You said "the makers changed", in the previous ask about the show-could you elaborate a bit?
Iâm kinda grumpy today soâŚ
As far as Iâm concerned the director, the director of photography, the composers and the editor have nearly as much power to shape the nuances of meaning and subtext in the show as do the writers and the actors. In some cases, even moreso.Â
Now letâs take The Woman, for example. Here are a ton of interpretations of her relationship to Sherlock (pre S4). http://mid0nz.tumblr.com/post/54049850277. Now look what Fabian Wagner, the DOP thinks:
FW: [Sherlock] is in love for the first time ever, so yes, it is very emotional, in a âSherlock kind of wayâ. We just shot some of the scenes very much with him, being close to him, handheld, trying to convey what he feels during the moment. (x)
Thereâs no doubt in the mind of the guy who lights the set and, in his case, very often operated the camera, that Sherlock was in love with Irene. Donât you think his understanding of their relationship colored his work? Of course it did! Neither Moffat nor Gatiss were ever that explicit pre S3/S4 about Sherlockâs feelings for her. Letâs have a slow push in. (Yes, thatâs what the movement of the shot below is actually called.)
For years Iâve been trying to point out that meaning in the show doesnât come down on high fully formed from the head of Moffat or Gatiss (or Thompson). They write a script, they have this idea and the actors and the crew realize the script. (Now you can treat the crew like trained monkeys and give them no creative leeway in their jobs or you can NOT be an arsehole. Depends on the director.)
So letâs take this idea further:
The director of photography on Series One was Steve Lawes (with some extra photography by Matt Gray on ASiP.) Steve operated A camera through the series. S1E1&E3 were directed by Paul McGuigan as was S2E1&E2. Euros Lyn directed S1E2 and Toby Haynes directed S2E3 while Fabian Wagner was the DOP for S2. Steve came back as DOP for S3 E1&E2 while those shows had new directors (Lovering and McCarthy respectively.) He didnât operate nearly as much in S3. Neville Kidd was the DOP of S3E3 and Nick Hurran directed. That duo did S4E2 while Rachel Talalay directed and Biddlecombe was the DOP on S4E1. Ben Caron directed S4E3 and the DOP was David Luther. Suzie Lavelle was the DOP on the special and Douglas Mackinnon was the director. The late great Charlie Phillips edited 5 episodes before his death, Yan Miles 3, Nick Arthurs 1, Mali Evans 1, Tim Porter 1, Mark Davis 1, Andrew McClelland 1, and William Oswald 1 episode.
ALLLLL those people brought their ideas and skills to the show. They helped create what you saw (and what you THINK you saw) there. âMofftissâ as supreme creator of all meaning is a construction, an illusion.Â
Most of the crew donât have a lot of time to dwell on the script nuances. They might go for a general idea of âwhat is the key emotional point to capture in X sceneâ for example. But theyâre in a hurry. They have 21 days to shoot, with a very short prep time and a short turn around post-production time.Â
Itâs the composers who do the most work to bring the sentiment out in the show. Iâve never been keen on the âscene without the musicâ posts b/c theyâre not about shedding light on what the music brings out in a sceneâ how it changes or gives CONTEXT (yay Eurus) to the emotions.Â
I told you how the thing gets made over and over in my interviews. But did you listen? Many conspiracy theorists who did bother to read them just told themselves and their followers that the crew were lying to me because THERE WOULD BE CANON JOHNLOCK. (Look! Â Elephants!)
All these conspiracy theories and interpretations are MADE UP by the fandom. Itâs incredibly creative work, but itâs fannish work. Itâs not reality.Â
