's house. We get a reverse shot of Sherlock, then a reverse shot of the drug dealer telling Sherlock they're both at Sherlock's house. This clicks as Sherlock realizes they are in his house, and to match with the drug and scene hitting their highest point, the set turns on it's axis. This entire sequence takes 3 minutes and 42 seconds.

So, the filmmakers working on 'Sherlock' took advantage of a very complex character, and used it to give the audience something different when it comes to exposition through characters. The fact that Sherlock is high on cocaine gives new possibilities for showing the process of the character getting to a conclusion, and as a result, creates a sequence that shows use what we need to know with minimal vocal interruptions. This is why the cinematography works so well in these scenes, it suits the thinking of the character we are watching, and keeps the audience interested.

This was really interesting as someone who has never watched this show before. I could understand why the transitions were the way they were after the tiny explanation about the drugs, and it really is brilliant to match the style of editing to match the character's thought process, and not just take the easy way out with dialogue. It's really interesting, and I applaud the creativity here.